Mr. Jesus Faria, a pro-government member of the Venezuelan
National Assembly, justified the recent approval by the Assembly of the
Venezuelan budget for 2013 using an estimated income based in a price of $55
for the barrel of exported oil. He said this low estimate was necessary “given
the existing world economic crisis, the worst of the late 100 years”. See: http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=978821 . His statement comes at a time in which the
U.S. stock market is at an all-time high and when the worst of the crisis seems
to have been left behind. At the very least, the oil prices have not shown any
strong signs of declining. Mr. Faria said that such a conservative assumption
was “the only way we can plan in a world caught in a terrible crisis”. And he
added: “Any additional income derived from the difference between our estimate
and the real, higher prices, would be used in the diverse activities of the
Venezuelan state”.
This last statement explains the true reasons for the low
estimate. Year after year the Venezuelan national budget is based on a clearly
unrealistically low estimate of the price of oil. This represents a maneuver to
rob Venezuelan states from a share of the true oil income, since the Venezuelan
laws stipulates that a certain percentage of the oil income should be
distributed to state and municipal governments. As the estimated income is artificially
made lower than in reality the money that should be going to the states and
municipalities is kept by the executive power, to be distributed at will. This
means that pro-opposition governors and mayors will not get the amount of money
to which they are entitled by law. The surplus money is centralized in parallel
government funds such as FONDEN, Fondo de
Desarrollo Economico, managed
without transparency or accountability by the President, the Minister of Energy
and Petroleum, the Minister of Planning and the Minister of Finance.
This maneuver is clearly fraudulent but it has never been
effectively challenged by the Venezuelan opposition. In their discharge we have
to say that there is no Venezuelan government institution that would hear their
claims with impartiality. The only road open to the opposition would seem to be
taking to the streets with massive protests.
But Venezuelan society mimics the seasons. There is no spring,
only torrential rains, or extreme drought. Boom or bust cycles. The drought is
now getting much longer.
