When solutions are not found to social problems they tend to recur from time to time in unexpected and sometimes destructive ways. The latest Venezuelan excursion in and extraction from our waters makes this point at the international level, and internally the repercussions of the quarrel between the public service unions and the government, which reached its apogee in a strike that lasted some 56 days in 1999, is again on the front burner!
Of course, solutions are not always easily found, and in such cases vigilance must be the watchword if the possible negative consequences are to be avoided. Yet, generally, if the intention is to foster development and national cohesion, it behooves us to persistently seek sensible solutions to conflicts when they arise.
In terms of the Venezuelan controversy, the context in which it is taking place is essentially anarchical and thus solutions are difficult to find. Here, what is required most of all is watchfulness and caution, i.e. a hardnosed foreign policy rooted in a more or less self-interested analysis of reality and not in ideological compatibility and camaraderie. After all, as