President Hugo Chavez visited [tag]Panama[/tag] the other day. Televised reports show him kissing babies, shaking hands, and schmoozing with the poor of Casco Viejo and San Felipe. Panama’s [tag]President Martin Torrijos[/tag] mostly stands around looking bored. Perhaps wishing he was at his beach house in Playa Blanca drinking Balboa light and watching the [tag]World Cup[/tag] action. Chavez also gave a three hour speech that lasted until one a.m. Proving to anyone still awake that he’s not only a bore in Venezuela.
Later it was announced Chavez has signed a deal to supply Panama with cheap oil and natural gas. There’s also talk he’ll build a refinery here. With Panama’s energy prices at an all time high this would seem to be welcome news for the poor.
Despite an ample supply of hubris and charisma [tag]Hugo Chavez[/tag] could have a difficlult time delivering on his promises. Some believe his dreams of financing a [tag]Bolivian-style Revolution[/tag] may already be circling the drain. He’s pledged [tag]cheap oil[/tag] to several Latin American nations. Instead of reinvesting in Venezuela, creating jobs, and cleaning up the government, he’s pissing away money with hand outs to the poor, corrupt practices, and infulence peddling with foreign nations.
How can Chavez give away all this money and cheap oil with so many problems at home? Oil industries always need new investment. When the well runs dry you’ve got to find another, and drill it. If Chavez doesn’t take the profits from today’s high oil prices and reinvest in his own oil industry how can [tag]Venezuela[/tag] increase production to cover the promises Chavez has made?
With Hugo Chavez there are always more questions than answers. Take anything the man says with a fistful of salt and several shots of tequila. Andres Oppenheimer covers Latin America for the [tag]Miami Herald[/tag]. Some highlights of a recent report:
“Chávez is unlikely to meet his promises of energy assistance to neighboring countries and could even find himself with problems to keep production up at home.”
“René León, El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, is just as skeptical of Venezuela’s oil assistance offers to other Latin American countries. Asked about Chávez’s vows to supply cheap oil to El Salvador’s leftist-ruled provinces, León said that ‘’so far, not a drop” of Venezuelan subsidized oil has arrived in his country.”
Read the full story here: miami heraldVenezuela’s oil production still a big question mark
