Venezuela’s Foreign Minister: Let’s be serious!
By Miguel Octavio
23.12.04 | The Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez called on the opposition to be serious about the border discussions that are taking place with Colombia. This in response to Primero Justicia leader Julio Borges who said that a Colombian newspaper had quoted a Colombian negotiator as saying that Venezuela had recognized that country’s rights to the Gulf of Venezuela.
Borges immediately replied to Rodriguez saying that his reply lacked clarity as it did not address what the Colombian publication said and it was incredible that Venezuelans had to find out about it via a foreign publication.
My response would have been:
Who should be serious here? The Minister of Foreign relations was President of PDVSA for the last two and a half years where he:
-Has been telling us for over a year that the country is producing 600,000 barrels more than either OPEC or IEA say.
-Has been promising since June that the financial statements of PDVSA will be ready next month and they are not ready yet.
-Authorized the repurchase of PDVSA’s US$ 2.5 billion dollars, an outrageous price simply to protect the rear ends of the members of the Board of PDVSA (including his own) who would have been in violation of US law, in particular the the recently enacted Sarbanes Oxley Law.
-Promised all of his collaborators at PDVSA that he would not take political revenge on them.
-Confiscated the funds from the voluntary pension plans of 20,000 PDVSA workers.
Yes Mr. Rodriguez, let’s be serious! Why don’t you start, your track record ain’t very good. Did you know Governments should be subject to a higher standard?
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