The submarine behaves as the Titanic

LUISA AMELIA MARACARA EL UNIVERSAL

Venezuelan Planning Minister Jorge Giordani has never been more accurate than when branding the Gross Domestic Product as a submarine, since it behaves as such.

As a matter of fact, Venezuela's GDP sunk so many meters last year that the contraction reached 8.9 percent. In 2001, it had an insignificant growth, 2.8 percent; in 2000, the figure was 3.2 percent. Those two years did not compensate the 6.1 percent fall registered in 1999.

The submarine that Giordani referred to seems to be involved in a campaign that maintains it in the deepest waters, where pressure is so intense that is shattering it. This is reflected in the initial estimates by the Venezuelan Central Bank, which point to a 35 percent fall in the first quarter.

Actions adopted by the government so far this year do not seem to be intended to refrain the submarine from sinking. In fact, it has been showing many similarities to Titanic, which broke into two pieces, sank and never surfaced again. As the economy takes in water, the government's announcements to reactivate general production have not yielded any good results.

Each month, at least one minister announce a plan to reactivate his/her sector. But positive results do not come. In fact, President Hugo Chávez himself has admitted in the latest editions of his weekly radio and TV show ¡Aló, Presidente! the failure of many of their plans; he even complains about the State's functioning.

Meanwhile, the captain of the submarine, since his recent designation as Planning Minister, has chosen to remain in silence. He may be thinking on a new name to describe the behavior of the economy.