Venezuela has become a humanitarian catastrophe. The fact that President Nicolas Maduro orchestrated a sham election in which he claimed to retain power with almost 68 percent of this weekend's vote would be the biggest concern if that had happened in most countries. But in Venezuela, it pales in comparison to the epic shortages of food, medicine, electricity and safe drinking water.
Mr. Maduro assumed power when Venezuela's previous strongman, Hugo Chavez, died in 2013. Unlike his predecessor, however, Mr. Maduro has not been able to use Venezuela's oil exports to hold his country's economy together.
Since 2013, gross domestic product has shrunk by nearly 50 percent and the economy has been on a steadily quickening decline.
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