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Editorial Commentary
Houston Chronicle : R-e-s-p-e-c-t
Venezuela's ambassador to the United States needs to counsel his boss about decorum.THE Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, is a well-known champion of dignity and decorum. From time to time he writes the editors of the Houston Chronicle and other U.S. newspapers asking for more balance, civility and respect and less criticism in their coverage of, and commentary on, his boss, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Apparently the boss didn't get the memo.
Making a fool of himself on the floor of the United Nations' General Assembly last year, Chavez referred to President Bush as the devil. Many people around the world might share that view, but voicing it at ground zero of the world's peace-seeking body eroded Chavez' credibility and did no damage to Bush.
Again this week, Chavez called Bush "Mr. Danger" and threatened to withhold crude oil shipments to the United States. A look at the reality of today's oil markets showed the threat to be largely empty. If Chavez didn't sell Venezuela's heavy, sour crude oil to U.S. refineries specially equipped to process it, he would have to sell it to oil traders, who in turn would sell it to U.S. refineries. Should Chavez withhold his country's oil from the market altogether, he would not be able to finance the social services upon which his domestic approval rests.
Chavez subsequently said he would end the sale of crude and other products to Exxon Mobil. The world's largest multinational oil company is seeking to recover billions of dollars invested in Venezuelan oil projects that Chavez nationalized without adequate compensation. His lack of seriousness was made apparent when a Venezuelan official stated that his nation would live up to all contractual commitments, including shipments of crude to a Louisiana refinery jointly owned by Venezuela's national oil company and Exxon Mobil.
It is tempting to regard Chavez as a clown, which he surely is. However, his buffoonery is neither amusing nor benign. His threat to disrupt U.S. supplies of crude caused the price to spike $2 a barrel, an increase that fell hardest upon low-income drivers whose interests Chavez pretends to foster.
The Venezuelan ambassador's pleas for civility and respect are welcome. It shouldn't be too much to ask that he send a cable back home making the same request to his boss, whose antics benefit residents of neither the United States nor Venezuela.
Houston Chronicle is Houston's most read newspaper. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.
Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by the Houston Cronicle, on 02/14/2008. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
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Petroleumworld News 02/14/08
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