Tired of gas prices?

Perhaps you should check into a summer home in Venezuela...the home of the cheapest gas in the world. At 12 cents a gallon you can fill your tank for less than the cost of one gallon here. But as always, there's a bit of a catch...

In Venezuela, cheap gas is considered more a right than a privilege. Several governments, including that of Chávez, have attempted to raise prices in the past. Those moves have often been met by riots and demonstrations, forcing successive presidents to back down. Hundreds, if not thousands, died in riots in 1989 when the government of former President Carlos Andrés Pérez was reported to be considering a gasoline price increase that would have also raised public transportation costs. Faced with mounting bloodshed, Perez quickly backed down.

It looks like they will kill folks just for talking about raising the price. My question: who is going to get holding the bag on all the accumulating debt that this policy is creating? The article alludes to international lenders holding a large portion.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2008/db20080523_344156.htm

As a bonus: Business Week has a slide show of gas prices around the globe...and some interesting data to contemplate...

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/05/0524_venezuelagas/index_01.htm