Chavez announced that the Russians would be mining LC.

This happened while we have a MOC to mine LC.

I do not see what is confusing about that because it happened.

You can argue about why Chavez did it:

He is an A$$

He is an idiot or genius.

He was high on cocoa leaf.

He wants to prolong the process to a point where KRY gives up or goes BK.

I do not see why you need verification that Chavez is messing up the process of doing business in Venezuela it is plain to see.