The end of Venezuela.

[cali]

Not as a nation of course, but as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its official moniker. The reasons why are myriad and hotly debated, but appears highly unlikely that it will pull back from the brink. Here are a couple of interesting pieces about what's going on.


Last Friday, President Nicolás Maduro declared a sixty-day state of emergency throughout Venezuela. Alluding darkly to an American-backed plot against his regime, Maduro said that the new measure would help him protect his fellow-citizens from foreign and domestic threats, though he didn’t explain exactly how. There is certainly no denying that Venezuela is in dire straits. Inflation is so high that the government cannot afford to pay for the paper on which its currency, the bolívar, is printed. Lines at the grocery store grow longer even as the shelves grow emptier, and hospitals, such as they are, have run out of antibiotics, surgical supplies, and functioning medical equipment. The country’s electrical grid, too, is in a shambles. Planned blackouts roll through almost every region of the country daily, including the capital, Caracas, which has been estimated to have the highest murder rate of any city in the world. Early last month, Maduro announced a national furlough of public employees, instituting a four-day work week to conserve power; by the end of April, the week had shrunk further, to only two days. Time itself has been bent to the government’s needs, with the country’s clocks pushed forward by half an hour. Venezuelans will use all the daylight minutes they can get.

<snip>
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-electricity-crisis-in-venezuela-a-cautionary-tale

What has gone wrong in Venezuela?

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has declared a state of emergency to combat the economic war he says foreign powers and right-wing forces in Venezuela are waging against the Latin American country.

Venezuela has the world's highest inflation rate at 180% and there are shortages of basic goods as well as power shortages.
Opposition politicians have handed in a petition with 1.85 million signatures asking for a recall referendum to oust President Maduro from power.

Here, we look at some of the factors which have led to the oil-rich country's current crisis.

<snip>
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36319877

Dying Infants and No Medicine: Inside Venezuela’s Failing Hospitals

BARCELONA, Venezuela — By morning, three newborns were already dead.

The day had begun with the usual hazards: chronic shortages of antibiotics, intravenous solutions, even food. Then a blackout swept over the city, shutting down the respirators in the maternity ward.

Doctors kept ailing infants alive by pumping air into their lungs by hand for hours. By nightfall, four more newborns had died.

“The death of a baby is our daily bread,” said Dr. Osleidy Camejo, a surgeon in the nation’s capital, Caracas, referring to the toll from Venezuela’s collapsing hospitals.


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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/world/americas/dying-infants-and-no-medicine-inside-venezuelas-failing-hospitals.html?_r=1

[Yupster]

1. I figure the generals have got to be talking

I won't be surprised by a coup.

[DetlefK]

2. Well, the revolution in Romania was one week of civil-war in the streets of the capital.

It was over quickly, because 99% of the country was against him.

But Maduro?
When Venezuela comes to the point of mass-demonstrations and break-down, it won't be over in a week.

Maduro no longer has people or parliament, but he has the courts, the military, the police, the colectivos... This will be very, very ugly.

[hunter]

3. What's gone wrong? Oil prices collapsed and the rain didn't fall.

The nation's electricity comes from dams.

All the political handwringing is silly.

The U.S.A. would be even less cohesive in a similar crisis.

Hell, Bernie and Hillary are two peas in a pod, yet here on DU we're at each other's throats.

Look at the U.S.A. altogether and the view is even uglier.

Any environmental or economic perturbation at levels even less than Venezuela has experienced is going to set the U.S.A. into a fascist tailspin from which will be the end of us.

It could be anything, I figure the most likely is an extreme power failure during the kind of heat and humidity that kills people.

[cali]

4. Reductionist thinking. And no, Hillary and Bernie aren't even in the vegetable patch

[hunter]

5. History says otherwise...