High oil prices form weak base for state power

摘要

Most Americans base their distaste for foreign oil on presumed instability in the Middle East.They should note recent events in Moscow and Minsk.Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Russia and Belarus to sign energy deals and,as usual,chatter about US"aggression"and"imperialism."This is the despot who has embraced truculent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supported terrorists in Colombia.In Moscow he signed separate deals with TNK-BP,Lukoil,and Gazprom for exploration and development in Venezuela's Orinoco heavy oil region,where his government has expropriated interests of western oil companies in existing projects while raising taxes.