"Back in the day" (like 20-35 years ago) I knew a lot of Venezuelans; Went to the Academy with several, Did business with several in later years; Even went down there for some consulting work in the early 80s.
Everyone I knew or even ran across was a hard worker, well educated, well spoken, capatilistic as heck, and often even more politically conservative than I am if that is possible.
So, imagine my great surprise when they 'elected' this communist buffoon to lead them.
Any ills the people of Venezuela suffer are their own fault for allowing Hugo to run things.
Too bad. They had the potential to be a great country. Another couple of years of Hugo or anyone like him and they will never be able to recover, doomed forever to third world (or worse) status.
My brother vacationed in Venezuela about 10 years ago. He had a great time there and talked about how beautiful it is there. It's really sad to think that Comrade Chavez is going to mess that country up like Castro did to Cuba.
Most of the smart, well educated folks (outside of the academic elites) did not vote for him. He was elected by the poor masses that fall for the lure of populist rhetoric.