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Ironically enough, while some Arab nations threaten an oil boycott to punish the United States, we may be about to be hit with a real oil crisis from within our own hemisphere that is receiving little or no attention. Venezuela is on the verge of implosion, and very few in the U.S. media or government seem to be taking this threat to our national security seriously.
The government of quasi-dictator Hugo Chavez has never had the confidence of the elite in Venezuela, and is now rapidly losing favor with the poor and lower middle class which represent 80 to 90 percent of the population. Mr. Chavez's pro-communist, pro-socialist and pro-dictator government is starting to unravel at the seams, and the implications for the United States could not be more serious.
A quick look at what has transpired in Venezuela in just the last few days clearly outlines why this nation ? which on any given day is the second- or third-largest supplier of oil and gasoline to the United States ? warrants our immediate attention.
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CARACAS, Venezuela, April 10 -- As much of Venezuela's private industry remained closed and rival protesters scuffled in rain-soaked streets, senior government officials said a national strike Tuesday and today was a conspiracy to topple President Hugo Chavez.
The labor unrest, ostensibly a protest against Chavez's management of the state oil company that provides the government with most of its revenue, appeared less widespread than it had Tuesday. But the country's largest labor confederation, the million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation, announced tonight that it planned to extend the 48-hour general strike indefinitely.
Earlier today, the protest assumed new political dimensions when Gen. Nestor Gonzalez sharply criticized Chavez for "politicizing" the Venezuelan armed forces, becoming the fifth active-duty officer to do so in recent weeks.
Ironically enough, while some Arab nations threaten an oil boycott to punish the United States, we may be about to be hit with a real oil crisis from within our own hemisphere that is receiving little or no attention. Venezuela is on the verge of implosion, and very few in the U.S. media or government seem to be taking this threat to our national security seriously.
The government of quasi-dictator Hugo Chavez has never had the confidence of the elite in Venezuela, and is now rapidly losing favor with the poor and lower middle class which represent 80 to 90 percent of the population. Mr. Chavez's pro-communist, pro-socialist and pro-dictator government is starting to unravel at the seams, and the implications for the United States could not be more serious.
A quick look at what has transpired in Venezuela in just the last few days clearly outlines why this nation ? which on any given day is the second- or third-largest supplier of oil and gasoline to the United States ? warrants our immediate attention.
Story link
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 10 -- As much of Venezuela's private industry remained closed and rival protesters scuffled in rain-soaked streets, senior government officials said a national strike Tuesday and today was a conspiracy to topple President Hugo Chavez.
The labor unrest, ostensibly a protest against Chavez's management of the state oil company that provides the government with most of its revenue, appeared less widespread than it had Tuesday. But the country's largest labor confederation, the million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation, announced tonight that it planned to extend the 48-hour general strike indefinitely.
Earlier today, the protest assumed new political dimensions when Gen. Nestor Gonzalez sharply criticized Chavez for "politicizing" the Venezuelan armed forces, becoming the fifth active-duty officer to do so in recent weeks.
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