They'd be nuts to get involved with Russia and Venezuela.

Russia is already involved with Venezuela in regards to Orinoco. I had always thought this was holding everything else back and now that this deal is done it sets a very important precedent and everything else will start to progress, including us... Why no one else sees the significance of this is beyond me...

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And a quote from FINAM:
Jan 27. Polyus Gold has worked out a short list of five potentially appealing assets, said the company’s CEO Evgeny Ivanov. “We have a short list of five positions which does not guarantee that talks will yield any results” – Ivanov noted and went on to say that these assets are located in Russia and CIS. According to him, the company is also eyeing one of the world’s largest gold deposits, Las Cristinas in Venezuela “from the standpoint of its scale of business”. “We are closely monitoring how the situation unfolds. However, the legal status (of the project) is opaque. The risks for us are too high to join in the project as a public company” – said Ivanov.
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That was then and this is now... the risk factor is no longer there due to the BIT and the giant Orinoco oil field deal demonstrates this clearly!

All this was a one giant smoke screen to ensure his own survival.. Whom else would sell arms to Chavez... Not the US. What do Russians/Chinese get out of it? A base in Venezuela? Cheap resources... You bet... Chavez does need his "capitalist in disguise" friends to survive.