Hugo’s bet

Now Chavez, fresh from consultations with his friend Mugabe, is accusing the US of planning to invade Venezuela and topple him: boooring…

While I was asking myself what he could possibly gain by repeating these tired idiocies, I came across a very good post by Publius that gives a convincing interpretation:

Investor’s Business Daily has an amazing editorial today suggesting that oil prices have probably peaked.
…
If this reading is correct, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is finally in for some very bad times. Right now he has held onto power not through popularity but through the high price of oil. Those oil earnings have been his tyrant’s premium, enabling him to oppress, wreck and ruin his once-vibrant country, as well as spread his influence abroad, with no apparent consequences. He’s flung money all over the hemisphere, and supported the moribund government of Cuba as well.

Read it all.

Chavez, Venezuela, Oil