RE: Re:

lm quite surprised that the mess in venezuela , oil assets but no food. is not front page.

It's a major disaster. They never moved to diversify the economy. Oil was exported, food imported. When the price dropped... Compounded by corruption and incompetence.

is it socialism at its finest?

Wasn't remotely like socialism. Completely directed from the top, and the entire set of private institutions was left untouched, with only one exception: when the owners shut them down to try to sabotage the reforms, the state took them over, crucially the oil industry.