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The international price of oil has dropped by more than 40 percent in the past six months. To put it lightly, this presents a major challenge to oil-exporting nations. Many analysts agree that, of all oil rich countries, Venezuela is the most vulnerable. A combination of persistent fiscal deficits, out-of-control inflation, and plunging public support for President Nicolás Maduro threatens to make the nation of 30 million ungovernable. What can Maduro do to survive? In order to answer this question, we must differentiate between what Maduro can do, and what he most likely will (or, rather, will not) do.

President Nicolas Maduro's government said on Thursday it had taken over warehouses around Venezuela crammed with medical goods and food that "bourgeois criminals" were hoarding for speculation and contraband. The socialist government says businessmen and wealthy opponents are trying to sabotage the economy to bring Maduro down, while also seeking to make profits from hoarding, price-gouging and smuggling across the border to Colombia. Critics say 15 years of failed policies of state intervention are to blame for the OPEC nation's widespread shortages, high inflation and apparently recessionary economy. They accuse nouveau riche officials and military officers of illegal business practices....

Socialism: As Venezuelans prepare to be fingerprinted to buy bread, it bears noting that their country's transformation came with the late Hugo Chavez's promise of "a sea of happiness." Some happiness. Fact is, socialism has made Venezuela the most miserable place on earth. But don't take our word for it. That's the result of objective research by Johns Hopkins University economist Steve Hanke. He has created a "Global Misery Index" based on the original inflation-unemployment misery index of the late economist Arthur Okun and the interest rate and GDP per capita additions of Harvard economist Robert Barro. Put them all...

Moscow supports Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's efforts, in collaboration with the Vatican and the Union of South American Nations, to establish a negotiating process between the government and "a constructive opposition," Russia's top diplomat said. His comments came a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to impose sanctions on Venezuelan officials accused of violating human rights during the last three months of anti-government protests in the Andean nation.Violence surrounding those protests has claimed the lives of 42 people, including both opponents and supporters of Maduro as well as bystanders and members of the security forces. Venezuelan...

Scores of opponents of President Nicolás Maduro are marching in Caracas, vowing to remain on the streets in defiance of a high court ruling limiting protests. […] Opponents say the ruling is the latest attempt by the socialist government to muzzle dissent amid widespread discontent with runaway inflation and record shortages. …

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Battling food shortages, the government is rolling out a new ID system that is either a grocery loyalty card with extra muscle or the most dramatic step yet toward rationing in Venezuela, depending on who is describing it. President Nicolas Maduro's administration says the cards to track families' purchases will foil people who stock up on groceries at subsidized prices and then illegally resell them for several times the amount. Critics say it's another sign the oil-rich Venezuelan economy is headed toward Cuba-style dysfunction.

Venezuelan deputies claim to have found new evidence that President Nicolás Maduro was born in Colombia and presented the nation with a fake birth certificate, according to one of Spain's largest newspapers. ABC reports today that deputy Walter Márquez, who initially revealed his concerns that Maduro was not legally able to run for president last autumn. While Márquez and fellow deputy Abelardo Díaz had accused Maduro of lying about his birthplace in the past, they revealed the results of a year-long research project on Thursday. They interviewed relatives and witnesses and concluded that Maduro not only has dual citizenship, but...

(Reuters) - Venezuelans began a week-long national holiday on Thursday as some protests still simmered, but President Nicolas Maduro's government was hoping the break would take the heat out of the nation's worst unrest in a decade. The 51-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez brought forward by two days a long national holiday weekend for Carnival when Venezuelans traditionally abandon cities and head for Caribbean coast beaches to unwind and party. There will be another day off for the March 5 anniversary of Chavez's death from cancer, meaning a week-long break that officials hope will dampen student-led street protests. In the...

Caracas (AFP) - President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry on the unrest in Venezuela gave violent groups a "green light" to carry out attacks. In a tweet, Maduro also slammed the remarks made by Kerry late Friday as "arrogant" and "insolent." "John Kerry threatens Venezuela with more violence, with his statements gives the green light to violent groups to attack our people," Maduro wrote.

The protesters in Venezuela do not seek anything extraordinary: They demand to be secure in their homes and their persons, they demand an end to current shortages of staple foods and other goods in the country, and they demand the right to free speech. That these things should be considered a challenge to the Maduro regime is what is extraordinary, along with the regime’s brutal response to the protests — both speak to the character of the current Venezuelan government. If honoring such basic human decencies requires a regime change in Caracas, that is more a reflection on the current...

