Venezuela v Saudi Arabia and Nigeria

Free Exchange has had the same 'Comment of the Week' as long as I can remember:

It's astonishing how many hearts bleed for
Venezuela---especially for the alleged ill-effects of Chavez' policies on the
poor. I suspect these are crocodile tears and the intent is actually entirely
ideological. If Chavez' policies fail, at least the Venezuelans can get rid of
him in the next elections. Spare a thought for Saudi Arabia instead, where
conditions are far more repressive, where the poor have no voice and where they
can't get rid of the king. Or save your tears for Nigeria, where the oil bonanza
has had hardly any impact on reducing poverty.
Akhond of Swat on Venezuela

I think the reason people are bothered by Venezuela is that the country has clearly been moving the wrong direction over the last decade. Saudi Arabia and Nigeria have never really had functioning politics or democracy. It could be argued that Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are making very modest steps forward. Saudi Arabia is strengthening modest secular institutions and the government is a bulwark against perhaps a dangerously radical population. Nigeria is corrupt, and seems to be less democratic the last few years, but is probably one of the better governments in Africa, and definitely improved from a generation ago.

Venezuela has a two hundred year history of (often dysfunctional) democracy. Hugo Chavez has taken dangerous steps towards undermining that democracy. He is destroying the economy, which fortunately for him has thus far has been masked by rising oil prices. Furthermore, he is trying to influence other Andean countries and that influence has almost universally been negative. His support for the thuggish FARC in Columbia comes quickly to mind. And also, there is a question of how able Colombians are to get rid of Chavez if his policies fail.

So, I agree that we should worry about the poor and suffering in other countries, but I think that Venezuela is very important. Is it a country on the margin between liberal democracy and some sort of authoritarianism, and it has been going the wrong direction. So, the marginal people in a developing nation are being hurt.