A new group of well intention academicians who want to help those countries blessed with natural resources to transform these in development and wealth for their citizens has recently been created. This group will summarize its conclusions in something named “The Natural Resource Charter”.
Just like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI, one of its guiding principles is that helping make more transparent the information of the origin and destiny of the funds obtained from the natural resources, will make the citizens request better results. Forget it!
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that we are anchored in an infamous oil feudalism where or feudal lord on duty keeps all the seeds and shares out what is left or what he has digested. More transparency would be like the tortured clamoring for their rights to also be seeing how they extract their fingernails.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that the most we can expect substituting for the feudal lord on duty with another from the same tribe of the getoutoftheway-toplacemyselfs is that he will hopefully do just what the previous did a little bit better, though always running the risk he will do it worse.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that our lives are wasted fighting among each other for a share in our own net oil results, wallowing in a sort of eternal piñata at the feet of the benevolent on duty who distractedly observes us with a sarcastic smile.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that instead of a feudal system that administers our own net oil results we need a normal government that governs our country.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that we are much better off trusting each one of us a little, instead of trusting a chief so much that we elevated him to be our feudal lord.
In conclusion we Venezuelans do not need the slightest bit of more transparency to be absolutely sure that what we most need is the strength and will to free ourselves from this feudal oil state in which we are trapped by requesting they give us our oil results directly, so that we can plant them… instead of discussing so many stupidities and believing in so many pregnant birds.
Translated from “El Universal” Caracas, Venezuela, April 9 2009.
Just like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI, one of its guiding principles is that helping make more transparent the information of the origin and destiny of the funds obtained from the natural resources, will make the citizens request better results. Forget it!
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that we are anchored in an infamous oil feudalism where or feudal lord on duty keeps all the seeds and shares out what is left or what he has digested. More transparency would be like the tortured clamoring for their rights to also be seeing how they extract their fingernails.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that the most we can expect substituting for the feudal lord on duty with another from the same tribe of the getoutoftheway-toplacemyselfs is that he will hopefully do just what the previous did a little bit better, though always running the risk he will do it worse.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that our lives are wasted fighting among each other for a share in our own net oil results, wallowing in a sort of eternal piñata at the feet of the benevolent on duty who distractedly observes us with a sarcastic smile.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that instead of a feudal system that administers our own net oil results we need a normal government that governs our country.
We Venezuelans do not need more transparency to be absolutely sure that we are much better off trusting each one of us a little, instead of trusting a chief so much that we elevated him to be our feudal lord.
In conclusion we Venezuelans do not need the slightest bit of more transparency to be absolutely sure that what we most need is the strength and will to free ourselves from this feudal oil state in which we are trapped by requesting they give us our oil results directly, so that we can plant them… instead of discussing so many stupidities and believing in so many pregnant birds.
Translated from “El Universal” Caracas, Venezuela, April 9 2009.
