The real crisis in Venezuela didn’t start with the late Hugo Chavez. He and President Nicolas Maduro, a dictator in truth, are the inevitable result of more than 40 years of stable economic development combined with a steadily eroding democratic political culture. The 21^st Century Socialism advanced by Chavez and now Maduro is the product of four decades of corruption and a bloated bureaucracy that advanced under a democratic system that has been subverted into totalitarianism.

Venezuela started it longest democratic period in 1958, after the overthrow of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez. Then, until 1998, the country was led by two left leaning political parties: the Social Democrats and the Social Christians. Venezuela sustained a strong democracy during that time, as demonstrated by that fact that its institutions, and the country’s executive branch, withstood several coup d'etat attempts. During this period of democracy, Venezuela built a strong economy; the fourth largest in the word by 1966 and the richest in Latin America by 1968. But this wealth was built on severe inequality. The political and business elite had forgotten the poorest and most unprotected citizens.

In 1998, the worst political crisis in recent times exploded. It was a protest against...