Venezuela on the Brink

Eighteen-year-old Yonaiker Ordóñez was asleep when Venezuelan police barged into his home in Caracas on a Sunday morning in late January. Dressed in helmets and carrying rifles, the men grabbed the teenager and forced him into another room without explaining why they had come.

“They took him to the area behind and killed him there,” says his sister, Yengly González.

The operation resembled one of the many police raids against the gangs that terrorize Venezuela’s poor neighborhoods. But Ordóñez’s only crime, his family says, was that he had attended a protest against the government days before.

President Nicolás Maduro is facing mounting challenges to his authoritarian rule. In January, an opposition lawmaker named Juan Guaidó declared himself to be Venezuela’s rightful interim president. A growing number of foreign governments—including the United States—have backed Guaidó’s claim, and increasing numbers of protesters are taking to the streets, calling for Maduro to step down. There have been violent clashes between opposition protesters and the Venezuelan military.

Eighteen-year-old Yonaiker Ordóñez was asleep when Venezuelan police barged into his home in Caracas on a Sunday morning in late January. The officers had on helmets and carried rifles. They grabbed Ordóñez and forced him into another room without explaining why they had come.

“They took him to the area behind and killed him there,” says his sister, Yengly González.

The operation resembled one of the many police raids against the gangs that terrorize Venezuela’s poor neighborhoods. But Ordóñez’s only crime, his family says, was that he had attended a protest against the government days before.

President Nicolás Maduro is facing mounting challenges to his authoritarian rule. In January, an opposition lawmaker named Juan Guaidó declared himself to be Venezuela’s rightful interim president. A growing number of foreign governments have backed Guaidó’s claim. The United States is among the nations supporting him. Increasing numbers of protesters are also taking to the streets, calling for Maduro to step down. And there have been violent clashes between opposition protesters and the Venezuelan military.

In the face of the crisis, Maduro has hit back hard, sending out security forces to crush dissent. Government forces have fired on protesters in the streets, and human rights groups say dozens of opposition supporters have been killed in nightly raids in poor neighborhoods, like the one in which Ordóñez was killed.

All this upheaval comes after years of increasing misery and economic crisis in Venezuela. Food is so scarce in some places that children are dying of hunger. People wait in long lines for whatever basic provisions are available. Others dig through garbage dumpsters outside restaurants looking for scraps to eat. And parents go days without eating to give their children what little food there is.  

“It’s probably the worst humanitarian, political, economic, and social crisis that the region has seen in generations,” says Ian Vásquez, a Venezuela expert at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.

In the face of the crisis, Maduro has hit back hard. He’s sent out security forces to crush dissent. Government forces have fired on protesters in the streets. Human rights groups say dozens of opposition supporters have been killed in nightly raids in poor neighborhoods, like the one in which Ordóñez was killed.

All this unrest comes after years of growing misery and economic crisis in Venezuela. Food is so scarce in some places that children are dying of hunger. People wait in long lines for whatever basic supplies are available. Others dig through garbage dumpsters outside restaurants looking for scraps to eat. And parents go days without eating to give their children what little food there is.

“It’s probably the worst humanitarian, political, economic, and social crisis that the region has seen in generations,” says Ian Vásquez, a Venezuela expert at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.

Venezuela’s turmoil has been a long time in the making. With the world’s largest proven oil reserves, it was once one of Latin America’s richest nations. That was the case in 1998, when a socialist politician named Hugo Chávez was elected president.

Chávez was a charismatic populist who vowed to redistribute the country’s wealth. He nationalized many parts of the economy, seizing the assets of many foreign businesses, including American agricultural, oil, and power companies. He used oil revenue to fund health care, education, and food subsidies for the poor. At the same time, Chávez became famous for his anti-American rhetoric. He once called then-President George W. Bush “the devil.”

When Chávez died of cancer in 2013, Maduro, his vice president, took over. But Maduro lacked Chávez’s charisma, and the country’s many long-festering problems began to come to a head. For years, Venezuela’s economy had been kept afloat by oil exports. But the price of oil plummeted in 2014, leaving the government effectively broke.

Venezuela’s turmoil has been a long time in the making. With the world’s largest proven oil reserves, it was once one of Latin America’s richest nations. That was the case in 1998, when a socialist politician named Hugo Chávez was elected president.

