With inflation nearing 1.4 million percent in Venezuela, i'm surprised there isn't more bloodshed already. Their government is destroying their economy. Making it harder for them to sell oil isn't going to help. And no, I don't think the U.S. should get involved militarily and I don't really see why they would bother. I think too much emphasis is being placed on the petro dollar here. That concept has only been around since the 1970s and the U.S. managed ok before then. One way or the other it will go away eventually anyway...with or without BRICS (there's the Triffin Dilemma as well as the pressure to drastically reduce petroleum usage). The strength of the U.S. economy isn't just in the petro dollar.