Folks are making lots of assumptions based on very little data, IMO.

What is clear is that Chavez took his business to China--specifically, his oil. That should be an indicator that he was no longer happy selling to the north. He has antagonized the USA (recall gas at really low prices for Americans who were too poor to afford the prices in the US?).

We in Canada know exactly how it feels to piss off the most powerful country in the world. The damage to our economy caused by Mad Cow Disease was unnecessary, but we got it between the eyes. (I always felt that's because we chose not to be part of "The Coalition of the Willing", preferring instead to follow the UN's lead.)

It would not surprise me to find out that the US has people (people who have bulges under their arms and receivers in their ears) helping to keep stuff hopping in Venezuela. A change of leaders would be one helluva lot easier than having to go through all the lead-up to an invasion of yet another oil-rich country.