I see a lot of ignorant comments here placing the blame solely on the US (despite the fact that sanctions didn't take place until 2015 and things were already r

I see a lot of ignorant comments here placing the blame solely on the US (despite the fact that sanctions didn't take place until 2015 and things were already really bad considering Chavez died in 2013 and Maduro is still struggling to get a grip on the country since then. I visited Venezuela and my wife is from there and the truth is that the country relied on Oil to create a wonderful society where the was incredible poverty and excess wealth with many people in the Urban areas being "alright" in the middle but unaware of the plight that many people suffered. Chavez was a charismatic former military man that had already failed to perform a coup when he rose to power. He appealed to the poor and the soldiers unlike the ruling government and used this to rise to the top. Afterwards he just played his cards right making sure the poor and the military got their (tiny) share while he and his cronies became millionaires. The complete devastation of the economy lies squarely in the fact that they ran their national oil company to the ground and have nothing of value since every wealthy business owner fled or shut down during the last decade. The fact that Maduro is still in power is a complete mystery to me but I am guessing he is still greasing the right palms but another Coup is coming soon, I can only hope that things improve