BOGOTA, Colombia -- In Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro controls the TV remote. A week after he turned off Colombian television station NTN24, he threatened to pull the plug on CNN. “They want to show the world that there’s a civil war in Venezuela,” Maduro told a cheering audience Thursday night. “CNN, get out of Venezuela, enough of your propaganda.” Hours later, four of the broadcaster’s journalists had their press passes revoked. Adding to the confusion of the past two weeks of violent protests in Venezuela is that they’ve taken place amid a broadcast brownout. As local television stations have either...

Most are true, but what difference does that make? The left prefer spin.An article posted on February 20th at Puffington Host, titled In Defense of Venezuela, praises governmental actions against the violent, rich, elitist brats who protest against the benign and wonderful Venezuelan government under el Presidente Maduro. They protest because they hate little people and selfishly want everything for themselves. The U.S. media, echoing the sentiments of the U.S. government, is openly encouraging violent regime change in Venezuela. An emblematic story from yesterday was aired in what is considered a "liberal" media source, National Public Radio (NPR). In short, this piece featured...

It’s hard times in Venezuela these days. The economy is in shambles, crime is spiraling, and the opposition is leading increasingly strident protests on the streets. To make matters worse, President Nicolás Maduro can’t even deal with the crisis from the comforts of the presidential palace. Constitutionally, of course, Maduro has been able live in La Casona, a luxurious villa in the heart of the capital, since he was sworn in last year. The only problem: Almost a year after Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, passed away, his three grown children—Maria Gabriela, Rosa Virginia and Hugo Jr.—are still living in the...

Pop star Madonna weighed in on events in Venezuela and Ukraine Thursday, launching an attack against President Maduro via Instagram. Beside a picture of Maduro, Madonna wrote: Apparantly Maduro is not familiar with the phrase "Human Rights"! Facism is alive and thriving in Venezuela and Russia. The Ukraine isn't far behind! #wakethe[%$@#]up #revolutionoflove

The anti-Government demonstrations in Venezuela may be approaching boiling point with a showdown set for Tuesday in the capital Caracas. Three US diplomats have been expelled and an arrest warrant issued for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. The demonstrations have grown in intensity over the past two weeks. They are partially a response to an economic crisis in an oil-rich country. Inflation is the highest in Latin America. Crime has soared, there are power blackouts, the black market is flourishing and food staples are sometimes difficult to find. The Socialist Government blames shortages on saboteurs and sees the hand of the...

Secretary of State John Kerry is joining officials from the United Nations, Organization of American States and European Union in condemning “senseless violence” in Venezuela. “The United States is deeply concerned by rising tensions and violence surrounding this week's protests in Venezuela,” Kerry said in a statement. “Our condolences go to the families of those killed as a result of this tragic violence.” “We are particularly alarmed by reports that the Venezuelan government has arrested or detained scores of anti-government protestors and issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. These actions have a chilling effect on citizens' rights...

Venezuelan troops fanned out across the capital, Caracas, and other major cities on Thursday after President Nicolás Maduro ordered a military clampdown against deadly unrest that he warned was part of a "fascist" coup plot. Piles of burning rubbish sat smoking along Caracas' main avenue as troops moved to secure the city following an outbreak of street violence that left three dead on Wednesday. Armed soldiers surrounded government buildings and diverted traffic, while riot troops guarded entrances to the shuttered subway system as residents picked their way through broken glass.

Did you hear what El Presidente said now? "I make an appeal to the country economic sectors, for work and self-regulation of commodities and prices. You have time until next Monday; otherwise, I will take the most radical measures. I am determined to make an economic revolution. Nobody, nothing will stop me!" No, that wasn’t Big Guy; that was Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chavez’s successor and president of the other most dubiously democratic country in the Western hemisphere. Hugo (RIP) presents BHO with a book documenting 5 centuries of American and European Imperialism: BHO’s response, “ I wrote one of them...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has sent troops into the streets, clamped down on the press and sidestepped Congress to intensify what he calls the war against the "parasitic bourgeoisie" ahead of local elections. The opposition says Sunday's vote to elect 337 mayors and 2,455 councilors is a referendum on Maduro, as Venezuelans cope with the fastest inflation in the world, blackouts, water cuts and a surge in violence. Maduro says the vote is a chance to show loyalty to the late President Hugo Chávez, who reduced poverty by more than half in his 14-year tenure. Maduro's answer...

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro exercised new emergency powers for the first time Thursday, signing decrees limiting business profit margins and tightening regulation of imports. He acted as part of a so-called "economic war" against a crisis for which he blames the opposition "bourgeoisie" and imperialism. Under new powers granted to Maduro on Tuesday, the two new laws aim to control prices and profits in the business sector and closely monitor imports and exports and hard currency that comes in from oil sales, Venezuela's main source of revenue.