Vol 20 (2023) - Issue 2

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William Neuman, Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela

As is well known to even a casual observer of international affairs, Venezuela has experienced a truly spectacular and heartbreaking collapse in the last several years. Its economy has experienced the largest peacetime contraction in recent history, with its economy having shrunk by an estimated 75 percent between 2013 and 2021.
In the last several years, Venezuela has been confronted with a grave humanitarian crisis, and its population has been subjected to untold misery and suffering. This is reflected, for example, in an extraordinarily high poverty rate, widespread malnutrition and food insecurity, the spread of otherwise preventable diseases, and acute shortages of necessities such as food and medicines.