Actual good news from Venezuela

From the London Times:

Hugo Ch�vez�s support is slipping away as water shortages and soaring crime bite
President Ch�vez came to power promising to harness Venezuela�s vast oil resources to create a 21st-century nation in which no one was deprived. Now, with water and electricity shortages and soaring crime and inflation, even his ardent supporters are beginning to turn away.

In Caracas, which has the world�s highest murder rates and runaway food prices, residents now face two days a week without water until May next year as the Government imposes rationing to cope with a 25 per cent shortfall in supply.

And some numbers:

The problems have cut into Mr Ch�vez�s political support. His popularity slid from 61 per cent in February to 52.8 per cent last month, according to the polling firm Datan�lisis. �Whatever he offers, everything gets half done,� said Mar�a Mart�nez, a 32-year-old street bookseller who once voted for Mr Ch�vez but is now disenchanted.

The recent infrastructure crisis has added to concerns over spiralling crime. Named the world�s most murderous city in a 2008 study by Foreign Policy magazine, homicides in Caracas have risen 67 per cent since Mr Ch�vez took office in 1998.

Rampant inflation � officially 31 per cent last year � is squeezing Venezuelans even more, with jaw-dropping food prices. A packet of cheese can cost more than �10.

Let's hope they get someone good in place there and not just more of the same...