Forces Driving More
than rebuild worn-out engines, roadside stands sold bottles of motor oil
poured from large oil drums.
In San Cristóbal, we spent an afternoon with a family who were close
friends with my daughter Melissa. The father, Daniel, owner of a small
business, was engaging and well read. As we talked about professions,
cultures, and interests, I shared my observations about the differences
in agriculture and food in Venezuela and Colombia, and I asked him for
his insights.
He referred back to a time, decades ago, when farming and food were
central to the lives of Venezuelans. Back then, he noted, the country
shared much in common with Colombia, before each chose a differ-
ent path to prosperity. A fast-growing industrialized world wanted
oil, and Venezuela was sitting atop plentiful reserves, easily accessible.
Extracting and selling oil became the country’s future. The easy money
it brought in changed the way people lived; standards of living increased.
With such ample petroleum reserves so readily available, the gov-
ernment was less concerned with promoting farming and domestic food
production. To bring in additional revenue, more crude oil was pumped
out of the ground and additional money flowed in. Whether Vene-
zuelans produced their own food or imported it from other countries,
access to food was easy. So while Colombia kept its eye on domestic food
production, Venezuela’s attention turned elsewhere.
As a country, Venezuela was at the beginning of the end, Daniel
remarked. Remaining petroleum reserves were less accessible. Extrac-
tion costs were increasing while prices were softening. Profits flowing
back into the economy were declining. Rather than face new realities,
the government stayed the course, which explained why oil products
domestically were so inexpensive. Venezuelans had grown accustomed
to cheap oil. Like consumers anywhere, he added, they liked it that way.
Daniel was not optimistic that the country would remember when
producing food was central to how people lived. Domestic prosperity
sustained by extracting crude oil had pushed all that aside. The only
solution people could see was higher-paying jobs to buy more food and
lead better lives. He feared that because the economy had relied on
petroleum for so many years that Venezuelans no longer retained any
historical memory. And now they faced an uncertain future. “Oil has
been our curse,” he concluded.