Chavez's expropriation of oil service firms could spark labor unrest

Now the stage is being set for a confrontation between Chavez and the local power structure, including unions, management and local government, with PDVSA’s oil production activities caught in the middle. Oil production, which has fallen 25 percent during Chavez’s time in office, could slide still further and weaken the national economy.

Political unrest could be around the corner. PDVSA has promised to hire 8,000 of the workers laid off from the private companies. But PDVSA is moving at a snail’s pace, apparently in part because, according to workers, it’s conducting background checks to ensure that they don’t have a demonstrated record of opposing Chavez.
The governor, Pablo Perez, charged that Chavez’s expropriations have led to a “job massacre.” Perez is under pressure from Chavez, with government prosecutors investigating corruption charges against him that he called groundless. It’s only two months since Manuel Rosales, Zulia’s most prominent politician and Perez’s predecessor, fled into exile to avoid similar charges.

Meanwhile, Chavez supporters are accusing Diario La Verdad, the Zulia newspaper that doesn’t follow the government’s line, of engaging in “media terrorism.”

However, it’s the prospect of losing their jobs that worries tens of thousands of workers in the oil-dependent towns along the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo. They ferry workers to the oil rigs, man the docks, work as janitors and the like.

“It could blow up in a month, a month and a half,” said German Cortez, who heads a local union. “If people are hungry, they’ll hit the streets.”

Miami Herald