It seems he has been jailing some American citizens and the military exchange program is now on the rocks. Yep, Venezuela appears to be headed towards a Chavez communist regime. Certainly a threat to our oil. 
What should the US do?
OUR oil?
Whatever one thinks of Chavez, we don’t have an exclusive claim on Venezuelan oil. Such attitudes only contribute to the ability of our foreign opponents to rally opinion against us.
I agree. It's not our oil, and we shouldn't act as though it is. But our policy should be geared to facilitating a steady supply of oil, as well as defeating any attempt to increase the market price of oil through cartel activity, as happened in the 1970s with OPEC.
Still, Chavez is a threat to overall Latin American stability. Latin America veers between rightist dictatorships and leftist dictatorships that are not really so different, except in their foreign policy orientation. They promise a free lunch, but bring economic ruin while enriching themselves. The politics of the region are highly distorted because of this history.
We have some anti-American liberals who favor leftist governments simply because they are hostile to the US, but I don't think this is the right path.
