The curse

  The curse

Lately, articles that analyze the supposed curse that weighs on countries rich in oil resources have been published like rice. At first glance it would seem that there is a certain basis of support for these theories of obscurantism, however, for proper reading, it is important to clarify one or another detail.

First of all, and judging by the immense number of existing offers to free ourselves from this cursed burden, it is obvious that we are not talking about a common curse. There are even those who generously offer to assume their risks, even paying us for the right to such sacrifice.

A suggested exorcism is to leave OPEC to sell oil at its marginal extraction cost, thus guaranteeing that we avoid earning the dirty rent for oil. Another way is to privatize it, against a tasty and tempting initial payment, to cancel the current public debt... and get into debt again? As you can see, both methods have a strange similarity with selling the sofa.

Finally, considering that the European treasury earns about 100 dollars net per barrel, while those who sacrifice the resource only get 25 dollars, gross, it is not very obvious who is the cursed one.

The indisputable thing is that oil revenues have not been used well, but as you can understand, this has less to do with the abundance of resources and more to do with the damn system used to distribute them. Currently, the entire oil revenue enters the government's coffers alone and effortlessly, thus unbalancing the democratic system, since we all know that the happy holder of a full oil checkbook has little incentive to pay attention to the citizen.

How do we get out of this? To begin with and due to the obvious and incurable lack of talents of our rulers, we must apply the parable of the talents in reverse and bypass them, delegating a greater part of the administration of oil revenues directly to the citizens.

However, since we civil society members are not very different from our politicians, like-minded, like-minded, perhaps we should, just in case, pay the oil dividends with educational tickets.

Chances of it? Few, due to that true curse, the one that leads our leaders to believe that everything bad in the past is miraculously cured with their arrival in power (with the checkbook) and, us, to believe them.

Translated by Google

https://petropolitan.blogspot.com/2003/11/la-maldicion.html

https://theoilcurse.blogspot.com/2003/11/the-curse.html

Together or at odds

If you look at Venezuela and Colombia on a map, reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, you see that in the end it will be impossible to avoid the many opportunities that integration would offer. It is clear that either the two countries will join, or one will take hold of the other, or someone else will stick them together… by force and according to their own geopolitical interests. Which would you prefer?

Consider the countries of Europe today: with all their differences - linguistic ones being the least - less than sixty years after the war, they have submitted to a political-economic community and are drawing up a common constitution for the humble purpose of trying to maintain their level of development. Their example contrasts with the pettiness of our political leadership in Colombia and Venezuela, yesterday’s and today’s.

There is no doubt that both our countries are in very bad shape, but instead of trying to capitalize on the possibilities of a true union of markets, which could help us at last find that lost course never found, our leaders – if they can be called that – spend their time feeding and fanning tensions, hiding their own ineptitude.

In today’s world it is not easy to come up with a plan that can simultaneously satisfy the urgent needs of our people of dreams, while providing the credibility that the markets demand. A strong commitment to total integration, beginning with establishing a harmonized monetary, exchange and trade policy, must be one of the main components of any such plan capable of offering us a better future.

How do we accomplish this? I wish I knew, but I confess I have no idea… except that it requires leadership capable of subordinating today’s pettiness to tomorrow’s grandeur, though this appears very difficult in a world in which the increasing demand of our people for instant gratification is surpassed by that of most of our politicians.

Nevertheless, since it is true that every crisis brings opportunity… if we consider the magnitude of the crisis in our countries, who knows if suddenly, when so many material needs meet up with so many spiritual needs, conditions will finally be there for us to awake from our lethargy and fulfill the historical mandate for a Great Union.

El Universal, Caracas November 6, 2003

Of course, there is always a fourth alternative – the worst between brothers: a new bipolar world with a great Colombo-Venezuelan wall as a border.

Together or mixed up

Together or mixed up

If you look at Venezuela and Colombia on a map, you will know that in the long run, it will be impossible to avoid the multiple opportunities that their integration would offer, so it is clear that either the two countries unite, or one of the two grabs the other, or Someone will bring them together... in a macho way, under the umbrella of their own geopolitical interests. What do you prefer?

Contemplate how European countries, with all their differences, linguistic ones being the least, today, less than sixty years after the war, subordinate themselves to a political-economic community and are drafting a common constitution, with the humble purpose of trying to maintain its level of development, serves to highlight the smallness of our political leaders in Colombia and Venezuela, yesterday and today

Both countries are doing badly, very badly indeed, but instead of seeking to capitalize on the possibilities of a true union of markets, which would allow us to recover that lost direction that has never been found, our leaders, if they can be classified as such, are rather dedicated to feed and fuel tensions, hiding their own inadequacies.

It is not easy to design a plan in today's world that simultaneously feeds a people hungry for dreams and inspires the credibility that the markets demand. Committing ourselves fully to integration and beginning it by establishing a consistent monetary, exchange and trade policy must be one of the main components of any plan capable of offering us a better future.

How do we do it? I wish I knew, but I confess that I have no idea... except to know that it requires leadership capable of subordinating the little things of today to the greatness of tomorrow, which would seem very difficult to achieve in a world where the growing demands of our peoples for immediate gratification, are surpassed by those of the majority of our politicians.

However, and because every crisis means an opportunity...if we think about the size of the crisis that our countries are experiencing, who knows if suddenly, when so many material needs have been combined with so many spiritual needs, the conditions will finally be met. so that we can wake up from our lethargy and fulfill that historic mandate of achieving a Great Union.

Of course, there is always the fourth alternative, the worst between brothers, that a new bipolar world emerges with a great Colombian-Venezuelan wall as a border.

https://perkurowski.blogspot.com/2001/01/my-colombia-plan.html

Translated by Google.