Chavez says US downturn affecting price of oil

Speaking to his cabinet ministers, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the economic woes of the United States will impact the Venezuelan economy.That the debt ceiling was raised, well, but that is debt to pay debt, he said. It is a serious situation for the capitalist world and although it will impact us as well.How can it impact us first? The decline of oil prices which has already begun.On Friday the annual average price of a barrel of oil was above $110, up from just above $80 last year but below the years high of $127.02.US Benchmark West Texas Intermediate was off 17 cents at $86.46 a barrel, after falling to its lowest since November.After holding a marathon, hours-long meeting with his ministers, Chavez boarded a plane bound for Cuba where he will undergo a second round of chemotherapy to treat his cancer. He has said this trip could possibly keep him in Cuba for five days.Chavez, who had surgery in Havana in June to remove a baseball-sized tumor, told state TV in a phone call that he would undergo medical tests in Cuba on Sunday and could resume chemotherapy treatment on Monday depending on the results.