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Chavez plays politics with oil
President changed constitution, manipulates other nations
Claudia Lozano
Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: Editorial/Opinion
As of Oct. 4, the price of oil went down to $58 a barrel. Kuwait's oil minister said that they would have to take drastic actions if the price for an oil barrel continues to be under $60. While some countries, like Saudi Arabia, depend on oil exports to the United States, Kuwait and Venezuela don't have to worry about keeping the United States as a customer.
Each country that exports its oil counts on the United States' demand for it. If the United States drops the price for each barrel, then the rest of the countries will have an oversupply of oil barrels. In the case of Venezuela, Chavez said that they will not tolerate the price of oil falling under $60 and that if it continues to go down, they would stop their oil exports.
This means that with one less source for oil in the United States, the price could rise up to $100 per barrel. Chavez states all this, because he knows that he can control oil exports. He is also aware that he has backup from Iran and that they will also help them if they get into a disagreement with the United States.
After the visit of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela, Chavez said that he would also like to explore nuclear energy. He made a confrontational remark to the United States saying that Bush had no right to prevent other countries to look for alternative sources of energy. He then said, "After all, they dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." The fact is that the world is afraid that countries will want to use nuclear energy against each other. Venezuela was the first Latin American country to have its own nuclear research facility and even Venezuela now has a nuclear affairs division in its Energy Ministry.
In the end, who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong? Who gets to call the shots or point fingers? Each country's president has the responsibility to speak on behalf of its citizens and not use them as a shield. The Venezuelan situation depends upon many factors that could affect its future and whether or not the United States will be able to keep importing oil from them. Whatever the outcome is, we can only hope that in future elections, for both Venezuela and the United States, people will look back and they will make a better choice. If that would be the case, the problems we are facing now would be under different conditions, and new leaders will hopefully find better solutions that will work for all of us.
Each country that exports its oil counts on the United States' demand for it. If the United States drops the price for each barrel, then the rest of the countries will have an oversupply of oil barrels. In the case of Venezuela, Chavez said that they will not tolerate the price of oil falling under $60 and that if it continues to go down, they would stop their oil exports.
This means that with one less source for oil in the United States, the price could rise up to $100 per barrel. Chavez states all this, because he knows that he can control oil exports. He is also aware that he has backup from Iran and that they will also help them if they get into a disagreement with the United States.
After the visit of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela, Chavez said that he would also like to explore nuclear energy. He made a confrontational remark to the United States saying that Bush had no right to prevent other countries to look for alternative sources of energy. He then said, "After all, they dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." The fact is that the world is afraid that countries will want to use nuclear energy against each other. Venezuela was the first Latin American country to have its own nuclear research facility and even Venezuela now has a nuclear affairs division in its Energy Ministry.
In the end, who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong? Who gets to call the shots or point fingers? Each country's president has the responsibility to speak on behalf of its citizens and not use them as a shield. The Venezuelan situation depends upon many factors that could affect its future and whether or not the United States will be able to keep importing oil from them. Whatever the outcome is, we can only hope that in future elections, for both Venezuela and the United States, people will look back and they will make a better choice. If that would be the case, the problems we are facing now would be under different conditions, and new leaders will hopefully find better solutions that will work for all of us.
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