First, what's happening Venezuela?
How did we get to this point and why?
Well, there is a lot of backstory centered on the late socialist President Hugo Chavez whom was wildly popular with the Venezuelan people. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, has not been as fortunate. Why?
To put it simply, Venezuela's oil resources have been a huge source of revenue for the government for decades; however, recent advances in oil fracking and the growth of alternative energy have led to a drop in oil prices in the global economy. That is when the Venezuelan economy started to crash with less revenue intake. Maduro, not wanting to lose power, has fought to keep the presidency in light of extreme inflation and growing unpopularity. Then, the controversy of the recent elections where Maduro allegedly won pushed the economic crisis into a political one.
Things took a turn for the worst last week. The U.S., with many other nations, recognized the opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president after he proclaimed himself as the interim leader. Needless to say, this has set off the problem onto the global stage with the Russian Federation announcing support for Maduro with some rumors that private Russian bodyguards are currently protecting him. While Maduro is insisting that his victory is legal, there is a growing call for another election. Only time will tell if the situation escalates as Venezuela has cut ties with the U.S. this past week.
