In March 1996, prime minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher made a commanding speech, entitled ‘The challenges of the 21st century’. Her very compelling address was delivered at Citibank in Lahore, Pakistan. Recent and worrying events in Venezuela brought her presentation — nearly 30 years ago — back to mind.

Thatcher said this and more: “Countries are not rich in proportion to their natural resources. If that were so, Russia would be the richest country in the world; she has everything — oil, gas, diamonds, platinum, gold, silver, the industrial metals, timber, and a rich soil. Countries are rich whose governments have policies which encourage the essential creativity of man who, in order to succeed, must work with others to produce goods and services which people choose to buy. So Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and so on have no natural resources, but are now among the most prosperous countries in the world.”

The very tragic decline of Venezuela — a socialist State — is a textbook lesson in how not to govern a country. Amid the heated discussions about the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, which forced him and his wife out of the Bolivarian Republic, and the very obvious geopolitical consequences, especially for countries like Jamaica, we must not lose sight of a very crucial factor: Misleadership!

Consider these facts from World Statistics: Venezuela is #1 in the world with respect to proven oil reserves. She has some 303.9 billion barrels. Venezuela is a founder and member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). She is ranked #7 globally regarding biodiversity.

Regarding freshwater availability (per capita) Venezuela is ranked at #7 worldwide. In relation to hydropower potential, Venezuela is seeded at #8. She is graded at #16 in relation to iron ore reserves. The Bolivarian Republic is ranked #16 with respect proven and estimated gold reserves. And, regarding the very critical resource of maritime access, Venezuela is ranked at #9 globally.

How is it that a country so immensely rich in natural resources can be so poor at the same time? This is a question that must feature prominently in the minds of citizens in countries like Jamaica — who are genuinely interested in how leadership, or the lack thereof, massively helps determine the social and economic life chances of people.

Ponder this insightful excerpt from the The Economist, carried in a piece entitled ‘Unfed and unwashed: How Chavismo makes the taps run dry’. The article stated, among other things: “It is the rainy season in Caracas and the reservoirs are full. But most of the 5.3 million people who live in and near the city have not had regular running water for at least a month. Venezuela is an oil-rich country that cannot pay for food and medicines. Now its autocratic regime is showing that it can create shortages even when nature provides abundance.

“ ‘I’ve forgotten what it is like to bathe in running water,’ says Soledad Rodríguez, a graphic designer.

“Drier parts of Venezuela have both water shortages and power cuts. Domenico Clara, who runs a bakery in Maracaibo, capital of the oil industry, says power is cut off five to seven times a day. Without refrigeration, ingredients spoil, electronic payment systems don’t work, so customers can’t pay. [There is a shortage of cash, too.]” (The Economist, May 10, 2018)

How is it that a country so immensely rich in natural resources can be so poor at the same time?

According to The Economist of January 28, 2017, “In 2001 Venezuela was the richest country in South America; it is now among the poorest.” Why? As I see it, the tragic but preventable decline of the Venezuela economy and the veritable decimation of the life chances of nearly 24 million people can be traced directly to rank governmental ineptitude, gargantuan-type corruption, and an extremely foolish fixation with socialist ideology, undergirded by asinine hubris and misleadership on steroids.

We in Jamaica — and other especially small and developing economies — should “tek sleep and mark death”, as we say in local parlance. Otto Von Bismarck, who is most famous for his role in German unification, said: “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others and tries not to repeat them… Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

I said here previously, but it bears repeating: International benchmarks tell us there is no successful socialist country on the Earth. None!

I seriously doubt there will ever be any, either. And, again, for those who are quick to draw for the Scandinavian countries, don’t. Those countries are not socialist. I, long ago, dispelled that myth in this space. As a matter of fact, during the period when some of the Scandinavian nations experimented with socialism there was near-social and economic ruin.

Socialism, no matter how socialists try to wrap themselves in all sorts of convoluted disguise to hide their true antecedents, is the control of the production, distribution, and exchange of goods and services by the State. Numerous scholarly works from globally renowned authors have shown that socialism is antithetical to human nature.

I anticipate that some will cite China as a successful socialist State. China is a communist country with a greatly mediated capitalist economic infrastructure.

MADURO’S REPRESSION

“Ah, yes, we catch you Higgins,” some will bellow. “ ‘Simultaneously, let us not fool ourselves for a moment, the fact is: Left to some, the so-called invisible hand of the market will almost always clap in one direction. That direction is always to the decided advantage of the well-to-dos.’ You, Higgins said this in this space last year,” they will shout.

Those who will draw for the mentioned reference should honestly ask themselves a simple question: Did Nicolás Maduro set about strategically building and implementing the kinds of democratic guard rails that would protect and edify the lives and livelihoods of especially ordinary Venezuelans?

There is a mountain of evidence which proves Maduro did no such thing. He did the very opposite.

Let me show how by going back to the stealing of the national election in Venezuela in 2018.

