An Interview The Saker on Venezuela
Provocative historical analysis, several plausible, realistic forward-looking statements in re: commodity pricing and market structure (not only because Hudson draw Yergin into consideration). Note with amusement that Chris Hedges has started prophesying collapse of petrodollar, too, imminent invasion of Venezuela notwithstanding.

My one "quibble" is this bromide.

Over the longer run, Maduro also must develop Venezuelan agriculture, along much the same lines that the United States protected and developed its agriculture under the New Deal legislation of the 1930s...

Not really --and don't get me started on consolidation, displaced tenant farmers, and fed "price supports"; Maduro will never get that opportunity. The income and credit are gone. stop. Chavez did attempt during his term to diversify domestic product (land distribution, re-settlements, coops, etc.), then Venezuela's revenue stream dried up again. stop. The co-oops are still there, more or less, on the frontier without a life-line to government subsidies and protection. stop. Hudson is struggling to fit a 100-year-old paradigm: Lately, Maduro admin has been seen shopping precious and rare earth metals for credit, as if that would not end in more rope.

The salient point here is that US and its allies are the problem, and Hudson doesn't know how to fix that. NTTAWWT. Irving Fisher didn't know either, and Krugmand doesn't give a shit.

archived
spare prose journals by Venezuelans
Fleeing home in time of peace, 4-day road trip into the frontier
the crypto currency Petro
the threat perceived by people of moderate or higher wealth in Chile at the  time was perfectly rational
US Foreign Policy from Crisis to Crisis

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.