Chavez Should Think Twice Before Cutting Ties With U.S.
By Pedro A. Palma
May 28, 2005
http://www.watchingamerica.com/eluniversalvz000002.htmlA new surprise was contained in President Chávez’ recent announcement: that Venezuela’s diplomatic ties with the United States could be revised if the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to our country does not take place. Without entering into the legal or moral justifications of such a move, I believe that to condition the relations we have traditionally maintained with that nation on the consummation of this extradition is excessive and out of order.
Limiting myself strictly to economics, it is worth remembering that a rupture in relations
could have devastating consequences for our economy, because it would risk much more that it would appear at first glance. In order to understand why I say this, it is worth mentioning that more than 50% of the hydrocarbons we export go directly to that country, amounting to sales surpassing $2 billion this year. Before we stray from being the reliable supplier we are today, it is important to recall that it would be much easier for North America to replace us as a petroleum provider than it would be for us to replace them as clients because, among other reasons, the acid content of our heavy crude requires some very unusual and very expensive refinery infrastructure, a good percentage of which is located in the United States.
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