Venezuela in Chaos

Venezuela is descending into chaos! “President Nicolas Maduro announced Sunday that he has decided to raise the monthly minimum wage by 50 percent… the fifth that he has ordered over the past 12 months, for a total annualized increase of 536 percent” (Fox News, January  9, 2017). Maduro says his decision is to combat inflation which “the International Monetary Fund says… will reach 1,600% this year” (BBC News, January 9, 2017). The result? “Venezuelan families are giving their children away in a last ditch effort to save them as severe food shortages mount… Parents are turning to friends and neighbors to take care of their children, or in some cases, abandoning them altogether” (International Business Times, December 15, 2016).

Sadly, the military is trafficking food which appears to be “a better business than drugs” (Time, January 1, 2017). Last summer starvation led to massive protests. In response “President Nicolas Maduro turned to the military to manage the country’s diminished food supply… but instead of fighting hunger, the military is making money from it… The government now imports nearly all the country’s food, and corruption drives prices sky-high” (ibid.).

Corrupt and lawless governments inspired by Satan are holding people captive in a cycle of pain and suffering. Yet the return of Jesus Christ will bring liberation: “He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor” (Psalm 72:4). To learn more about this wonderful hope for mankind, read our article “Hope for the Future!”