Chavez to provide cheap oil to poor Americans

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Chavez, upon coming to power, immediately made sure that Venezuela was not producing above the OPEC quota.  Most all OPEC nations cheat a little on the quota, because producing a little extra oil means extra money.  Before Chavez, Venezuela was the worst abuser of the quota system, and openly planned to double production over the next decade.  Chavez then actually went further, and has supported a policy of underproduction.  Venezuela, which just a few years ago was the top supplier to the U.S., has dropped to number four (behind Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico, in that order).  Chavez has intentionally pushed a policy of lower oil supplies to inflate the price and hurt the U.S.  Of course, this is a lose-lose situation, as oil makes up 60% of Venezuela's economy.  Chavez has compounded his country's loses by selling very cheap oil to Cuba.

Chavez's offer is about 200k barrels of heating oil.  This will have no impact on heating prices, which Chavez is doubtlessly aware of.  It is simply a public relations stunt that does nothing to help average Venezuelans, let alone poor Americans.  This is consistent with Chavez's policy of sacrificing his country's riches in order to help himself.

[Blue Rectangle]

"Chavez has compounded his country's loses by selling very cheap oil to Cuba."

Yep no doubt profit isn't his goal as the transaction involved Cuba sending a ton of Doctors to Venezuela's poorest areas where no health care system existed.

Chavez is subsidizing Cuba to the tune of $2 billion per year, in cheap oil and in cash.  If all the Venezuelans are getting out of this is 13,000 doctors (one figure I saw), then that's over $150,000 per year per doctor.  Considering the standard of living in Venezuela, I'm sure they could train and hire Venezuelan doctors for a fraction of the price.

Your point about Chavez making friends in Latin America is well taken (though Mexico might point out that not all Latin Americans think much of Chavez).  One example of how Chavez wins friends is the case of Argentina, where Chavez has spent about a billion dollars on bad Argentinean government bonds to support Kirchner.  Kirchner has recently asked Chavez to spent a few billion more in exchange for political support (such as that demonstrated during the Conference of the Americas).  Once again, the Venezuelan people receive nothing for their billions spent.

[Blue Rectangle]

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Do you think the average Venezuelan recieved more benefits from their oil before Chavez?  I think Chavez is essentially trying to create a Bolivarian Republic from the Rio Grande to Patagonia and thats why you see favorable deals.

That's a poor excuse for Chavez.  Was Stalin a good guy because Tsar Nicholas II was a jerk?  Was Hitler a good guy because the Weimar Republic was terrible?  Is Castro good because Batista was a crook?

Venezuela was not in good shape before Chavez.  However, things have not gotten better.  The country went into a severe recession from 2002-2003, due to a oil strike.  Inflation is over 20%, which is particularly hurtful to the poorest in the nation.  Unemployment (17% in 2004) has not improved under Chavez, and the fraction of the population below the poverty line has actually increased slightly in the past few years (now 53%, up from 47% in 1998).