These are just two examples to illustrate the point that if ever a country, an economy and a nation could so decouple and deleverage itself from such connotations, then Venezuela is arguably on that list. Like the resource-rich countries of the Middle East region, Venezuela is historically dominated by its oil and gas assets and maximising the revenues and political leverage of those. The latter is so often a complex geopolitical balancing act that plays out throughout the months, years and decades. By Rob Cockerill, Full Text -> H2View