Chavez thinks he can defy the laws of economics. Apparently people don't seem to follow his scheme after the devaluation of the bolivar. If you "speculate" and raise prices, your business will be confiscated by and re-distributed to the "people".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8464960.stm
Every Venezuelan who's stood in opposition to Chavez and his insane reforms have my sympathies; the rest however deserve to face the reality they have now inflicted on themselves.