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Venezuela president takes control of oil revenue

Dunya News

Venezuela president Hugo Chavez has taken control of oil revenue under his direct control.

Venezuela has created a swath of opaque and loosely regulated state investment funds that put a growing share of the countrys oil revenue under the direct control of President Chavez.The largest of these funds, Fonden, has received close to $100 billion since its creation in 2005.The following are some of the funds created under Chavezs government to channel cash into economic development projects meant to advance his self-styled socialist revolution.Unless otherwise noted, they have no website and do not provide detailed disclosure of expenditures. The finance ministry did not respond to requests for additional details.Socialist Efficiency Fund - Created to receive dividends from state companies like nationalized telecommunications firm CANTV along with smaller government enterprises such as a rice production venture. The official description provides few details of what projects will be financed. One government official told state media it can provide funding for any plan that helps deepen the revolutionary process.During a live broadcast in August, Chavez called the president of state-owned Banco Bicentenario seeking its first semester dividends to deposit in the fund.Where are they right now? Bring them to me, dont leave them stuffed away somewhere Chavez exclaimed upon hearing the bank had declared the equivalent of $34 million in dividends.Funds with Libya, Syria, Belarus - Chavez has created funds with a range of politically allied nations.In 2010, Venezuela created a joint fund with Libya through an agreement signed with the late Muammar Gaddafi. Chavez remained one of Gaddafis most vocal supporters throughout the 2011 rebellion that ultimately killed him, in contrast to calls by Western leaders that Gaddafi step down. The fund was slated to receive up to $500 million from each country.The foreign ministry did not respond to a message asking if the fund was ever activated.Syria created a joint fund with Venezuela in 2010 that was meant to receive $50 million from each side. Venezuela has shipped diesel to Syria this year, helping it undermine Western sanctions that have been strengthened during more than a year of violent confrontation between the government and rebels seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.Chavez also created a joint fund with Belarus, whose President Alexander Lukashenko has been portrayed by European critics as the continents last dictator. The fund received a$400 million loan from Fonden, according to an internal Fonden document.