MARIANNA PARRAGA
EL UNIVERSAL

In an editorial in reply to the gratitude of a US Senator for distribution of discounted Venezuelan oil in the United States, The Wall Street Journal recalled that per capita income in Venezuela -with oil being the major source- is a tenth of the income in Massachusetts. It is possible that more than one Venezuelan matched the numbers already.

The annual income of the poorest counties in the states where Citgo, a subsidiary of state oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa,) has distributed around 40 million gallons of subsidized oil fluctuates between USD 27,000 and USD 39,000 per family.

Any comparison with a Venezuelan family of the E layer is disgusting. They get only a monthly minimum wage, in the aggregate of USD 2,600 per year.

The analysis is even more accurate considering that the US average family is composed of 2.5 members. A standard Venezuelan family belonging to the E layer should apportion a minimum wage to five people.

And in order to give an idea of the gap between the purchasing power of both families, it should be noted that in the poorest counties of Masachussetts -the second richest state in the United States- Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont and Bronx, an average of 62 percent families have their own house, and all of them have unemployment insurance.

In the opinion of Pdvsa former CEO director José Toro Hardy, the policy of distributing heating oil undertaken by Citgo following the visit of President Hugo Chávez to Bronx, NYC, just mirrors a policy of "global oil populism."

Such a policy has been implemented not only by means of direct subsidy of heating oil in the United States -aimed at challenging the President George W. Bush' administration- but also through the procurement of debt bonds from Latin American nations and the establishment of trusts and funds abroad.

On the one hand, President Chávez' Government deplored the losses resulting from the sale of fuel in 14,000 Citgo gas stations -which trade gasoline and diesel at low prices- and pavement of US streets with Venezuelan asphalt. On the other hand, it hails allotment of heating oil at discount rates that damage Citgo earnings.

Deluge
The Venezuelan poor earn little. However, it may be argued that they spend little, because in most cases they do not pay for public utilities. However, they are not direct recipients of the oil wealth. Regardless of Pdvsa funding to social welfare programs and the National Development Fund (Fonden,) high oil prices in the international market do not reduce their monthly outlays.

Additionally, the subsidy to gasoline -which has been stressed over the last seven years- is not an actual relief for them. Non-frozen public transportation fare hits their budget and pushes inflation up.

Queried about the reasons why no initiative to transfer the oil windfall to ordinary citizens has taken hold, Toro Hardy answered that no government has been willing to waive its control over revenues. President Chávez' Government is the least prepared. On the contrary, it has gradually increased intervention and grasped institutions that used to be autonomous.

"This government has made Venezuela increasingly dependent on oil. It depends both on income and the price of the oil barrel. There are two ways of managing the oil business -to increase steadily oil and gas output, which multiplies the internal wealth, or to abide by a policy of constant cuts of production to shield prices."

Translated by Conchita Delgado

Marianna Parraga
EL UNIVERSAL