Chávez was a charismatic populist who vowed to redistribute the country’s wealth. He nationalized many parts of the economy. He did so by seizing the assets of many foreign businesses, including American agricultural, oil, and power companies. He used oil revenue to fund health care, education, and food subsidies for the poor. At the same time, Chávez became famous for his anti-American rhetoric. He once called then-President George W. Bush “the devil.”

When Chávez died of cancer in 2013, Maduro, his vice president, took over. But Maduro lacked Chávez’s charisma, and the country’s many long-festering problems began to come to a head. For years, Venezuela’s economy had been kept afloat by oil exports. But the price of oil plummeted in 2014, leaving the government effectively broke.

Even before oil revenues collapsed, Venezuela’s economy was in deep trouble, largely because of a system of government-imposed price controls. The policy was meant to keep Venezuelans happy by requiring that certain basic goods, such as cooking oil and milk, be sold at low prices. The problem was that most importers stopped bringing goods into the country since they couldn’t make a profit, and the price controls left no incentive for local producers to fill the gap either, leaving store shelves empty.

Now hyperinflation has made the country’s currency, the bolivar, virtually worthless. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Venezuela’s annual inflation rate (the rate at which prices increase) is now more than 1 million percent. That’s an almost unimaginably fast rate of price increase, and it means that no one’s salary has any value because the prices of basic goods—when they’re even available—rise so fast that people can’t afford them. Some economists refer to this as the “wheelbarrow problem”—when a country’s currency has become so worthless that people need a wheelbarrow full of cash just to get groceries. Last August, in a futile attempt to address the problem, the government slashed five zeros from the value of the bolivar and renamed it the “sovereign bolivar,” but the move was merely cosmetic.

Even before oil revenues collapsed, Venezuela’s economy was in deep trouble. That was largely because of a system of government-imposed price controls. The policy was meant to keep Venezuelans happy. It required that certain basic goods, such as cooking oil and milk, be sold at low prices. The problem was that most importers stopped bringing goods into the country since they couldn’t make a profit. The price controls left no incentive for local producers to fill the gap either. This left store shelves empty.

Now hyperinflation has made the country’s currency, the bolivar, virtually worthless. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Venezuela’s annual inflation rate (the rate at which prices increase) is now more than 1 million percent. That’s an almost unimaginably fast rate of price increase. It means that no one’s salary has any value because the prices of basic goods rise so fast that people can’t afford them. And that’s when they’re even available. Some economists refer to this as the “wheelbarrow problem.” That’s when a country’s currency has become so worthless that people need a wheelbarrow full of cash just to get groceries. Last August, the government unsuccessfully attempted to address the problem. It slashed five zeros from the value of the bolivar and renamed it the “sovereign bolivar.” But the move was merely cosmetic.

As the country has veered toward chaos, Maduro has become increasingly authoritarian, jailing opposition politicians and ordinary citizens who protest.  

A 2017 report by the Organization of American States paints a grim picture of the human costs of the political crackdown in Venezuela: Between 2014 and 2017, police and government forces killed at least 131 protesters. Since 2013, the report says, some 12,000 Venezuelans have been arrested, more than 8,000 have been executed, and about 300 have been tortured.

At the same time, the security situation in the country is getting worse and worse. More than 23,000 people were killed in 2018, often by criminal gangs, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence. And a 2018 international survey by Gallup ranked Venezuela as the most dangerous country in the world—worse even than war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and South Sudan. 

As the country has continued heading toward chaos, Maduro has become increasingly authoritarian. He’s jailed opposition politicians and ordinary citizens who protest.

A 2017 report by the Organization of American States paints a grim picture of the human costs of the political crackdown in Venezuela. Between 2014 and 2017, police and government forces killed at least 131 protesters. Since 2013, the report says, some 12,000 Venezuelans have been arrested. It also notes that more than 8,000 have been executed and about 300 have been tortured. 

At the same time, the security situation in the country is getting worse and worse. More than 23,000 people were killed in 2018, often by criminal gangs, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence. And a 2018 international survey by Gallup ranked Venezuela as the most dangerous country in the world. Its ranking was even worse than war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and South Sudan.

“Almost everything you can think of that can go wrong in a society is happening in Venezuela,” Vásquez says. “The basic functions of government have broken down—the country is essentially run by criminal gangs.”

Doctors across the country say children are dying of malnutrition because their parents can’t obtain enough food for them. Babies are especially vulnerable because infant formula is so hard to find.

