Phil Gunson of the Miami Herald reports of unrest in Venezuela:

Turn out the lights, shorten the shower to three minutes, buy a portable generator.

That is President Hugo Chavez's message to the citizens of energy-rich Venezuela, where the "socialist revolution" has brought power cuts, water shortages and collapsing public services.

Despite the shortages and rampant corruption (a former energy minister guessed that 75 out of every 100 dollars supposedly being spent on energy ends up in the pockets of politicians instead), there doesn't appear to be any political opposition in a position to take advantage of the unrest.

Gunson's piece concludes:

Luis Tascón, the pro-Chávez legislator, is confident that, despite recent setbacks, the government has a good chance of retaining the crucial two-thirds majority, which allows it to legislate without negotiating with the opposition.

"There are 17 [out of 24] states in which chavismo is virtually the only alternative,'' the legislator said. When it comes to recovering popularity, ``the government has a much better chance than the opposition.''