Are all of Chavez' plans as bad as they seem? (see following)& what will this mean to U.S. re Venezualan oil?

Question

Associated Press: January 9, 2007
CARACAS, VENEZUELA - As Venezuela embarked on another six years under Hugo Chávez, the president announced plans to nationalize power and telecommunications companies. He also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to strip the Central Bank of its autonomy and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to approve "a set of revolutionary laws" by presidential decree.

"We're heading toward socialism, and nothing and no one can prevent it," he said in a televised address after swearing in his new cabinet on Monday.

Chávez also said lucrative oil projects in the Orinoco River basin involving foreign oil companies should be under national ownership. Critics say he is following in the footsteps of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Answer 1

Chavez is building a socialist democracy. The nationalized power thing is nothing new. Denmark, Switzerland, etc. have had it for years. Your right he is fallowing Castro, kicking the corporations like Verizon out of the country and others that are corrupt.

Answer 2

Chavez's palns will only hurt venezuela. The only refinerys capable of handling Venezuelan heavy crude oil in bulk are in the US, but even if venezuelan oil were more usable on the world market, oil is a fungible commodity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungible

In other words oil not sold to one party will be replaced by the oil that party is no longer buying.

Answer 3

Not to worry. We'll be invading soon.

No way will the US allow the Venezualen people to control their own natural resources.