What Is The Solution For Venezuela?

People stand in line to buy bread at a bakery in San Cristobal, about 410 miles (660 km) southwest of Caracas, February 28, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Ricardo Hausmann, Project Syndicate: D-Day Venezuela

As conditions in Venezuela worsen, the solutions that must now be considered include what was once inconceivable. A negotiated political transition remains the preferred option, but military intervention by a coalition of regional forces may be the only way to end a man-made famine threatening millions of lives.

CAMBRIDGE – The Venezuelan crisis is moving relentlessly from catastrophic to unimaginable. The level of misery, human suffering, and destruction has reached a point where the international community must rethink how it can help.

Two years ago, I warned of a coming famine in Venezuela, akin to Ukraine’s 1932-1933 Holomodor. On December 17, The New York Times published front-page photographs of this man-made disaster.

In July, I described the unprecedented nature of Venezuela’s economic calamity, documenting the collapse in output, incomes, and living and health standards. Probably the single most telling statistic I cited was that the minimum wage (the wage earned by the median worker) measured in the cheapest available calorie, had declined from 52,854 calories per day in May 2012 to just 7,005 by May 2017 – not enough to feed a family of five.

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WNU Editor:  An armed intervention from Venezuela's neighbors backed by U.S. military forces is not what Venezuela needs right now. But the problem is no one knows what to do. Millions of Venezuelans are on the brink of a humanitarian disaster .... and it is going to get worse. And while Venezuela's neighbors are not eager to overthrow another government .... they are going to be tested in the coming months on how much will they permit Venezuela to disintegrate as the situation gets worse. My guess is that they will only react when there are clear signs of famine coupled with millions fleeing the country .... and I will concede that there is a very real chance that they may do nothing at all.