The Madness of King Hugo

Petroleos de Venezuela, Chavez’s blistered, bloated, and increasingly bankrupt state oil company, took control of several extraction projects from American companies today. Oil analysts are not optimistic – Chavez’s management has coincided with a ten-year productivity decline of about 35 percent, plus a general strike of the company’s management protesting the president’s interference in day-to-day operations. I’ve already posted on why leaving the projects in control of U.S. oil companies might (might!) be better for Venezuela than entrenching the power of the red-clad demagogue’s lumpen cartel state.