Venezuela’s state-run health-care system has also been decimated by the economic crisis. Highly trained doctors say they lack the medicines they need to treat severe malnutrition and a variety of other illnesses. They also lack basic supplies such as diapers, soap, syringes, and latex gloves.

The ongoing misery is increasingly forcing Venezuelans to flee; more than
3 million have left the country since 2015, and thousands more flee every day (see “A Staggering Exodus,” below).

“Almost everything you can think of that can go wrong in a society is happening in Venezuela,” Vásquez says. “The basic functions of government have broken down—the country is essentially run by criminal gangs.”

Doctors across the country say children are dying of malnutrition because their parents can’t get enough food for them. Babies are especially vulnerable because infant formula is so hard to find.

The economic crisis has also destroyed Venezuela’s state-run health-care system. Highly trained doctors say they lack the medicines they need to treat severe malnutrition and a variety of other illnesses. They also lack basic supplies such as diapers, soap, syringes, and latex gloves.

The ongoing misery is increasingly forcing Venezuelans to flee. More than 3 million have left the country since 2015. Thousands more flee every day (see “A Staggering Exodus,” below).

It was against the backdrop of this humanitarian disaster that the political situation came to a head in January. That’s when Maduro—who was reelected to another six-year term last May in a vote internationally condemned as rigged—was sworn in to begin that new term. In response, the opposition rallied behind Guaidó, the 35-year-old leader of the National Assembly.  

Guaidó, who says Maduro’s reelection was illegitimate, has declared himself Venezuela’s interim president and promised to hold new elections once Maduro steps down.

“We face the challenge of restoring our democracy and rebuilding the country, this time amid a humanitarian crisis,” Guaidó wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

About 50 countries—including the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela’s neighbors Colombia and Brazil—have recognized Guaidó as interim president and urged Maduro to relinquish power. The Trump administration has intensified the pressure on Maduro by cutting off access to oil sales in the United States—a principal source of his government’s cash. And Venezuelans have poured into the streets to protest.

It was against the backdrop of this humanitarian disaster that the political situation came to a head in January. That’s when Maduro was sworn in to begin a new term. He was reelected to another six-year term last May in a vote internationally condemned as rigged. In response, the opposition rallied behind Guaidó, the 35-year-old leader of the National Assembly.

Guaidó says Maduro’s reelection was illegitimate. He’s declared himself Venezuela’s interim president and promised to hold new elections once Maduro steps down.

“We face the challenge of restoring our democracy and rebuilding the country, this time amid a humanitarian crisis,” Guaidó wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

About 50 countries have recognized Guaidó as interim president. This group of countries includes the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela’s neighbors Colombia and Brazil. They’ve urged Maduro to relinquish power. The Trump administration has intensified the pressure on Maduro by cutting off access to oil sales in the United States. That’s a principal source of his government’s cash. And Venezuelans have poured into the streets to protest. 

Ruben Grabados, a 71-year-old businessman, participated in one of those protests in Caracas, fully aware that he was risking his life to call for Maduro’s ouster.

“People die in Venezuela every day,” he said. “It might as well be for freedom.”

Jhonny Godoy, 29, was one of those who died. A couple of days after Guaidó declared himself president, Godoy attended a nighttime demonstration in Caracas. He was gunned down by Maduro’s security forces.

A few days later, Guaidó sat with Godoy’s mother, Ana Cecilia Buitrago, holding her hand and comforting her.

“My son had a big heart,” Buitrago told Guaidó in a shaky voice. “This government has to fall so we can put an end to all this misery.”

Ruben Grabados, a 71-year-old businessman, participated in one of those protests in Caracas. He was fully aware that he was risking his life to call for Maduro’s ouster.

“People die in Venezuela every day,” he said. “It might as well be for freedom.”

Jhonny Godoy, 29, was one of those who died. A couple of days after Guaidó declared himself president, Godoy attended a nighttime demonstration in Caracas. He was gunned down by Maduro’s security forces.

A few days later, Guaidó sat with Godoy’s mother, Ana Cecilia Buitrago, holding her hand and comforting her.

“My son had a big heart,” Buitrago told Guaidó in a shaky voice. “This government has to fall so we can put an end to all this misery.”

With reporting by Ana Vanessa Herrero, Nicholas Casey, Jenny Carolina González, and Ernesto Londoño of The New York Times.

With reporting by Ana Vanessa Herrero, Nicholas Casey, Jenny Carolina González, and Ernesto Londoño of The New York Times.