Venezuela quickly becoming Russia's newest satellite state
http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/361176-venezuela-becoming-russias-newest-satellite-state11/20/17
“It is Russia’s actions which threaten the international order on which we all depend.” British Prime Minister Theresa May’s tough message to Vladimir Putin this week focused on what you’d expect: Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, its instigation of the fighting in Eastern Ukraine and its weaponizing of information, including the meddling in elections.
What she failed to mention was Russia’s insidious, increasing influence in Venezuela.
First, let’s set the stage. By now you are probably aware that Venezuela has gone from being the envy of the developing world to one of the planet’s worst economic and political basket cases.
Venezuela had the fourth-highest GDP per capita in the world in 1950. Almost a half century later, when Hugo Chavez took power in 1999, Venezuela was still one of the richest emerging markets in the world. But last year, 82 percent of Venezuelans were under the poverty line.
Ninety-three percent of Venezuelans reported they did not have enough money to properly feed their families. Children are starving to death and people of all ages are dying of treatable diseases because of the lack of basic medicines.
The rise in prices has now reached hyperinflationary levels, by far the worst in the world. Since 1999, the amount of Venezuelan currency needed to buy a U.S. dollar on the black market has gone up by more than 10,000,000 percent — yes, you read that right....
