Venezuela’s self-made crisis

Time is running out for Venezuela, a nation of 31 million with perhaps the world’s largest proved reserves of crude oil. The consequences of its descent for its neighbors and for the United States, whether into dictatorship, civil war, or bloody chaos, demand an immediate response — well beyond the call for dialogue, partial targeted sanctions, and resolutions. The country’s dire conditions are spelled out in headlines and in the public report of Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro. That report cited brutal repression, killings of protesters, torture of political prisoners; violation of its constitution, according to its own attorney general; violation of its OAS treaty obligations, and according to the U.N., a man-made humanitarian disaster. More…