Hugo Chavez has flooded Venezuela with cash. Naturally, corruption follows cash, specially when the central government is controlling the economy. In a free market economy, a cash torrent usually creates jobs. In a controlled economy, it usually creates corruption:
"Venezuela's economic system is a classic case of state capitalism based on oil -- exactly what made that nation's per-capita income go from representing the equivalent of two-thirds of that of the United States in the 1950s to representing barely 15 percent today." (Wealth and Nations By Alvaro Vargas Llosa)
Huge oil revenues have distorted the Venezuelan economy. They are also corrupting the military and Hugo Chavez's government. It looks like Hugo bit more than he could chew!
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