In May 2018 Nicolás Maduro and his regime presided over another so-called election which most of the international community described as a mockery of democracy. A story by the
Associated Press (AP)on May 21, 2018 said, among other things: “A growing roster of nations condemned Venezuela’s presidential election Monday and threatened to ramp up diplomatic and economic pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s already embattled Government.

“A coalition of 14 nations from throughout the Americas, including Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, pledged to scale back diplomatic relations with Venezuela and urge international organisations not to issue Venezuela any new credit.

“Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy decried the vote as not respecting ‘minimal democratic standards’, and vowed to consult with European counterparts on new measures in hopes of ‘easing the suffering of Venezuelans’.”

Agence France-Presse ( AFP) filed a story which was republished in this newspaper. It said inter alia: “Venezuela’s Opposition-controlled National Assembly declared Nicolás Maduro’s presidency illegitimate Saturday, calling on the military to support efforts to ‘restore democracy’.

“ ‘We reaffirm the illegitimacy of Nicolás Maduro,’ the assembly’s new president, Juan Guaido, said as he was sworn in at the start of a new legislative session.

“ ‘As of January 10, he will be usurping the presidency, and consequently this National Assembly is the only legitimate representative of the people.’ ” (Jamaica Observer, January 5, 2019)

On January 6, 2019, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported among other things:

“Venezuela Supreme Court judge Christian Zerpa has fled to the US to protest over President Nicolás Maduro’s second term in office.

“Last year’s election ‘was not free and competitive’, the former Maduro loyalist told a Florida radio station. And he accused President Maduro of systematically manipulating the affairs of the Supreme Court.”

Zerpa is not the only one fleeing Venezuela. A BBC report of December 30, 2018 filed this grim story: ‘Venezuela: The country that has lost three million people’.

“In Venezuela, the discussion about how long to stay, or where to flee, and how to begin a new life is never far from many people’s minds.

“ ‘Every time I visit the country there are fewer friends and contacts to catch up with,’ wrote Katy Watson, BBC South America correspondent.

“An estimated 5,000 people pack up their lives and leave every day, eager to flee the economic collapse and humanitarian crisis which has beset the oil-rich nation. More than three million people have fled Venezuela in recent years. According to the UN, that number is expected to rise to more than five million by the end of 2019.

“The vast majority of Venezuelans travel to other parts of South America. More than a million Venezuelans have chosen neighbouring Colombia as their new home, with half a million more travelling through it on their way further south to Ecuador, Peru, and the countries beyond.

“The lucky ones, those with connections, family members already established, and [have] an education have found work in other parts. But I’ve also met plenty of former professionals selling water or food on the streets of Peru and Colombia to make ends meet.”

Despite incontestable evidence that Maduro’s election was anything but free or fair and/or free from fear, recall that then Leader of the Opposition Dr Peter Phillips and the People’s National Party (PNP) jumped out in full support of Maduro.

Recall that a release from the PNP on May 28, 2018 said, among other things: “The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has extended congratulations to Nicolás Maduro on his re-election as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at the national polls on May 20.” What reasonable conclusions can be drawn? An unflinching commitment to socialist ideology was evidently far more important than humanity. State repression is not State repression when apparently done by fraternal socialists. Crude oil is more precious than the blood of some of humankind.

Mark Golding, PNP president and the leader of Opposition, told this newspaper that he is a socialist. We must ‘tek sleep and mark death’.

RESOURCES VERSUS WEALTH

Margaret Thatcher was right: “Countries are not rich in proportion to their natural resources.”

We have squandered a lot of our natural resources over the last 63 years. The many millions earned from the bauxite levy were mostly wasted. Jamaicans have become poorer, weaker, and less respected as a consequence. Who was held responsible? Nobody!

Consider this, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore have few natural resources but have achieved wealth through heavy investments in education, technology, manufacturing, and strong governance.

Compare those countries with Nigeria, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Chad, etc. These countries have been blessed with immense natural resources. But because of decades of corruption and misleadership some have already crossed the ignominious threshold of failed State.

I don’t buy into the notion that the ‘resource curse’ is real. If it were, why did the leaders of a country like Norway, which discovered oil in 1969, have the foresight to create a sovereign wealth fund that essentially protects the country’s oil wealth from politicians who, left to their own devices, would engage in nonstop corruption?

Guyana has also established a sovereign wealth fund called the Natural Resource Fund (NRF), similar to Norway’s model, to manage its booming oil revenues, but its implementation and focus differ, with recent legislative changes allowing for more immediate spending on national development rather than solely long-term savings, unlike Norway’s stricter, long-term investment approach.

I shed no tears for misleaders like Maduro. He mismanaged Venezuela’s human and natural resources. Maduro has left Venezuela in a worse state than when he inherited it. I am saddened by reports in the media that 40 people were killed during his capture. These people may have been alive today if Maduro had surrendered earlier.

I hope Venezuela can now regain her former glory.

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com

Venezuela is #1 in the world with respect to proven oil reserves.

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