Caracas Chronicles

The new “efficiency” drive recently announced by the comandante presidente was looking for a symbol to recognize and represent the excellence that the Chavernment wants its workers to embody. Soon, inspiration struck…via the U.S.S.R.

In one of his final decisions before stepping down, Vice-President Elias Jaua created the “Bicentennial Button for Socialist Efficiency”, an award for those public sector employees and workers (domestic or foreign) that “…stand out in their labor, not just in terms of results, but by following socialist principles and values”.

Based on the description alone, this button is the Bolivarian Revolution’s version of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (pictured above) which was awarded to workers (and other members of civilian life) during Soviet times. The awards have some similarities in their statutes, though the Bicentennial Button is restricted to public sector workers.

So, if someone has performed feats of efficiency that don’t match the State’s ideology, even if it offers great results for the State and its citizens, could they even be considered?

Not likely.

Government agencies and State-owned enterprises will have the chance to compete for the “Bicentennial Banner”. The rules are more or less the same as those for the button, and the idea is that winning entities will proudly put it on display. One thing for sure is that someone’s gonna make big money by either making them or importing them from China, like a lot of the stuff we’re bringing here right now. Fondo Chino con eso...

The presentation of this award left an interesting detail in the open: its funding will come from the Socialist Efficiency Fund created in April 2010. Wait, wait… the whole efficiency pledge is recent but there was an efficiency fund up and running for more than two years? The fund has some serious bucks but it hasn’t shown any bang at all so far.

The new “efficiency” narrative is starting to look more and more like the same old story of years past: keep ordinary folks under the illusion of Venezuela becoming a powerhouse, while ordinary problems are swept under the rug with a little help of the petro-checkbook. Neither a nice shiny medal or creating an oversight ministry will change all that.