Shell and Exxon in Curacao and Aruba, refine more Venezuelan crude than does Venezuela). These service contracts enable the multi- nationals to take more money out of the country, Bye suspects, because the foreigners no longer re-invest in the Venezuelan plants.
Meanwhile, the government's net oil income has dropped: It is invest- ing heavily in oil and other heavy industries and must pay indemnifica- tion ($1 billion over five years) to the multinationals. Left out, Bye contends, are Venezuela's...