(Natural News) During the 1970s, Venezuela was the richest country in Latin America. With the region's highest growth rates and the lowest levels of inequality, it was also one of the most stable democracies in the Americas. But starting in the early 1980s, things fell apart. The nation endured three coup attempts and one presidential impeachment. Per capita growth plunged, and mass protests became the norm. What happened?

( Article by Amber William from mydailyinformer.com )

It's got more oil than any country on the planet but its people eat garbage and gangsters rule. Defying a media ban, Eric Campbell goes undercover in the onetime socialist idyll of Venezuela.

The political and economic elements at play in the pre-Chávez Venezuelan economy are covered in individual chapters by some of the region's most distinguished analysts. Omar Bello, an economic affairs officer at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (eclac) and Adriana Bermúdez, a credit risk specialist in the Venezuelan private sector, look at the role of market reforms; Francisco Monaldi of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Michael Penfold of Venezuela's Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA), discuss the rise and decline of democratic governance; and Dan Levy of Harvard's Kennedy School and Dean Yang of the University of Michigan analyze the impact of immigration.

"This situation is vastly deteriorating," Diego Moya-Ocampos, senior Latin America analyst at IHS Country Risk, told CNBC Thursday. "We expect the economy to contract at least 11.5 percent, inflation to hit 700 percent, already the highest in the world."

Venezuela has one of the worst economies in the world with food shortages and massive inflation. NPR's Planet Money team explains how it got so bad.