Venezuela’s spiraling crisis reflects the convergence of a supreme failure of governance and an overflow of organized anger.

The seeds of the current governmental failure were planted long ago. They begin with the massive spending embraced by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in the mid-2000s. Benefiting from high oil prices (Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves), Chavez massively increased spending on education, health, and patronage-based programs to strengthen his rule. And it must be said, for a short time, the investments in social services led to an improvement in the lives of Venezuela’s poor.