Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has a giant gaping hole where his mouth should be

Hugo Chavez is taking his anti-American Banana Republic strongman act to a new level, this time threatening to cut off the oil supply to the world's richest nation and largest consumer of oil products.

Hugo Chavez in his little red cap

At the center of the dispute is money. Chavez and Venezuela owe billions of dollars to Exxon/Mobil (the largest oil company in the U.S.), and is looking for a way to not pay the bill.

Chavez is threatening to block shipments of Venezuelan oil to Exxon Mobil and had this statement to make. "We will never be robbed again by the bandits of Exxon Mobil. They are imperialist thieves, white collar corruptors."

The "white collar corruptors" of Exxon Mobil have frozen billions of Venezuelan dollars in a dispute over property seized by the Chavez government in 2007. Cutting off all oil to them is his way of trying to regain the upper arm in the negotiations.

Venezuela produces a particularly poor grade of crude that can mainly be processed in the United States. In a sense, Chavez would be cutting off his nose to spite his face.

President Bush stated that other countries have already lined up to make up the excess. In that case, Chavez' moves would seem impotent. The real target for Hugo Chavez and his big mouth are oil prices. He is hoping to see a spike in prices so he can gain even more cash for his ill-conceived leftist polices.

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