Vzla: Who said oil don't spoil?

Not even the greatest pessimist in Venezuela could have imagined that the two years elapsed from April 2002 to April 2004 would have seen the conversion of Petroleos de Venezuela, from a major international energy corporation into a third world, mediocre, politicized organization. A brief list of the crimes committed by the regime of Hugo Chàvez against PDVSA during this period are listed below:

* Hugo Chàvez named Gastón Parra, a man ignorant of the oil industry and possessing a pathological hatred of PDVSA management, as president of the company. He did this in order to "promote a crisis in the company" and, as a result, to take over its political and financial control.

* Hugo Chàvez dismissed, in open violation of the Labor Law of Venezuela, over 18,000 managers and technical staff of PDVSA who, even today, have not received their severance payments.

* The current president of PDVSA, Alí Rodriguez, has disbanded INTEVEP, the most important petroleum research center of South America.

* CIED, the most important petroleum managerial and technical center of South America has also been disbanded by the current president of PDVSA, Ali Rodriguez.
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This is only a partial list of the crimes that have been committed against PDVSA in only two years. They explain the collapse of oil production and the loss of credibility the company have experienced....

Read the rest and discover why Chavez's oil threats may be powerful only in his own mind.