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Imagine going to the doctor’s office and receiving a diagnosis of a critical condition that required surgery. As you go to schedule the surgery the nurse hands you a list of supplies you will need to bring for the surgery. You will need to provide gloves, mask, scalpels, stitches, and bandages because the hospital cannot. As you go home from the hospital already at a loss for how you will pay that bill, you realize you need to pick up groceries. The sticker shock all but causes physical pain as everyday goods have doubled in price in the last month. How can you start thinking about buying medical supplies when you can barely feed your family?
An estimated 94% of the Venezuelan population lives in poverty
Such is the current situation in Venezuela, a borderline failed state suffering from rampant inflation and shortages stemming from decades of economic mismanagement. Over the last decade, the situation has become increasingly dire. An estimated 94% of the Venezuelan population lives in poverty with 2.8 million in need of healthcare. Almost three and a half million people (about the population of Oklahoma) have already fled the country, many into Colombia which only recently settled its own internal conflict with the FARC rebels. Prospects for a domestic solution seem pretty bleak, as the president’s past plans alleviating hunger have involved telling citizens to start raising rabbits for food. As of 2018, citizens had lost an average of 24 pounds and some had resorted to breaking into zoos for food.
First, we must examine how Venezuela got here and then examine humanitarian options through two existing American relationships: one a friend, the other a foe.
After a pardon for an attempted coup, Hugo Chavez won the presidency of Venezuela in 1999. From there he converted Venezuela into a petro-state, relying on oil export revenues to maintain power at a level that would make even a gulf state blush. During his presidency and until his death in 2013, all other exports besides oil collapsed to essentially zero. Instead of using any of this newfound wealth to build infrastructure, establish alternative industries, or even develop a sovereign wealth fund, Chavez instead focused on electorally popular projects, even going as far as to...