Misery in oil-rich Venezuela

Demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people fill the streets of Venezuelan cities. One watches the events like a traveller eyeing a suspicious-looking bag on a railway platform — waiting for it to blow up. The charismatic President Hugo Chavez died in 2013, succeeded by the notably inadequate Nicolas Maduro. Since then, Venezuela — a theoretically oil-rich country of 32 million — has been horribly plagued by a range of problems. These include corruption, a bloated civil service and military, and impossibly high rates of inflation. As shortages of essential staple products including food continue, the crime rate has skyrocketed. The misery of the Venezuelan people, confronted with the difference between the country's wealth and the sharp contrast to the standard of living of its elite, has brought its political situation to a crisis point. Some, in white shirts, insist on Maduro's resignation. Others, in red shirts, support him as the heir of the party of the late Chavez.More…