Oil prices are rising. Yet US inventories are up. That’s not normal. Venezuela is pumping below its OPEC quota, with production down. (Link UPDATED). The state oil company is in shambles. And Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is on the rumored verge of firing 12,000 oil workers in already-rebellious Zulia state in the west. Meanwhile, his oil minister denies it. Screaming ‘sabotage’ and ‘CIA infiltration’ and ‘silent strike,’ Chavez’s underlings are in distress as the oil refineries (including the gigantic Amuay refinery which was shut down last month amid rumors of worker sabotage) slide into turmoil. The generals of the military are roused.

Nothing can start a revolution like an angry proletariat. Nobody can challenge a dictator’s power like oil workers. This may be the beginning of the end for Hugo Chavez. This rumbling is real.

UPDATE: This item from Miguel Octavio gives the real lowdown on how troubled this situation is. The unions, the officials contradicting each other, the infighting – it’s roiling and rocking now, there is some real trouble ahead with this. A must-read. Read it here.

UPDATE: Val at Babalu reports that Castro is all of a sudden planning an oil infrastructure project right there in anti-Chavez Zulia state. I think it’s the arrival of Cuban enforcers. Read it here.

UPDATE: Breaking: Venezuela has rushed in troops, including helicopters and patrol boats to restore order in Zulia.

UPDATE: More on troops here.

UPDATE: My own summary of events on American Thinker.