Well done Chavez! Flush all the entrepreneurs and businessmen out of your country. Then the scientists and engineers will follow. When all is said and done, you'll be the Zimbabwe of the South American continent. Congratulations!
Not only does he lose them, but we gain them, and they bring their money and skills here.
As predictable as Cindy Sheehan is ugly.
Actually, the engineers are leading the way. When he fired 20,000 oil company workers, it included a huge percentage of the engineering talent in the country. They can't work for the government, and they can't work for any company that works for the government, which leaves them little choice but to emigrate.
They're scattering to the winds, going where ever there is work to be had, but a good percentage of them are headed here. Some are claiming refugee status (since a lot of them were caught up in the anti-Chavez movement), some are establishing businesses here in order to qualify for a visa. Some are in the middle east working, others in Mexico, others finding work with oil contractors all over the world.
It truly is Venezuela's loss, and our gain. They are talented folks, and kicking them out of the country is a big reason Venezuela can't even make their OPEC quota.
A very real possibility, with strong parallels. The South American upper class and professional classes are mostly of European descent. The poor classes from which Chavez gets most of his support are mostly native. The Venezualans are driving the whites out
A society needs some minimum critical mass of high-IQ individuals in order to function as a modern society. Venezuela is busy trying to drop below that critical point