I don't think you have to be a genius or an economist to grasp this but, apparently, few journalists and historians and politicians abroad grasp it: oil prices are still at a record high this year. The price drop during the last few months could so far be considered as a local minimum. EFE and others keep repeating Chávez has had to deal with oil price drops...but again: they are just local minima. Oil prices - I repeat - oil prices haven't been as high as they are today for several decades now. This doesn't have to do with an anti-imperialist strategy, with "just deciding to sell oil at a higher price and not like the compradores were doing". It has to do with supply and demand. It has to do with China's gigantic evolution and to an extent that of many other countries developing and demanding more oil.
Chávez's regime is still receiving much more money than what several previous governments got - inflation considered. Please, put the price drop of the last few months in context.
Below you see OPEC's average price evolution. Venezuela's crude oil is generally cheaper, but the price evolution is very similar: ups and downs go more or less like here
