Yada, Yada, Yada, GOD, Yada, Yada, Yada,...

"President Hugo Chavez is confident that God and nature will pull Venezuela out of a power crisis battering both the economy and his popularity.

Rationing and blackouts have afflicted the South American oil exporter since late 2009, due mainly to a drought that has cut water levels at hydroelectric installations normally supplying more than two-thirds of power needs.

The crisis may cause a second year of economic contraction in Venezuela and is also weighing on Chavez's approval ratings ahead of a legislative election in September that he and opponents are casting as a referendum on his rule.

'The squalid ones are hoping it won't rain,' Chavez said late on Tuesday, using his usual term for the opposition.

'But it's going to rain, you'll see, because God is a "Bolivarian." God cannot be squalid. Nature is with us,' the socialist leader added during an event with athletes."

-- Reuters