PDVSA rebels tell USA: Don’t rely on Chavez Frias for oil supplies

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Former Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) managers have held another protest outside an Embassy, this time the US Embassy where they had earlier met embassy economic adviser, Louis Anderson and handed him a document in which the group warned the USA that President Hugo Chavez Frias could not guarantee oil supplies to the USA.

Spokesman Alfredo Gomez says supplies to the USA were no problem in the past.

“The situation in PDVSA isn’t the picture the government paints … it’s not producing 3 million bpd, but more like 2.3 million and less than 100,000 bpd of gasoline … it’s not sustainable for the USA.”

The group continues to argue that inexpert workers have replaced the 16,000 dismissed employees and workers adding to the lack of guarantees of supplies.

Gomez says the group will hold similar protests outside the embassies of the Group of Friends (USA, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain and Portugal).