For many years The United States and Venezuela have had a strong relationship based on oil. The South American country has supplied a large amount of fuel to the United States. As a result, Venezuela became one of the richest nations in South America and a magnet that attracted a large number of immigrants. Nations like Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates made a fortune with oil, but Venezuela's problem is that minimum wage is less than $10 a month. Venezuela was a stable democracy for a long time, but now it's become a dictatorship ruled by Nicolas Maduro.
Cuba has a big influence on the country, and this is not good for the security of the United States and the region.
Poverty
Nicolas Maduro is one of the worst presidents in history, he has created one of the worst economic disasters in Latin America. Today the minimum salary in Venezuela is 325,544 bolivares. According to a report by Dolar Today, the exchange rate is 34,101.73 bolivares per dollar on October 18th, 2017. If we do the math, we can see that the minimum salary is a little less than $10 when using the currency exchange in the black market. Scarcity, queues, and rampant inflation have created a serious economic and social problem. According to Business Daily, workers in Ethiopia make much more than that.
I have to add that there is one big difference between both nations: Venezuela is in recession while Ethiopia has been growing more than 10 percent per year according to Economic Times.
Time to stop the leftist ideas
Venezuela has imported many ideas from Socialist Cuba, so, I wouldn't be surprised if Maduro tries to export his ideology to other nations in the region.
We can't lose another nation in a moment when many Latin American countries are trying to build economies based on the free market and stable democracies. Some countries in the region have been able to grow as is the case of Colombia, Peru, and Chile. So sad that Maduro still believes in failed ideologies that have produced just poverty and violence.
This is not good for the United States, Washington can't tolerate this type of government in the region.
Measures to be taken
Almost all the exports of Venezuela are based on oil, the United States should stop buying oil from this nation, this would be the most effective hit against that country. Venezuela must recover its leading position in South America. The Trump administration has to protect the democracy in the region, America can't tolerate a failed ideology that has produced poverty and violence in oil-rich Venezuela.
