It seems that even with all the oil revenue from Citgo, which the Voice of America calls "the American arm of Venezuela's state-owned oil company," the poorest in places like Caracas are being shortchanged.
Again, from the LAT:
"Ill feeling was being driven by higher prices and scarcities of basic foods, including milk, chicken and beans. Last week, people waited three hours in lines to purchase staples at some government-run grocery stores."
Anyone who visited an Eastern Bloc country before the fall of Communism will tell you the same story of people standing in long lines outside of a shop in Sofia, Bulgaria because a rumor had spread that butter, or milk, or toilet paper was being delivered that day.
Or walking into a pharmacy in Bucharest where there were two shopkeepers but only one item on the shelves. Not 273 copies of the same item … One item. Period.
Socialism is failing in Venezuela in the 21st Century just as it did in Eastern Europe in the 20th.
If this isn't a "defeat for George Bush," I don't know what is.