The purge has revealed a power struggle at the highest levels of government, leading to the fall of some of Mr. Chávez’s military comrades and reports of secret dossiers on businessmen compiled here by intelligence agents from Cuba, Venezuela’s top ally.
It is interesting that he is basing this on Cuban assessments of his own people. That can't be a good sign for Hugo if he can't rely on his own spooks.
In the short run, Hugo gets rid of actual or potential enemies. And given how Hugo has effed up the Venezuelan economy, he gets to focus dwindling resources to buy the love of a smaller number of supporters.
But that is not a solution that can be carried on for long. Eventually, Hugo will have too few supporters to sleep well at night.
