Bolivarian Revolution, Please Hold

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has had to curtail government spending by declining oil prices, threatening the socialist model that nation is built upon and his position as a political and philanthropic leader in the region.  

The Miami Herald reported this morning that the first to go was Chavez's program that supplied free heating oil to poor people in the United States, but quickly changed the story after the Washington Post said that Chavez will continue the program, which supplies fuel to 200,000 American households in 26 states and 65 Native American tribes.  

Cutting domestic spending on Venezuela's poor would be disastrous for Chavez's political career; a referendum is around the corner to lift term limits on his presidency, he trails by 20 points in polls and his base of support is the poor.  

Next on the chopping block may be the subsidized and heavily discounted oil Venezuela sells to poor nations in the region.   

"Chavez's meddling (in foreign affairs) will certainly be a lot less effective in 2009," said former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga.