Promising socialism Hugo Chavez won his first term in office. He nationalised the oil industry, brought free medical care and education for the poor and survived a coup. Oil prices were very high which paid for his give aways to the poor and he won a second term comfortably. To remain popular he did not tell the truth and that was that the state could not pay for free goodies unless the poor had fewer children. In a Catholic country that would not have gone down very well. Now the oil price has fallen and he is unable to tackle a rising population with high expectations that he has generated. Crime rates have soared and inflation is threatening to get out of hand. He has devalued the currency at a differential rate which means one rate for medicines and essentials and another for white goods. Floating on a sea of oil he has to resort to rolling power cuts because he has not improved infrastructure choosing to waste his time in abusing the US and wasting money in buying arms to resist an imagined US invasion. To irritate the US he chose to consort with Ahmadinejad and the Chinese and blamed every problem on them. Time is coming when he has to find a friend who will give him refuge as his country implodes. Trouble is no one likes a loud mouth buffoon.