In a Venezuela Ravaged by Inflation, ‘a Race for Survival’

Of all the compromises he has had to make during Venezuela’s economic crisis, none may be as great for Carlos Sandoval as the books. A self-described bibliophile — “my life is literature,” he said — Mr. Sandoval is one of Venezuela’s foremost literary critics and a professor at two of the country’s finest universities. Yet, Mr. Sandoval can no longer afford to buy books. “It’s the worst sacrifice,” he lamented. Venezuela’s deepening economic crisis has spared few across the population of more than 30 million. The nation is on the verge of, and by some measures already in, an extraordinary period of hyperinflation, with the inflation rate above 800 percent through October. Next year, consumer prices are forecast by the International Monetary Fund to soar more than 2,300 percent. More…