Chavez Contagion: The Growing Risk To Latin American Oil - Forbes - 0 views
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Michael Ray on 08 Oct 12In this article, the author details Chavez's control of the oil industry of Venezuela. Of particular interest is how Chavez utilized oil profits to support his own political campaign, and how state spending increased by 30% this year, subsidising food, housing, fuel and healthcare, all while oil production dropped to 2.5mb/d. This is indicative of the type of mismanagement and misappropriation that has been contributing to the decline of Venezuelan power in the Latin American sphere. Many are unsure of how much longer the "rob Peter to pay Paul" model can persist.