Venezuelan politicians hoping to replace the current regime in Venezuela mostly offer just re-treads of the failed socialism the country has endured for decades.
In the era of relative market freedom, many of Venezuela's best years were during times of low oil prices. Trying to blame Venezuelan socialism's failure on oil prices only highlights how fragile economies are without markets.
As planned by Chavez, barter is indeed replacing currency transactions throughout the economy but with hardly the results the late socialist envisioned.
