Venezuela: this is what a financial collapse looks like – apocalyptic social meltdown, no food, and violent crime

May 2016 – VENEZUELA – The United States is increasingly concerned about the potential for an economic and political meltdown in Venezuela, spurred by fears of a debt default, growing street protests and deterioration of its oil sector, U. S. intelligence officials said on Friday. In a bleak assessment of Venezuela’s worsening crisis, the senior officials expressed doubt that unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro would allow a recall referendum this year, despite opposition-led protests demanding a vote to decide whether he stays in office.
But the two officials, briefing a small group of reporters in Washington, predicted that Maduro, who heads Latin America’s most ardently anti-U. S. government and a major U. S. oil supplier, was not likely to be able to complete his term, which is due to end after elections in late 2018. ‘You can hear the ice cracking. You know there’s a crisis coming,’ one U. S. official said. ‘Our pressure on this isn’t going to resolve this issue.’

This post was published at UtopiatheCollapse on May 14, 2016.