Despite President Nicolas Maduro's commitment to honor all debt obligations, Venezuela is in serious arrears. As of two months ago, Venezuela's external debt stood at USD $156 billion. It's foreign reserves stand at USD $8.5 billion; just one twentieth of its debt obligations. Maduro and his cronies are measuring their survival in weeks. At state-owned PDVSA, affairs are in a constant state of chaos. Incompetence is the order of the day. This began long before interim President Juan Guaido issued a direct challenge to Maduro's legitimacy, and the United States sanctioned Venezuela's oil industry. Over the course of two decades of Chavismo, the PDVSA began a long and steady process of disintegration that began with the firing of competent employees...who were soon replaced with incompetent, but loyal, Chavistas.
