Crackers in Caracas

Hugo Chavez once again shows that he hasn't really quite grasped reality:

World oil prices are headed for $100 per barrel, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez predicted on Saturday, and said he will cut supplies to the United States if the U.S. government "attacks" the South American nation again.

World oil prices might well go to $100 a barrel, but the threat to stop supplies to the USA is empty and futile. Oil is, you see, fungible.

There's two things Chavez can do.

1) Stop pumping oil altogether: difficult, but not impossible. However, at that same moment, there'll be no money coming in and thus he'll be overthrown. So he won't do that.

2) Sell the oil he is pumping to someone else. At this point, the oil that would have been bought by that someone else will then be sold to the Americans instead. So nothing has changed, at least on the grander scale.