Venezuela is blessed with resources, from the largest proven oil reserves in the world, to bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamonds. Besides strategic minerals such as cobalt, which is used in hi-tech industries, it has Caribbean beaches and natural wonders such as Angel Falls. It has the potential to be an economic paradise, yet the country is teetering on the edge of default, leaving the world wondering how a debt restructuring would work in the internationally sanctioned country, and how its most powerful partner, China, would deal with local investments turning sour.
Stakes and emotions are running high – not least because of the humanitarian crisis that is erupting from a cruel and deep recession. “How do you destroy a country that has all these natural resources?” asks Russ Dallen in disbelief, the head of investment bank Caracas Capital and publisher of local newspaper the Latin American Herald Tribune.
