Virginia Lopez, correspondent for AL JAZEERA: Oil is Venezuela's lifeline. Ever since it was first pumped in 1914, oil has found a way of permeating every aspect of Venezuelan life. Initially it helped the backward, malaria-infested Caribbean nation out of poverty, and decades later nurtured a culture of easy wealth. And now - because Venezuela relies on oil for 95 percent of its revenue, and imports almost everything it consumes - the drop in the price of oil is challenging the government of the late Chavez's chosen successor, President Nicolas Maduro.
