One point about the 20 billion. It's a line of credit, which means it could be cut off at any time. As well, there are other deals being made in the billions, apart from the 20 billion.

As far as respect goes, my understanding is that Respect with a capital "R" is extremely important to the Chinese. Without it, there can be no bussiness dealings. Hugo also is very big on being respected, so I would think the two entities would have a very good relationship.

There is just too much at stake for Chavez to play hardball with the Chinese, or 'change his mind' about China being welcomed into VZ's mining/resource industry. For China, VZ has a great deal of resources, waiting to be exploited.....and the Chinese are very good at 'exploiting'.

For me, I just want to see this baby go up enough to make it worth selling a few tho', to live on until the 'big bang'......then the next 'big bang'.......and then...

Pen