Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro wouldn't it be smarter to be friends with these guys?

[sarcasmo]

How much oil could we bring in from our neighbors to the south? Wouldn't it decrease our need for middle eastern crude by a high percentage?

[FLPanhandle]

1. That kind of thinking is why the US

Is in bed with the Saudi Royals, propped up the Shah of Iran, and other dictators.

How about we give the whole "lets be friends with dictators because they have oil" idea a miss this time?

[sarcasmo]

2. The royals aren't a form of dictator?

[FLPanhandle]

3. They are. That's my whole point

We are friends with dictator because they have oil. Bad idea then, bad idea now. Why continue it?

[sarcasmo]

7. Until our automakers make an affordable electric car we are in need of what those

dictators have.

[EFerrari]

9. When Venezuela and Cuba were dictatorships. they were our friends.

LOL

[madokie]

4. They don't want anything to do with capitalism so I doubt seriously if they'd be

open to our overtures

To answer your question yes it would have but that window of opportunity has closed.

[RZM]

6. Apparently a good deal of their output already comes here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Venezuelan_oil_industry

[sarcasmo]

8. Then we should bump that up from 5 to 1.

[RZM]

10. Apparently Chavez would prefer that it go in the opposite direction

He wants to boost sales to China and reduce the percentage of Venezuelan oil that goes to the US.

[RZM]

5. Don't think it matters one whit

The meme that the US is 'dependent' on middle eastern oil is actually true, but not for the reasons that people think. The US doesn't use very much middle eastern oil - much of it goes to the rest of the developed and developing world. Our top three sources are (in order) domestic, Canada, and Mexico - we buy from plenty of other places as well. We're dependent on it in the sense that since oil is fungible, it's all one market in the end, so what happens in the middle east (where there is indeed a lot of oil), affects the price everywhere else.

[Bonhomme Richard]

11. From a citizen perspective yes, but from a capitalist perspective......

absolutely not. They are the enemy, pure and simple. If even a few of their ideas caught on it would cost the wealthy billions and that is a non starter.