In France they have long stopped buying it. Now they are starting to criticize it seriously, at least in the press. Of course, you can always cont on, say, Total to ignore what is in front of them, but that is another story.
Le Monde correspondent in South America, Jean-Pierre Langellier, wrote a fabulous review of what is going on in Venezuela, how Chavez is running a bankrupt country and how his only solution is to steal from people he owes to and silence criticism, either through a flow of insults or actually silencing them. If you read French do not miss it, if not try the translate tool of Google. The title by itself is so French: "la fuite en avant d'Hugo Chavez". It is one of those great political conceptual sayings like "fin de règne" which have enriched political and historical language so much.
The literal translation would "the escape forward" which would be best rendered as "fleeing forward". That is right, instead of solving existing problems Chavez prefers to create new ones in the hope that old problems are forgotten. But when the country is bankrupt without any prospect of economic prosperity anytime soon to compensate the deficit, creating new problems will not work at all and instead aggravate much faster the situation. To truly Chavez recent moves look much more like fleeing away hoping that reality does not catch up with him. By the way, Miguel tells us about this possible bankruptcy. Let's say that I am not as optimistic as he is since we do not actually know the extent of Chavez financial commitments, either at home or over seas. I see it closer.
-The end-
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