I want to see independent institutions ... honest and courageous political leaders
www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 21, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel
VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: I have recently received two letters on a similar subject ... both sent to VHeadline.com. One is from Keith Davis from the Bolivarian Fund. The other is from Paul Volgyesi, who writes frequent letters. Mr. Davis' letter comments on my editorial "A Government that does not Govern" while Paul's letter comments on my "Corruption in the times of Chavez."
Keith Davis claims that the definition of a legitimate government sounds good and noble but is "not realistic," adding ... to prove his point ... that overwhelming consensus was not present in Bush's economic proposals.
Davis did not read my piece well since I talk about the need for overwhelming consensus on the legitimacy of the system, not on every policy followed by government.
What I said is that there is far from overwhelming consensus on the legitimacy of Chavez' government. In fact, there seems to be overwhelming consensus on its illegitimacy, after four years of disastrous performance and increasing contempt for democratic procedures.
Davis says that an effective bureaucracy can be "a blessing or a curse." Frankly, I will run that risk any time since I can not see how an effective bureaucracy can be a curse, while in the Venezuela of Chavez I clearly see how an ineffective bureaucracy is definitely a curse.
The example given by Davis about the PDVSA bureaucracy swelling with political patrons shows that he is not well-informed about this subject. Politicization of PDVSA is taking place now ... of the worst kind, since the people coming into the company now is a "lumpen" without the slightest idea of what a petroleum company is all about.
To claim, as Davis does, that the old PDVSA increased production to glut the world markets, shows considerable ignorance of the subject matter, since Venezuelan production lacks the punch to "glut" world markets. When the oil price fell to $7 a barrel, all OPEC producers were overproducing.
Control over the military is a pre-requisite of a democracy. In April last year the military ousted Chavez and another military group put him back in. Today, the only support left to Chavez is that of a small group of the military which, however, concentrates most of the fire power. The Generals leading these groups are on Chavez's payroll but the arrangement is fragile. The important concept is that we can not have a civilized country when the President is the puppet of a small group of Generals.
The second section of the letter gets less easy to understand.
Mr. Davis feels that I should suggest replacements to the scoundrels who make up today's Chavez cabinet ... but, who am I to suggest such a thing? Chavez has selected them, no others ... they are the ones Chavez likes.
What I said is that Venezuela has many distinguished men and women who could accompany a President in the tasks of government. But, I also said that Chavez is not interested in the best but in the most servile ... he despises the best, probably because he sees them as the type of people he can not hope to be.
Mr. Davis seems to believe that Chavez would pay attention to my suggestions for replacement of the gallery of horrors that he has built. Who is being naive?
On the other hand, I have to say that no decent Venezuelan would accept a cabinet position in a Chavez' government. This, Mr. Davis, is a matter of principle.
Mr. Davis seems to believe that I shared government responsibilities in the past. I have never been a politician ... always a manager ... never had a political appointment, except for three months as Secretary of State in Carabobo, in a career of 35 years. The tragedies of mismanagement in Venezuela did not happened "on my watch," as you mention.
Two final observations.
One, Chavez has never attempted reconciliation. Second, my job today is that of a critic of this grotesque government. This is the way I feel I can best serve my country. This is what I will continue to do. I am amazed at your offer to "finance half the cost of rebuilding the school system of Venezuela." You must have great financial power. But, you see, Mr. Davis: Education is not a matter of money but of values and manners. A bunch of gorillas with millions of dollars can only produce a society of more numerous gorillas. So, Thank you for your offer but, no thanks.
The letter from Paul Volgyesi is more compact and easier to read. It is also kinder although Mr. Davis's letter was not aggressive. He starts by saying that I am "a lonely voice of the decent opposition." Not true. The decent opposition runs into the thousands, dear friend. My activities, I would like to think, are an asset to my country, not to Chavez. I have dedicated years to fighting corruption, but I do not believe Chavez is interested in doing that. In four years he has not done it. It is theoretically true that I do not have to like Chavez to help Chavez to govern. But the problem is deeper than that. More than liking or disliking, this is an issue of values. My values are different from Chavez's. How can I help him if this means betraying my values?
Dear Paul, I wish I could tell Chavez that his place in history depends on the zeal with which he engaged in a fight against corruption ... and I wish he listened. The problem is that he does not listen. The problem is that he has used his time pursuing other objectives. The problem is that he is not the man to put this country right.
I appreciate the way you treat me in your letter, with velvet gloves. This is encouraging to me as it means that you believe in my sincerity even if you do not agree with my opinions.
This is not always the case. I can assure you that I want a true democracy for Venezuela, one in which the President will be a President for all, without hate in his heart. I want to see independent institutions ... honest and courageous political leaders. I want to see education as the cornerstone of the fight against poverty, rather than handouts. I want to see a concerted action among members of society to minimize the tragedy of street children.
But, most of all, I very badly miss the country we had before Chavez ... a country in which we could all smile to each other.
- I do not say that that country did not have to be put right.
I am saying that to put that country right, we did not have to include hate and resentment and distrust into our social equation.
Gustavo Coronel is the founder and president of Agrupacion Pro Calidad de Vida (The Pro-Quality of Life Alliance), a Caracas-based organization devoted to fighting corruption and the promotion of civic education in Latin America, primarily Venezuela. A member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), following nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry, Coronel has worked in the oil industry for 28 years in the United States, Holland, Indonesia, Algiers and in Venezuela. He is a Distinguished alumnus of the University of Tulsa (USA) where he was a Trustee from 1987 to 1999. Coronel led the Hydrocarbons Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Washington DC for 5 years. The author of three books and many articles on Venezuela ("Curbing Corruption in Venezuela." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 7, No. 3, July, 1996, pp. 157-163), he is a fellow of Harvard University and a member of the Harvard faculty from 1981 to 1983. In 1998, he was presidential election campaign manager for Henrique Salas Romer and now lives in retirement on the Caribbean island of Margarita where he runs a leading Hotel-Resort. You may contact Gustavo Coronel at email ppcvicep@telcel.net.ve