Main Challenges for Cooperatives in Venezuela

Abstract

A considerable number of Venezuelan cooperative members present serious deficiencies in administrative and technical skills, as well as motivation. Production cooperatives in that nation are also having great difficulty in competing with their capitalist counterparts for inputs and clients. Their dependency on state institutions for access to capital and sale contracts is also threatening their sustainability. This situation is aggravated because little integration exists among them. To overcome these challenges, Venezuelan cooperatives need to coordinate their activities among themselves and with neighboring communities. Such democratic planning or coordination would also serve to consolidate their organizational and ethical principles, and to transform them into true socialist enterprises that effectively and efficiently satisfy social needs