How the Oil Crash Devastated Angola and Venezuela

When you get to Caracas there's a feel of faded glory. It looks like one of the more developed cities in Latin America — nowhere near the splendor of Buenos Aires or Rio, but more developed than Central American capitals. There are plenty of high-rises, mansions, a gondola and elevated train line. But it's all looking worn out and run-down now. Chavez also poured the oil money — well above 90 percent of what Venezuela earns from exports — into lots of different programs for the poor. Direct subsidies, scholarships, credits — and heavily subsidized food, medicine and almost-free gasoline. I talked to people on this trip who could rattle off the government programs their families used to receive, for women, disabled children, money to help build their homes and send their kids to school. A lot of that has dried up now. Oil production has fallen to its lowest level since 2009, mostly because Venezuela can't afford to pay its oil services workers. And [President Nicolás] Maduro's government has cut back on a lot of imports, too.