Been thinking 'bout.....Venezuelan oil

There has been a lot of talk about Venezuelan oil since the Maduro snatch. Most of the chatter has been about the potential value of Venezuelan oil in the international market, and the value of that oil to American oil companies. The estimated big numbers are in hundreds of billions if not trillions. I believe those estimates are probable and represent an opportunity for the United States to improve our relations with the nations in Central and South America. We have a successful, permanent fund (PFD) model in Alaska that can make the opportunity a reality.

Several years ago, I was able to spend a couple days in Juneau, Alaska, with the publisher of a newspaper there. As political junkies, we talked about the similarities, and differences, in Alaska and North Carolina politics and policies. Three differences that stand out are the size of Alaska (biggest state in area), oil revenue (NC has none) and population (NC 9th in the US-Alaska 48th). One similarity is biannual budget issues…but THE budget issue in Alaska is often how much of the oil revenue to distribute to each and every Alaskan. Questions about how much money is actually available for distribution, why more money isn’t available, and who is truly a resident of Alaska are the spice of partisan debate for a couple months. The differences are resolved, concessions are made, and the dividend checks go out.

The opportunity for America is to require that the Alaskan oil revenue sharing model be mandatory in Venezuela. That would not be easy and wouldn’t amount to a great deal of individual income. While Venezuela is only half the size of Alaska in territory, its population is about 30 million versus under one million. The actual money distribution isn’t the key, what is significant is a guaranteed return to each Venezuelan from extracted, non-renewable resources. A guarantee backed by a neighbor, the United States, based upon a working model. I hope this option becomes a chip in the game currently wagered between our two nations.

Of course, there are significant difficulties in disbursing a few dollars in Venezuelan currency (Venezuelan Bolivar-VES) to 30 million people but the American IRS knows how to do that. There will be inflationary rate, and exchange rate, differences. There are costs related to identifying accurate citizenship, accurate censuses, and record-keeping. All these problems can be overcome by a demand to make it work fairly for all. I think about difficult challenges that America has solved in other parts of the world because it was in our best interests to do so. We solved the Berlin Airlift problem by building a second airport and flying in round-the-clock. We supported the rebuilding of Japan after we had reduced much of it to rubble. Surely we can help individual Venezuelans enjoy some benefits from their natural resources.

As always, there is another side to this coin. This could become just another hand-out from a government that weakens a need to work and provides money for drugs, alcohol, gambling, or a car that gets repossessed in a month. America has a long history of trying a help others, and a long history of failures, but Venezuela is a southern neighbor of national interest. The US needs to try to find a way to put some money from resource extraction in the pocket of every Venezuelan…that would send a clearer message than aircraft carriers and courtroom trials.