Opposition to your government is ripping Venezuela apart right now. What are you doing to improve the situation?
The country has been divided for a long time [between] a privileged minority and the poor. That’s a very dangerous split. We are fostering a peaceful revolution to reunify the country in the social and economic arena. The fact that we have an opposition is not a matter of concern. On the contrary, it clearly indicates that we are a free country, where people can express their disagreement. If you disagree you have the right to protest on the streets, organize meetings–that’s a democracy. We can be different, and have different views. That doesn’t mean that we are going to fight to death. If we are rational enough, we can coexist in the same country.
Oil makes up four fifths of your exports, and maintaining high prices is clearly important to your economic policy. How do you reconcile that with consumer concerns in the United States that oil prices are too steep?
We are a member of OPEC, and the OPEC policy is our policy. The aim is to [maintain] a price balance in the market [so we can be] a secure source of oil for the world, and continue exploring for new fields. People might think that low oil prices are good for the United States, but you forget that America also produces oil. It produces even more than Venezuela does. I’ve met people who produce oil in the U.S., and they are very thankful that Venezuela has been able to revive the price of oil. Three years ago small oil producers in the U.S. were shutting down wells because they could not keep on producing with such a low price.
What is your answer to critics who note that three years into your government, more people than ever, about 60 percent of the population, live below the poverty line?
Venezuela has a structure of poverty. We won’t solve that in three years. We have devoted a lot of resources to help the poor, and these have had a positive impact. We have created a women’s bank, which has given loans to thousands of poor women. That means that we benefit not only [them], but the children of those women, the family as a whole. We are transforming poor neighborhoods, so instead of having shanty housing with dirt floors and cardboard walls and wood boards for a roof we are building solid houses, with all the services–running water, electricity. We are building schools.
Are you concerned that the economic problems facing Venezuela at the moment will erode your support among the poor?
Of course if we do not take measures, our support will erode. However, we are already handling the situation. It is true that this year inflation will increase, to around 30 percent. It will be the highest level over the last three years of my government. But this is equivalent to the lowest level attained by the previous government, which had average inflation of around 50 percent. When I became president, [unemployment] was 18 percent. Well, a year ago in December it reached 11 percent, and now it is 15 percent.
How are you reconciling the tensions that you have with corporate interests in Venezuela?
There has not been a divorce between us and the corporate world in Venezuela. There are some sectors of the corporate world that have always been in very close contact with the government. However, there are other groups that decided to divorce entirely from the government, and they are defending their own privileges. We are working [with them] in a very patient manner.
