The Price of Dealing With Chavez Just Went Up, Again

Can't find a web article yet (update: here we go), but the Joint War Committee, an advisory to Lloyd's of London insurers, has put Venezuela on its "high risk" list along with the likes of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. Hugo Chavez's socialist paradise makes the list by virtue of "increased concern of the expropriation of commercial assets." This may give ship insurers the right to raise premiums on ships calling at Venezuelan ports. Any direct consequences are yet to be seen, but this could limit the range of options open to Chavez for keeping goods flowing into his country. One more small, but tangible, example of economic reality weighing down on the entire Chavez edifice. Only a matter of time before the rof caves in.