Word: chavez
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Venezuela's revolutionaries never did seize that stage by arms. They took it via votes, when left-wing President Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998. Rodriguez became Energy Minister and then in 2002 won the role of his dreams as president of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the nation's $46 billion state-run oil monopoly and one of the U.S.'s top three suppliers. Instead of theorizing from a mountain lair, Rodriguez is perched in an office above Caracas, helping shape the world oil market. "I never imagined I'd be sitting here," Rodriguez tells TIME. "But then...
...antipoverty initiatives ranging from potable-water to literacy projects. Making PDVSA (called Pedevesa) an oil firm cum development agency will be daunting, even with crude prices hovering near $40 a bbl. Venezuela's oil industry has been waylaid by political turmoil, including a reckless near shutdown by anti-Chavez managers and other employees at PDVSA in 2002 and 2003, intended to paralyze the industry and force Chavez's resignation. The stoppage, which Rodriguez calls "sabotage," at one point slashed the nation's oil output to a scant 50,000 bbl. a day and cost the economy well over $7 billion...
...nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). In past decades, to please consumers in the U.S.--PDVSA's biggest market, which buys two-thirds of its exports--Venezuela often ignored OPEC's guidelines, stepping up production even when oil prices hit rock bottom in the late 1990s. But Chavez, a harsh critic of the U.S. who accuses the Bush Administration of backing a failed coup against him in 2002--a charge the White House denies--has led a successful campaign to revive a demoralized OPEC, curtailing Venezuelan production to gain what Rodriguez calls "fairer prices...
...Chavez--who faces a national recall referendum on Aug. 15--warned the U.S. this year that he'll turn off the oil spigot if the Bush Administration threatens to invade Venezuela over either politics or oil. U.S. officials dismiss that notion as absurd, but Rodriguez echoes the concern: "Many people here fear what happened in Iraq could happen to Venezuela." Still, Rodriguez, an attorney and a classical-music lover, emphasizes that Venezuela "doesn't want price volatility" and wants to continue being the U.S.'s most reliable supplier. "There is no contradiction between a strong alliance with OPEC," he says...
...Energy Minister, Rodriguez quickly made PDVSA more subservient to both the government and OPEC, which elected him secretary-general in 2001. PDVSA has also supplied Chavez ally Fidel Castro more than 54,000 bbl. a day on favorable finance terms. The politicized atmosphere at PDVSA--many workers say devotion to the Chavez revolution is a job requirement--helped provoke the 2002 strike. Says Ignacio Layrisse, who was afterward fired as production manager: "Ali Rodriguez may be a smart and capable man, but he's just a has-been lefty carrying out Chavez's plans to turn PDVSA into a mediocre...