Petrol in Venezuela might just be the cheapest in the world. You get change from a five bolívar note (a bit more than a dollar at the overvalued official exchange rate) when filling up a tank. People often even tip the person filling the tank more than they actually pay for the petrol itself as they can’t be bothered to wait for the change.

Be that as it may, the government vehemently denies that it is considering raising the price of petrol, despite a recent flurry of speculation that it might, following musings by Hugo Chávez that Venezuela needs to cut domestic fuel consumption during the latest instalment of his Sunday television show. Continue reading »

It’s no secret that Hugo Chávez doesn’t see eye to eye with the “Yankee imperialists” up north. His government expressed characteristic disdain yesterday at Republican Senator Connie Mack’s recent request that a Cuba-style embargo be slapped on Venezuela, and that it be included in the list of “state sponsors of terrorism”.

Today it railed against the US State Department’s request for Venezuela to allow the Organization of American States to visit hunger striking students seeking the release of two political prisoners. But Venezuela’s socialist president often likes to point out that he has nothing against the average US citizen. Continue reading »