An enormous crisis is brewing in Venezuela, a nation of more than 30 million people, with the largest oil reserves in the world. It is on the brink of collapse and civil war. The implications for the Americas are profound and dangerous.
The crisis can be traced to the 1998 election of Hugo Chávez to the presidency. Chávez concocted a socialist political system that often used high oil prices to essentially bribe the masses into supporting him. Yet his successor, Nicolás Maduro, lacks his charisma and capacity for scheming, and oil prices remain too low to give Maduro any financial leverage. Now his opposition has managed to coalesce around stopping his attempt to rewrite the constitution to give him final control over the courts and the legislature—and make himself President for life.
Over the past five months, more than 100 protesters have been killed, and hundreds of thousands of people have marched in the streets. An opposition pilot dive-bombed the Supreme Court, and the Organization of American States (OAS) has condemned the regime. Even before the crisis, Venezuela was already one of the most violent countries in the Americas–on par with Mexico and El Salvador, which are in the midst of drug wars.
This has the potential for disaster because of the possibility of massive numbers of refugees, a drain on the resources of other nations, which would be forced to help a displaced and at-risk population. The havoc could also open up opportunities for drug smugglers.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently said that “a military option” is on the table, and the mixture is beyond flammable–it is explosive. Every nation in the Americas has an interest in a peaceful settlement in Venezuela. U.S. leadership should be subtle and restrained, while not going missing altogether. The end of the republic is close. Let’s be ready for what comes next.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars…” Matthew 24:6.
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