Chávez wins the elections in 2002. After this, signatures start being collected in 2003 to request a referendum to have him step down.
Government finds out which employees of PDVSA (the State’s oil company) signed in favor of the referendum, violating the right of a private vote defended by the constitution, and has them fired.
Obviously, the country still required the company to produce, so they replaced expertise and experience with political loyalty, which is also the reason production has declined ever since.
Source: My dad was one of them.
Bonus fact #1: the list of signatures against Chávez is called the “Tascón List”, and was used to ensure the fired employees weren’t in the payroll of any oil companies, including foreign ones with permits to exploit, by threats of steep fines and remotion of such permits.
Bonus fact #2: same thing happened with Maisanta, the so-called “Socialist Company of Agricultural Production and Development” in 2004 (Source).
Bonus fact #3: Same thing happened again in 2016, when calling for a referendum to have Nicolás Maduro step down (Source in Spanish).
DRamos11 t1_j8htjco wrote
Reply to comment by AquaNeutral_ in [OC] New Mexico Now Produces More Oil Than Mexico & Venezuela by latinometrics
Chávez wins the elections in 2002. After this, signatures start being collected in 2003 to request a referendum to have him step down.
Government finds out which employees of PDVSA (the State’s oil company) signed in favor of the referendum, violating the right of a private vote defended by the constitution, and has them fired.
Obviously, the country still required the company to produce, so they replaced expertise and experience with political loyalty, which is also the reason production has declined ever since.
Source: My dad was one of them.
Bonus fact #1: the list of signatures against Chávez is called the “Tascón List”, and was used to ensure the fired employees weren’t in the payroll of any oil companies, including foreign ones with permits to exploit, by threats of steep fines and remotion of such permits.
Bonus fact #2: same thing happened with Maisanta, the so-called “Socialist Company of Agricultural Production and Development” in 2004 (Source).
Bonus fact #3: Same thing happened again in 2016, when calling for a referendum to have Nicolás Maduro step down (Source in Spanish).