
Mad Max violence stalks Venezuela's lawless roads - smacktoward
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy-trucks-widerimage/mad-max-violence-stalks-venezuelas-lawless-roads-idUSKBN1FT1G9
======
indescions_2018
Regime change is currently on the table. In the event of further economic
collapse.

What Would a U.S. Intervention in Venezuela Look Like?

[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/venezuela/2017-11-08...](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/venezuela/2017-11-08/what-
would-us-intervention-venezuela-look)

~~~
armenarmen
US intervention seems like an option. Especially given the fact that Venezuela
is looking to sell oil for
Yuan[[https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2017/09/15/venezuela...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2017/09/15/venezuelas-
latest-currency-decision-shows-desperation/#5f8fd5a53094)]

a move that has been the strongest predictor of US intervention in the past 2
decades.

~~~
rtpg
What are the other cases of US intervention in this style? I can understand
the consternation at some level, but has something happened in the past 2
decades that I just missed?

~~~
armenarmen
Hussein began selling oil for Euros shortly before the US invaded in 2003,
Gadaffi was looking to sell oil for gold shortly before the US decided 'more
freedom' was in order.

Might just be a happy coincidence, but the petrodollar is a huge part of the
US Dollar's value.

~~~
nathanaldensr
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted for stating facts. This is a well-
known theory for when the US government chooses to intervene in other
countries' affairs.

~~~
Viliam1234
I bought a bottle of olive oil recently in a supermarket, and paid with Euros.
I expect the American imperialists to bomb the shop soon.

(just kidding)

------
tim333
It's quite impressively mucked up. I wonder if there's some way of returning
to sane government of if they have to wait 35 years for Maduro to die of old
age.

~~~
aclsid
I really hope so. This is a beautiful country that deserves better. Oil has
made us rich and now screwed us up in a massive way.

~~~
dmix
Oil is not what _caused_ the food shortages, it's what allowed the government
to convince everyone their policies were working during the good times, while
they depleted their cash reserves to cover the massive unsustainable hole
their radical social policies were burning in their pocket.

Food shortages were a result of government enacted price controls,
expropriation of farmland, and centralization of financial markets. Which
subsequently disrupted local food production, scared away foreign imports, and
reduced access to critically needed foreign currency.

No country can produce ALL of their own food. Imports are a necessity, even
for socialist countries. Artificially reducing prices, fucking over all of
your domestic business talent, and severely limiting foreign currency is a
(predictable) recipe for a massive food crisis.

Venezuela suffered persistent food shortages well before the oil "crisis" (as
early as 2002-2003) [1] ...meanwhile every other non-socialist petrol-state
has bounced back from the crisis, EXCEPT Venezuela.

When Chavez came to power he announced "capitalism was dead" to the cheers of
farmers. Those farmers are now starving and flooding over the border to
Colombia whose "capitalist" food markets offer both greater variety and far
greater supply. The oil crisis merely exposed the complete failure of their
"modern" economic system.

Yet the Venezuelan government continue to blame the west for all of their
failures. And local "hoarders" and "speculators" for food shortages [2].

It's obvious that looking in the mirror and admitting personal responsibility
would be political suicide for the pseudo-dictators and all of their corrupt
friends.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Venezuela)

[2] [https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21571445-cost-
postpo...](https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21571445-cost-postponing-
inevitable-devaluation-out-stock)

------
cobbzilla
yeah that's not a sensationalist headline at all.

~~~
drb91
Sure it’s not flaming guitars, but for once the movie reference seems more
exaggeration than fiction.

~~~
megaman22
The first Mad Max was not particularly post-apocalyptic - the world was
falling down, but the vestiges of society were still rather strong, and the
lunatic fringe like Toecutter were just motorcycle gangs cranked up to 11.

Things have gotten weirder and weirder in every installment since.

~~~
meesterdude
> Things have gotten weirder and weirder in every installment since

Reality is following suit

