It sure is a tough environment. A few days ago I had a conversation with a couple of people who just got back from there. The picture they paint isn't appealing at all. Another South American government intent on destroying a very nice country. These governments, in general terms, are so corrupt that they only care about their own financial advancement. They buy-off the population with all sorts of unsustainable socialist (and sometimes communist) programs and benefits at the expense of the private sector (geez, that sounds like...never mind).

The nationalization (theft) of private assets belonging to foreign companies means, in no uncertain terms, that the country will not see significant foreign investment in probably twenty-five years. It's a shame.

They apparently also pulled an interesting one: Their citizens are not allowed to take their money out of the country. There's a convoluted process through which you have to open a bank account in US dollars and then you can move money out. Except that the government is monitoring everything. They have to ability to seize anything they want at any time. They control exchange rates too.

A fine example of how things can derail when the masses elect presidents (because they are being paid-off in so many ways for their vote).