“Venezuela always has all the superlatives. It’s the world’s highest inflation by a lot. It’s the world’s highest murder rate. A lot of economists will tell you it’s the most mismanaged economy in the world. And now, a lot of people are saying the world’s most recently born dictatorship. But when I went down there, it was a great place to live, which sounds crazy now, but it’s beautiful.” A reporter who has been covering Venezuela describes what’s it like to see a democracy destroyed? “Things can always get worse and worse and worse, and there’s no rule that says that a miserable situation has to end, just because it’s too miserable.” (Even Radiohead lyrics got depressed by that line…)

+ “Fugitive Venezuelan soldiers have declared a rebellion against ‘the murderous tyranny’ of the president. Dissident officers have fled the country, seeking asylum. Grenades have been fired at the Supreme Court and, this weekend, assailants under the command of a mutinous captain attacked an army base, making off with weapons.” From the NYT: As Maduro’s Venezuela Rips Apart, So Does His Military.

+ “Since Venezuela’s economy began to melt down in 2014, violence, triple-digit inflation, and shortages of food and medicine have caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee in the ways available to them. Elites have obtained U.S. visas and left for Miami. Those in the middle class have escaped by plane to places such as Buenos Aires. The poor have walked across the border to Colombian cities. But there is no refugee flow quite like that of the Warao to Manaus.” From BusinessWeek: Forced Into the City After 9,000 Years in the Jungle.