Hugo Chavez died

Wow, I had no idea he even had cancer.

I wonder what effect this will have on the oil markets.

Terrible timing...I guess Dennis Rodman will have to cancel his next diplomatic mission.  

Maybe DR was on a little "mission" and slipped him a mickey

Thankyou, I'll be here all week.  

As nutty as he is off the court, DR's still, inch for inch, the greatest rebounder in the history of basketball.  

Two military attache's have been expelled on grounds of "conspiracy".  And the VP there has also claimed the US gave him cancer. 

And we thought our relations with Venezuela were strained in the past.  We ain't seen nuthin' yet.

I read this article and thought how crazy Venezuela is going to be under its new leader.

Yeah.  I'm in Spain right now and his death dominates most of the reports, and of course our relationship with Venezuela.  Not that we have had a good one with them in quite a while.

More important than Hugo is that Paul Bearer passed away.  

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1555594-paul-bearer-a-great-entertaining-talent-who-will-be-missed

More like how crazy Venezuela is going to be getting to a new leader.  The current VP was Chavez's handpicked successor and the favorite of the Cuban Castros, but doesn't have strong backing of the military or the charisma to convince the masses that everything is great when it is actually crumbling down around them. 

I grew up for the most part in Venezuela. The politics down there have always been fueled by the "Yankee go home" mentality. They were taught that the US was responsible for all their problems. We were going in there and stealing all the natural resources and leaving nothing behind. Truth is , the ruling class down there has the money and it would still be a third world ####hole if the oil companies had not gone in and developed some semblance of an infrastructure. I read yesterday that Huggie's estate is in the 2 billion range. N

No matter who is in charge, they still hate us. The people will be poor and the one tenth of one percenters will still control the wealth.

Cannot disagree more. Born and raised in Venezuela, and living in the US for the past 14 years. I believed back when I was growing up and when I came to teh US for college that Venezuela was one of the most "Americanized" countries in South America. The anti-American rhetoric was a Chavez invention, and he was able to "brain-wash" his constituents (mostly poor uneducated) to believe in it, together with the buddy-buddy agenda with Cuba, Iran, and Russia.

I don't wish anybody harm, but cannot say I am sad by Chavez death (a few alcoholic beverages of my choice were drank for the occasion). However, my concern for Venezuela (and Venezuela-USA relationships) is that now the "new" leader, hand-picked by Chavez (an ex bus driver and union agitator) does not have the mental capacity to understand when the rhetoric stops and business starts. As bad as the relationship was under Chavez, it never affected oil commerce between countries. And he was smart enough to keep his party under his strict control. Maduro (the new guy) lacks his charisma, intelligence, and education, so the only thing left for him to ensure the following of his party is to go on the attack (e.g. saying the USA gave Chavez cancer, etc. etc.). Things might get dicey before they get better.

Elections need to happen within 30 days according to the constitution, but the electoral agency is under control by Chavez followers (as is the supreme court, judicial system, military...you get the idea), so I don't hold much hope of a victory by the opposition due to obvious irregularities and fraud also seen in past elections.

 Hmm, I still remember having bottles, rocks and trash thrown at us while walking down the street in Maracaibo. The verbal abuse, taunts and anti-American graffiti on the walls are still vivid memories. We were there in the sixties and early seventies. The only place I remember feeling safe or welcome was in Caracas. We never lived in Caracas, but visited the city a few times a year.

  I agree it's gotten a whole lot worse with Hugo in charge. I sat next a Mexican national on a flight in January. He'd been to Venezuela regularly and he said things were going downhill at an accelerated pace since Hugo took over. He did not intend to go back until a regime change  took place. 

 What area of the country are you from?

Last trip into Venezuela was San Fernando to do a training mission when I was with 7th Special Forces Group. Chavez closed the country up after that and we haven't been back since. He may have pushed oil to us, but that was business, while bashing the U.S. was a passion.

Lo siento jefe, pero vaya con dios, por ahorita...

Let's see what's next...

Don't take me wrong, I truly enjoyed my two trips to VE. The people were great and although my time was spent working all day, our evenings were free to take in the sites. I disliked Chavez from the time he first took office and the way he ran the country.. Sort of like our "president", but Chavez was much worse and more openly blatant about hurting the U.S. (Sorry, couldn't resist..)

Had I been given the opportunity to return, I would have. I've been to nearly every country in South America and I will admit that VE was one of the nicest.