Politics of Venezuela

Currently, there’s a standoff about whether or not international aid should enter the country. The World speaks with Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Vargas Foundation in Brazil who’s been closely following the situation in Venezuela, about what’s next for the Latin American country, including the possibility of an American military intervention there. 

The aid the volunteers hoped to carry over the bridges has become a flashpoint in Venezuela’s political crisis. But the humanitarian aid plan was fraught with complications from the very beginning. 

Millions of dollars worth of food and medical supplies is stalled on the Venezuela-Colombia border. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro won’t let the aid in. A former chief of staff says there are “strings attached” to the aid.

Venezuela is a textbook case of the “resource curse,” with nearly 90 percent of its population living in poverty in the country with the world’s largest oil reserves. After decades of leaders who failed to harness this commodity for peace and prosperity, it is questionable whether a new government can do a better job.

Venezuela used to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. So what happened? The World’s Jason Margolis looks at the economic collapse that led to the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998.