There are several reasons that make Venezuela acutely
vulnerable to a drop in oil prices: 1) The extremely inefficient public sector
paid for by high oil prices. 2) the domestic subsidies, from cheap gasoline to
giving Cuba cheap oil. These subsidies
have bought votes for the Chavez-Maduro regimes. My guess is that these subsidies would have
to be curtailed substantially if oil prices keeps dropping. 3) Maduro is in a
very weak political position. He is not
Chavez, a more popular figure who got to govern at a time when oil prices could
finance every scheme and ambitious project. There is a perfect storm brewing in
Venezuela, and the leadership looks totally unprepared for it. More:
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