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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0333

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 001995 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON VE
SUBJECT: CO-MANAGEMENT IN VENEZUELA: THE CRACKS ARE 
STARTING TO SHOW 
 
REF: CARACAS 1209 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU)  In early 2005, President Chavez hailed 
"co-management" (a management model that distributes company 
ownership among the government, workers and/or original 
owners) as a powerful initiative to make the economy more 
"human" and "productive."  Sixteen months later, a single 
successful BRV co-managed company remains to be seen. 
Invepal, an expropriated paper mill, made recent headlines 
when the workers' cooperative accused the company's board of 
corruption.  The Minister of Light Industry and Commerce, 
visibly irritated by the allegations, said that the company 
would take three years to turn a profit (it's barely breaking 
even today).  Other companies, such as an aluminum and steel 
plant, a sugar mill and a valve factory, are either awaiting 
legal hurdles to adopt the co-management model or are not yet 
operating months after their restructuring.  The BRV, blaming 
"red tape" for the delays, is proposing legal reforms that 
would make it easier to apply the co-management structure to 
ailing private companies.  The BRV's play to blue-collar 
workers -- promising them a stake in the company and job 
security -- is starting to backfire, as the co-management 
model fails to deliver.   End summary. 
 
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Scandal in a paper mill 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  In January 2005, President Chavez expropriated 
Venepal, a paper mill in Carabobo state that filed for 
bankruptcy in 2004, and hailed it would be reopened as a 
"co-managed" firm.  He added that "the success of the 
co-management model is dependent on Invepal's success." 
(Note: Co-management is not a clearly defined term, but 
generally means a company that is co-owned by the government, 
workers, and/or original owners.  End Note.)  With a USD 6.1 
million capital infusion, the BRV renamed the mill Invepal 
and assumed 51 percent ownership, leaving 49 percent to 
workers organized under the company's cooperative, Covinpa. 
The company currently employs 620 workers (capacity is 2,000) 
and as of May 2006, reportedly earned USD 511,267 in profits 
with a sales revenue of USD 10.4 million (50 percent of sales 
are to the public sector). 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  On June 21, the President of Covinpa, Ramon 
Lagardera, announced that the company's former board 
(majority BRV, minority Covinpa) had "lost" USD 418,000 and 
was responsible for multiple "irregularities."  The Minister 
of Light Industry and Commerce (MILCO), Maria Cristina 
Iglesias (also former Minister of Labor), took visible 
offense to the allegations, declaring that Lagardera "perhaps 
doesn't understand what co-management means," and that she 
had seen no proof of corruption.  Months ago, the prior board 
financed three audits (costing the large sum of USD 45,000), 
which Lagardera said came from money to renovate the 
company's chemical lab.  The results of the audits have not 
been disclosed, and current Covinpa board members say they've 
never received a company financial statement.  SUNACOOP, the 
Superintendency for Cooperatives, confirmed on June 27 that 
during a November 2005 spot audit they discovered 
"administrative irregularities" in Covinpa. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Does successful co-management exist? 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to MILCO, 139 companies adopted the 
co-management model in 2005 (there are around 260 total 
according to legal experts), and six are co-owned by the BRV, 
but none are visible success stories.  Alcasa, the aluminum 
processing plant hailed as the flagship example of 
co-management, reported losses of USD 56.7 million in 2005 
(despite a USD 210 million BRV investment) and vicious 
infighting on the board has prompted an unhappy and 
politicized worker base.  Invetex (formerly Hilanderia 
Tinaquillo), a textile mill, turned to co-management in May 
 
CARACAS 00001995  002 OF 002 
 
 
2005, when the BRV provided  USD 1.6 million to re-open the 
plant.  The original owners, the Mishkin family, kept 49 
percent of shares with an agreement to let workers 
participate in plant management.  Over a year later, the 
plant is not yet operational, and the Mishkins nearly 
abandoned the venture when SENIAT, the Customs and Tax 
Agency, kept delaying a tax exemption due to them based on 
their adoption of the co-management model. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Other high-profile co-management attempts, such as 
the Sideroca steel plant in Zulia, the Inveval valve factory 
in Miranda, and the Cumanacoa Sugar Mill in Sucre, have 
either underperformed or are awaiting the culmination of 
legal processes allowing the switch to co-management (Ref A). 
 On June 23, Vice-President Rangel announced the purchase of 
two Parmalat dairy plants.  The National Assembly, after 
reading a report on the plants, suggested forming worker 
cooperatives and operating under co-management.  (Note: 
reportedly, these plants are already problematic -- one 
cannot ensure a steady supply of raw materials and the other 
has significant employee productivity issues.  End Note.) 
 
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Blame for underperformance 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  To account for Invepal's poor performance, Iglesias 
declared publicly that MILCO had "planned it that way" and 
that the company wouldn't show profits until the third year 
of operation.  Other BRV officials often blame overly 
bureacratic regulations for delays --  MILCO has suggested 
reforming the Commerce Code to make it easier for the BRV to 
take control of bankrupt companies.  In May 2006, Chavez 
decreed a change to the Organic Labor Law so that companies 
would be subject to co-management if they fired a large 
number of workers based on economic difficulty.  Prior to the 
decree, companies usually turned to co-management only after 
declaring complete bankruptcy or shuttering operations. 
 
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Comment 
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¶7. (SBU)  In February 2005, Chavez said that co-management 
would bring forth a "human, social, productive, and 
egalitarian economy." Sixteen months later, Invepal is 
embroiled in a corruption scandal and is only breaking even. 
Though many co-managed companies nationwide are operating, 
none co-owned by the BRV seem to be proving successful.  If 
there are examples of successful co-management without the 
BRV, none have been publicly acclaimed.  The "threat" of 
applying co-management forcefully has hampered the private 
sector's freedom to declare bankruptcy or fire workers.  As 
with other "Bolivarian" business models (such as cooperatives 
and Social Production Enterprises), productivity, 
sustainability and positive revenues seem to be secondary 
concerns for the BRV, which just keeps pumping money into 
enterprises based on their "pro-worker" management structure 
and social development model.  In BRV co-management, the 
cracks are starting to show.  End Comment. 
BROWNFIELD