Venezuela: Where The Mafia And The Military Come Together

To the casual observer, it is not immediately clear how the various strands that compose Venezuela's current economic and political crisis relate to this fundamental breakdown of law and order. What therefore needs to be understood is that, after 15 years of Chavista misrule, the Venezuelan state is not an enemy of the criminal networks that have conquered the country, but their ally. Indeed, the regime that presides over the gravest economic crisis in the country's history has been completely penetrated by criminal elements. Maduro has created a long list of enemies whom he blames for the fiscal meltdown, including "speculators" who supposedly drive down the value of Venezuela's currency, the Bolivar, small merchants who stand accused of price-fixing, and – of course – the CIA, which is daily charged with launching sabotage operations. But conspicuous by their absence are those whose actions lie at the root of the catastrophe enveloping Venezuela. More...