Caracas Chronicles

Poor, poor SIDOR.

It has been a rough week for the State-owned iron and steel company: cargo handlers have been on strike, third-party workers insist on joining the payroll, minor shareholders will go to court, and negotiations with labor unions have stalled because of cash flow issues.

Months ago, the situation in SIDOR reached a boiling point after the swift change of its president and the vocal dissent of workers. That finally blew up right in the face of the comandante presidente during a live cadena nacional from Caruachi Dam.

Even if internal tensions decreased quite a bit during the presidential campaign, the fallout of the ongoing crisis is reflected in the company’s production: In the last four months alone SIDOR’s exports were ZERO.

You read that right: CERAPIO. Instead, the focus was shifted to supply the domestic market, but they have not been capable of delivering on that either.

Officials in SIDOR are optimistic than there will be a turnaround in 2013, thanks to Venezuela’s backdoor entrance into MERCOSUR. But according to reality on the ground, maybe those wishes for next year could end up unfulfilled.