We would like to take advantage of this forum to say, with much respect to the present rulers of China, that when we recover our democracy—and we hope that will be soon—we are going to make an effort so that the foreign policy of Venezuela is a state policy and not one based on friendship. We want to have the best possible relationship with democratic countries in the world. However, in the case of these credits, these loans, we are asking the Chinese government that any money given to the dictatorship will not be spelled out when the indebtedness is put in black and white, which will be accepted by Venezuela. In keeping with our constitution, any indebtedness must be previously authorized by the Venezuelan parliament, and this is not happening at present.
Venezuela has on its back a debt that cannot even be quantified, because those operations have been managed in a muddled situation. However, we're speaking about $170 or $180 billion U.S., and much of that money is not in the form of hospitals or schools or roads or parks; it is rather in fiscal havens. We are going to rescue that money when there's a democratic government again in Venezuela. Much of that money purchases weapons in Venezuela, where there is no meat, no bread, no chicken, but there are tanks, guns, rifles, because a mad arms race has been unleashed. As well, it is a matter of exchanging oil for any kinds of trickery. I don't know what expression to use for it. This is the way that the country has become indebted: by selling oil futures and thus compromising the future of our country.
So that you may have an idea of the tremendous disorder of this false revolution, when Hugo Chávez reached power in 1999, oil was at $7 per barrel. It reached up to $140 U.S. per barrel. The debt back in 1999 was $33 billion. Now the debt is $170 billion or $180,000 billion. This is the situation that must be corrected.