From the Editors of VenEconomy

In February, the Central Bank reported that the economy grew by 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and that, therefore, the country had climbed out of the recession.

With this announcement, the government is lying to the Venezuelan people yet again.

A comparison of the final February figures and the preliminary figures announced in December last year reveals that, in order to achieve this view of an improvement in the economy, the Central Bank is claiming what seems to be three lies:

1. That oil activity grew by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, instead of 0.2% as reported in December. OPEC contradicts this when it reports that production fell by 1.4%.
   
   
2. That nonoil activity grew by 0.2%, instead of the 6% drop estimated in December.
   
   
3. That the main factor that altered the result of nonoil activity was the manufacturing sector, which went from an estimated drop of 33.5% to a reduction of only 0.4%. Could it be merely coincidental that the entries with the biggest adjustments are supplied by state-owned entities such as PDVSA and the CVG?

The falseness of these figures is more than evident.

Another lie with negative international repercussions for the country is that Venezuela is not “selling any gasoline to Iran.” On February 4 this year, in support of this statement, the Energy and Oil Minister-president of PDVSA Rafael Ramírez explained that the government understood that “the Islamic Republic had already solved the problem of the fuel deficit it apparently had.”

But this Monday, the US Department of State announced that the United States is investigating Venezuela for allegedly having violated the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA), passed in July 2010 after the Security Council of the United Nations issued Resolution 1929, which imposes military and financial sanctions on Iran, one of the outlaw states with close ties to Hugo Chávez.

What is more, US Congressman Connie Mack has stated that he has “documentary proof” of PDVSA’s sales to the National Iranian Oil Company. Mack has also proposed that Venezuela be sanctioned for this and other violations of international laws.

If this proposal prospers, the lie will have cost the country very dear.