I've no reason to doubt what you say about the Venezuelan oil industry because Chavez's own economic advisers have said as much in the past (they were saying this when I was there toward the beginning of this century).  However, may I ask how different is Venezuela from most other Latin American countries?  Take Mexico, for example.  CEO's I know personally who in the past have overseen operations in Mexico have long thundered to me about how it is nearly impossible to run a business over there.  There are parts of Colombia that the government doesn't even control, not to speak of the ongoing war over there.

The National Endowment for Democracy, just like USAID, is a projection of US soft-power.  You seem dismissive of suspicions surrounding the work carried out by such institutions in foreign countries that may have gone afoul of the US.  I can cite many examples, beginning with those by Philip Agee, that provide grounds for such suspicions.  One clear (and recent) example is a US citizen sitting in a jail in Cuba (who I understand has actually filed suit against his former USAID employers).  After what he's gone through, I wonder if he would be as dismissive about the "nefarious", to use your words, nature of such institutions.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne