Thoughts and questions concerning Venezuela

[kniper]

I don't think it is too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that Hugo Chavez will turn Venezuela into a socialist republic. It also seems pretty plausible that it might develop into some kind of tyrannical/communist regime.

Assuming this is true, I was wondering if any of you know of any past/present comparable communist state with valuable natural resources matching Venezuela. Russia I know has oil and gas, but I don't know if it is comparable in the amount of resources compared to the population of the USSR.

Communism is in its dying days if not only for the reason that it is not economically feasible. However, do you think that Venezuela might be able to prop itself up and reach some "socialist utopia" through its valuable oil exports to subsidize what will likely be a sluggish economy? Please assume value of oil will at least increase with inflation.