VENEZUELA is y2k FINE

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Venezuelas President Hugo Chavez spoke to the Nation last night on national TV.

He mentioned Y2K for the first time. He says that everything is fine and the country will have no problems after the rollover. I think he has not done his homework.

I know a lot about the situation and I think he did this to save his image..........

-- Worried Citizen (Ihate@lie.com), September 17, 1999

Answers

I wasn't long ago that the government of Venezuela announced that they needed a billion dollars or so to proceed with y2k remediation. Did they raise the money? Has the y2k remediation begun?

-- Danny (dcox@ix.netcom.com), September 17, 1999.

(1) I do not believe that this gentleman is quite telling the truth. As was mentioned in the previous post, the remediation effort was (is) WAY behind, and underfunded to boot!

(2) The U.S. receives a considerable amount of oil from Venezuela. If we were to lose this (or similar volume of) supply, prices would rise or rationing would be imposed. Or both!

(3) Having some petrochemical end products (fuel, oil, kerosine) safely stored would appear to be a responsible, prudent action.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 17, 1999.


http://travel.state.gov/venezuela.html

[snip]

Venezuela is reliant on computerized systems and is aware of the potential impact of Y2K. Venezuela appears to be somewhat prepared to deal with the Y2K problem and is concentrating its efforts on contingency planning. In Venezuela, it appears that there is a moderate risk of potential disruption in the electric power sector, which could have implications for all other local sectors. U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Venezuela in late 1999 or early 2000 should be aware of potential difficulties.

It is difficult to predict the severity or duration of Y2K-related disruptions. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should take practical precautions, anticipate the potential for disruption to their daily activities, and be prepared to cope with the impact of such disruptions.

[snip]

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), September 17, 1999.


I think the following article is about the speech that Worried Citizen was referring to. Interesting that this speech was made just two days after the State Department information was released...

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990917/vn.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Friday September 17, 12:37 pm Eastern Time

Venezuela ready for Y2K bug - president Chavez

CARACAS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ruled out any major problems due to year 2000 computer problems and said the country's massive oil industry was 100 percent updated to counter the so-called Y2K bug.

``There won't be any large problems in Venezuela because we are taking preventive measures,'' Chavez said during his twice- monthly television program ``Face to Face with the President'' on Thursday evening.

Venezuelan government officials had warned earlier this year that the country was well behind on adjusting its computer systems to counter a programming shortcut which prevents some computers from distinguishing 2000 from 1900.

But Chavez said the oil sector in the world's third largest oil exporter was totally updated and the banking sector was almost ready to handle the year 2000 date change without problems.

``We want to guarantee the Venezuelan people that we are minimizing the risk of the year 2000 effect,'' he said.

Speaking on the same program, the Director of Venezuela's Year 2000 Action Commission Gustavo Mendez said Venezuelan defense systems had also been updated but acknowledged ``some small problems'' in the electricity sector.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that Venezuela was ``somewhat'' prepared for the Y2K bug but faced a ``moderate'' risk of power cuts.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), September 17, 1999.


I lurk but rarely post here...anyway, a personal friend of longstanding is doing Y2K remediation work for a major Venezuelan bank. This fellow is British and has seen the problem from both sides of the Atlantic. In his words, "they don't have a bloody chance." Nonetheless, he says he's going through the motions but plans to be back home well before the rollover. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Good luck

Doc

-- T.H. "Doc" Toups (ttoups@aol.com), September 17, 1999.



Thanks Doc. Has he shared anything about British interests?

Mike

=====================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), September 17, 1999.


Y2k has been fixed in Venezuela and everything is fine.

My hair is on fire and everything is fine.

Ok now here is the tough one.

Your hair is on fire and everything is fine.

That went very well.

Now, I will count backwards from three to one.

When I reach one, you will wake up, feeling refreshed.

Three, two, one. Wake up.

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 17, 1999.


Good one, no talking. I will steal that concept for future use. Thanks.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), September 18, 1999.

I'll take issue with the statement that this is the first time Chavez has mentioned y2k. Maybe its the first time in that particular forum but I can recall him bagging on his predecessor for not doing squat for y2k. He came into office in Feb. He made the above referenced request for y2k remediation funds and said he inherited a big problem.

I do know their oil companies are ahead of the rest of Venz society on remediation. The Venz are a little different because on top of the 1.2 m bls/d of crude exported to the US, they are our largest supplier of imported gasoline @ +380,000 bls / day. I've wondered if their oil companies and refineries are compliant yet the rest of Venz society isn't, how long would their oil operations continue to operate? Like most 3rd world operations, I assume their refineries have internal aux power sources.

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), September 18, 1999.


You may also recall that Venezuela is the country that was planning to hire psychologists to help frame the Y2K situation in sufficiently calm terms that the local population would not panic. It's been nearly 5 years since I had the dubious honor of visiting Caracas, but I've never seen a population so distrustful of their banks (apparently for good reason). So one of the concerns is that if there is any hint of Y2K trouble, everyone will remove what little money they've got in the banks, and begin some level of stockpiling and hoarding.

Meanwhile, as someone else noted earlier in this thread, Venezuela is one of the countries (along with Iraq and Russia) that has asked the international community for approx $3 billion in funding to "solve" the Y2K problem. The World Bank or IMF may have given them some pocket change, but I doubt if it was much.

Aside from banks and oil, which we foreigners might be concerned about, there is also the serious risk of an infrastructure collapse. Caracas has an infrastructure (sewage, water, etc.) that was apparently designed for a population of approx 3 million; but the period of prosperity caused by the oil boom in the 80s(?) attracted another 3 or 4 million peasants from the surrounding countryside. These poor folks live in shacks and cardboard houses in the area immediately surrounding Caracas, and even without Y2K, they put an enormous strain on the infrastructure. If Y2K causes additional problems with water supply, power outages, sewage, etc., I think it will be a mess.

Again, these impressions are based on some visits 5 years ago. The infrastructure situation could have improved since then ... but it could also have gotten worse. In any case, Caracas is one of the many large cities around the world (along with Rome, Moscow, etc etc) that I would NOT want to be on New Year's Eve.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (HumptyDumptyY2K@yourdon.com), September 18, 1999.



Ed, In your second paragraph- You mean Russia and IRAN don't you or did Iraq also make such a request? Lets see, Russia exports 2 M bls/d of crude and until recently nearly 2 mil bls a day of distillates, Iran produces nearly 4 mil bls a day with backpressure problems on their reservoirs which won't come back up easily if they're shut down and the Venz production is at nearly 3 mil /d.

Not even mentioning all the Gabons, Libyas, Angolas etc...it looks to me like we have an oil supply problem bigger than the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in which 5.5 m bls / day were embargoed....

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), September 18, 1999.


Downstreamer,

Sorry, yes, I did mean Iran.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (HumptyDumptyY2K@yourdon.com), September 18, 1999.


None-the-less Iraq is prob another good y2k question with nearly 3 m bls / day of crude exports......

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), September 20, 1999.

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