People are starving – walk through a supermarket.
Now led by President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela is rotting. The statistics speak volumes. Inflation in Venezuela is around 65 percent — perhaps higher. According to an in-country NGO, the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, the 2014 murder rate was the second-highest globally, war zones included. Venezuelans now struggle to access the most basic necessities. Suffering from chronic shortages of coffee, toilet paper, and just about every good Venezuela imports (most goods are imported, thanks to Chávez’s idiocy), citizens must line up for hours to scrounge whatever they can. They struggle for sustenance and also basic survival. As Juan Forero reports at the Wall Street Journal, Venezuela’s health-care system now requires patients to scavenge replacement heart valves. But Maduro isn’t worried. His power insulates him from the icy waters of socialism. And he’s happy to blame the United States for his country’s ills. In recent days, Maduro has been threatening with military exercises and fiery rhetoric. And while the most vulnerable are left to rot, the Chávezville elite live in splendor