i think your post was honest and had a point..some folks only look on the bright side and thats dangerous...theories abound and it's an easy stock to get discouraged with..

the scariest theory i ever had was this:

hugo decides he owns venezuela and the gold is just in underground storage. why not let multi-nationals give him money and do social projects then jerk them around until they leave.....that way he collects millions and still has the gold.

i call it the prostitute theory: you got it, you sell it, you still got it.

i eventially dismissed this theory for a number of reasons. the main one being the fact that the interest alone he could make off the royalties/tax from production would far outway the social spending, etc...