The news has slowly filtered out over the past week that District 5 County Supervisor Ashok Kumar has introduced a resolution to the Dane County Board to establish a ?sister county? relationship with the Venezuelan municipality of Andres Eloy Blanco. Predictably, the news that Dane County was considering agreeing to anything with Venezuela brought a divided reaction from students, ranging from ?No deals with the Commies!? to ?Bring on the socialist revolution!?
Since those discussions weren?t particularly satisfying, I have decided to dig a little deeper into the details and offer my view of the situation.
When I first read the headline about establishing a ?sister county? relationship with Andres Eloy Blanco, I was a bit confused. I previously didn?t have a very good idea what the whole relationship between sibling cities was supposed to be. In fact, I was only peripherally aware that cities entered into these sorts of agreements.
Thankfully, Progressive Dane?s press release on the matter swiftly cleared up my confusion. According to Mr. Kumar, the sponsor of the sister county resolution, ?this relationship will provide an institutional framework for social, cultural and financial ties.?
Of course, nowhere does Mr. Kumar really explain the concrete benefits of the relationship.
Supposedly, a taskforce will be formed to look into the possible options that Dane County has to create trade, cultural understanding and goodwill.
Is Dane County really going to develop strong ties with a place thousands of miles away? It?s possible this could happen, should Dane County actually be paired with a county that shared something beyond having a few cooperatives and a ?progressive? political outlook. However, once I looked beyond the feel-good platitudes offered up by Mr. Kumar and others, there doesn?t seem to be much of a foundation for establishing this relationship.
Andres Eloy Blanco has a total population of roughly 54,000 people. Dane County has more than 450,000 residents. The primary economic activity in Andres Eloy Blanco is agriculture ? mainly growing coffee. Meanwhile, Dane County?s economy relies on the salaries of state bureaucrats, the University of Wisconsin, biotechnology companies and other firms headquartered in a large urban area. Agriculture is peripheral to the county?s economic life.
What does Ashok Kumar see in a potential relationship between such disparate areas beyond the so-far empty promises?
What about the potential for social and cultural interactions? Again, the disparities between the two counties seem to argue against this actually happening. I highly doubt this relationship will inspire many of the residents of Dane County to visit rural Venezuela with the exception of perhaps Ashok Kumar and some county board members.
As for Venezuelans coming to the United States, it?s pretty unlikely that the farmers of Andres Eloy Blanco have the time to jet up to Wisconsin for a summer vacation or cultural program.
Looking around at other cities that have made agreements with Venezuela, it?s hard to resist the urge to jump in after them. After all, Venezuela has offered subsidized heating oil to low-income residents across the United States and apparently is now moving into subsidizing fuel costs for city services such as mass transit in London. Could Ashok Kumar and the Dane County Board of Supervisors be gunning for a similar agreement?
Before running after that offer of cheap oil, consider the effects that these agreements have. Subsidizing oil prices for the United States or other countries short circuits the market mechanism that encourages people to find alternatives to oil: higher prices. Why look into other technologies if we can get cheap, Venezuelan oil?
Furthermore, for those concerned about helping Venezuela develop, consider this: Why do foreign countries get subsidized oil from the Venezuelan government when its people remain poor and its economy outside the oil sector remains relatively undeveloped? Should Dane County and its progressive politics work to take money out of Venezuela to subsidize our own oil fetish?
I know plenty of environmental crusaders and developmentalists who feel strongly about this issue, and they should think long and hard before backing this relationship. Hopefully Ashok Kumar and the Dane County Board will as well.
Progressive Dane also points out the existence of a sister relationship with Apartado, Columbia and Kassel, Germany. Apparently, some county supervisors even took a trip to Kassel recently to examine their power plants and light-rail systems.
Clearly, this sort of city is much more suited for developing ties with. Yet even there, a person has to question whether or not these visiting trips are anything more than taxpayer-financed junkets for county officials to go on a vacation.
Ultimately, one of the greatest arguments against the sister county agreement stems from the looming problem beyond Dane and Andres Eloy Blanco counties: the continuing feud between the regime of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the United States. Dane County does not need to get involved in the mudslinging between the two. Unfair or not, entering into a ?sister relationship? with a Venezuelan county can and will be interpreted by some as siding with a wannabe dictator and economic idiot. Ashok Kumar and the Dane County Board of Supervisors should not irresponsibly place us in this crossfire.
The enormous disparities and potential controversy between Dane County and Andres Eloy Blanco suggest we shouldn?t invest time, money and effort into pursuing this relationship. If Ashok Kumar and the county board want to do something like this in the future, I expect a plan that promises something better than empty Bolivarian salvation.
Andrew Wagner ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in computer science and political science.
