CHAPTER 33 Venezuela: Saved by Saddam I had watched Venezuela for many years. It was a classic example of a country that rose from rags to riches as a result of oil. It was also a model of the turmoil oil wealth foments, of the disequilibrium be- tween rich and poor, and of a country shamelessly exploited by the corporatocracy. It had become the epitome of a place where old-style