The Intimate Relationship of Venezuela and North American Blacks

The political cost of African America ignorance of Venezuela political struggle may be a unnecessary Andean Congo nuclear crisis.
According to (AP), May 8, 2005-- President Hugo Chavez said on his Sunday television and radio show that foreign oil companies working in the country must pay taxes he insists that they owe, or else leave. In one analysis, Exxon Mobile reportedly owns over a billion-dollar payment.

According to ABC Online, May 03, 2005—during a question-and-answer session at the Council of the Americas, United States Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, says the U.S. will not intervene to remove the government of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, suggesting that it could eventually lose power on its own. Mr. Rumsfeld said nothing about stopping a potential Colombian led invasion of the rich western Orinoco oil fields. Venezuelan President Chavez is preparing the country for a Bay of Pigs – type invasion of Venezuela from neighboring Colombia. Most of the details of the first ever African-Venezuela president’s struggle to force the foreign oil companies 15/85 sharing of profits of Venezuelan oil production, to move toward the 50/50 sharing arrangement like foreign oil companies have with Saudi Arabia, has been blackout or filtered in the mainstream Eurocentric and African American press in North America.

Mr. Rumsfeld statements if true should among other things, lower the short-term political risks to the New Jersey trade mission now visiting to Venezuela. Also, many small New Jersey towns and businesses directly dependent on Venezuela gasoline and other products for their survival are for now, not threaten by a US invasion of Venezuela. Venezuela is the largest exporter of oil to North America. There is enough oil in Venezuela to power the world for 50 years and China or the eastern states of US for 150 years. Venezuela is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter and major supplier of crude and gasoline to the eastern region of the United States.

Citgo is the fourth largest gasoline retailer in the U.S. and operates in the U.S. six refineries 900,000 bpd. In 2004 Citgo profits were up 42 percent or $625 million. Venezuela via Citgo operates a distribution network with over 14,000 gasoline stations, mostly in the Northeastern United States. Major eastern cities, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark, New York and Boston are all served by oil from Orinoco oil fields. Venezuela maintains refineries and storage tanks in both southern New Jersey and by the Newark airport. There is a large and powerful African-Venezuelan community in the New Jersey/New York City area.

Venezuela with a population of 23 million was the most economically developed member of OPEC and before Iraq, was the developing distribution model for the oil industry. The Chavez government and major oil companies, like Exxon Mobil have been struggling to form a new relationship, in which the Venezuelan people would get one third of all oil profits, rather than as low as one percent. Many foreign oil companies have not paid back taxes of over 2 billion dollars. That’s like the oil companies owning Uncle Sam $30 billion. For a poor country like Venezuela, $2 billion is a major lost funding for educational, health and social programs.

Another million children would be able to attend free public schools. Almost 30 billion dollars of Venezuelan taxes payers’ money is setting in New York City banks, while the country is forced to finance foods to feed the poor people. China and India are major new members of the growing group of countries that are importing Venezuela oil to feed their expanding economies. With both China and India nuclear armed and buying major amounts of US debt, the once private American oilmen’s looting fiefdom is trying to diversity away from US control and cut a better deal with its new Asian customers.

Importers in North America worry that the increased tension between Washington and Caracas, will mean less oil flowing to the US. Under threat from Exxon Mobile and invasion from Colombia and/or the US, Venezuela has been forced to start importing, AK 47 rifles, cruise missiles, Russia Mig 29 fighter jets and other advanced weapon systems from China and India to protect its oil production. The fear of a military confrontation with either the US or Colombia is very real.

The expensive cost of new defense systems is taking critical funding away from much needed social and agricultural programs directed at the poor and working classes in Venezuela. The threat of war is also limiting efforts to get international financing for a national defense highway and rail system that will link all major Venezuelan cites, industrial centers and east and west sections of the rich Orinoco oil fields.

The Venezuelan connection to African Americans goes much deeper that oil. Venezuelans share the same African heritage and come from the same Western Africa society. Venezuelans are African Americans brothers from South America. (See Nubian news Online, Venezuelan roots of US Black struggle). Only Brazil, Cuba and Jamaica, have more African Americans than the 10 million in Venezuela. Brazil and Venezuela are the most industrialized and technically advanced African American countries outside the United States. Together, they offer African Americans in the Gulf of Mexico and South America the best hope of successfully making the economic migration from backward agriculture economies to modern industrial society. Venezuela also forms a direct cultural and economic connection to southern Nigeria and central Africa.

With the massive Chinese worldwide export tsunamis destroying North - South American’s local industries starting in 1999, Venezuela was poised to become the next Brazil in light manufacturing. The lack of systemic investment in developing national roads systems and other exporting industries infrastructure left Venezuela with no plan B counterattack to massive Chinese imports and slave labor.

After the 9/11 attacks on the US, international capital markets dried up and the Venezuela light-manufacturing sector collapsed under the pressure of ruthless Chinese imports. Local auto, electronics and consumers products industries were most affected. General Motors and Ford and other car manufacturers abandoned Venezuela auto assemble plants for the allure of China and slave labor wages of 50 cent per hour and most advanced manufacturing plants. Even before the CIA manipulations of the oil economy in 2002, the manufacturing and food production sectors were collapsing. The strategic challenge for the Chavez government is developing a plan to re-develop the Venezuelan light manufacturing along with increasing oil production without becoming a slave labor platform for Chinese manufacturing. Venezuela’s future is in manufacturing, not oil.

Africa Americans in the US must come to the aid of Venezuelan industries and assistance in getting capital, training and business partnerships to enable to Venezuela to expand its industrial manufacturing economy in order to balance their business and trade relations with China, India and Russia.
 

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