Venezuela’s economic situation is so dire that it is tempting to assume that some kind of regime change must occur in 2017.

The economy shrunk by about 10% in 2016, amid hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods and medicines. Oil output also fell by 10%, according to official data.

Food shortages were already blighting the lives of Venezuelans when the opposition won legislative elections and control of parliament in December 2015, ending 13 years of socialist dominance.

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