The countries rich in natural resources are not the most highly-developed. They may well have abundant income or a high per capita GNP, but they almost always lack solid institutions and an adequate standard of living for the entire population. The virus of the «Dutch Disease», a distorted internal assignation of resources and the consolidation of a rentist mentality are some of the causes of this apparent paradox which affects particularly those Latin American countries which produce oil. In order to avoid these problems, the article proposes the inclusion of energy policy within the wider framework of a strategy for autonomous development.

Nueva Sociedad 204: Geopolítica de la energía 

J. Schuldt / A. Acosta 

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