Could Venezuela be next?

President Barack Obama's announcement Wednesday that the United States would normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba echoed loudly throughout Latin America. But the news was especially meaningful in Caracas. There, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called Mr. Obama's decision "a gesture that was courageous and historically necessary." Indeed, Cuba and Venezuela have been close partners for decades. Both nations share longstanding opposition to the United States and economic freedom in general, using their shared wealth of natural resources to weather even the harshest sanctions. But while the outlook brightened dramatically this week for relations between the United States and Cuba, Mr. Maduro's future remains murky. More…