Is Chavez really looking for War? So what if the King of Spain told him to 'Shut up"..?

Question

Now if things don't go as he wants...Dictatorship....Chavez stated he will turn Off the Oil to everyone. Since Venz. has 60% of the world's Oil production. And, then will charge $200.00 per barrel. This sounds like OPEC Gangsterism.

Won't voting just take peoples mind off the real problem of possible war pursuit, so the US can gain another Sentry?

Answer 1

Chavez is doing what dictators do, trying to build support at home by demonizing an enemy that is supposedly causing the problems at home, despite the fact that the problems are usually caused by the dictator. Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mugabe, Mao, Kim, Saddam, Ahmadinjehad, Galtieri, they all tried to consolidate their power at home by building fear of the 'enemy', some succeeded, most lost.
The King of Spain spoke truth to tyranny, even Zapatero was trying to tell Chavez to back off when the King responded to Chavez continuing rant. Good for the King! That is why much of Europe is buying his putdown as a ringtone, they don't necesarily like the US but they hate tin pot dictators that try to lecture democracies about justice.
And don't be confused about how much oil Venezuela has, they export most of their production to the US, but they have less than 4% of the world reserves, and oil is a fungible good, so trying to hurt the US by not selling to us is not going to work as well as Hugo wants it to.. They can hurt us in the short term, but they will hurt much more in the long term. Socialists lose when they wage economic war with a capitalist/socialist blended economy, like the US. We aren't Adam Smith, and we definitely aren't Karl Marx, we are better than either because we have a bunch of Adam and a bit of Karl.

Answer 2

I believe he is trying to gain world recognition as a strong gobal leader, while at the same time he realizes that his oil reserves are quickly diminishing. I do not believe he is looking for war with the United States, but if he is able to convice the citizens of that the country has numerous external enemies that want to take over their reserves, he has a greater chance in maintaining power.
It is my belief that the world oil reserves have peaked, and that the industrial countries, US included, will quickly find cheaper alternative energy sources in the next 7 years.