Caracas’ La Mercedes neighborhood, famous for its upscale shopping and nightlife, hasn’t been spared. A shopping mall keeps its lights on, but the doors lock hours earlier than they did before, when they teemed with life. Residents desperate for cash transform patches of sidewalk into their impromptu shops, laying out old shoes or second-hand shirts as merchandise. Maduro blames his domestic political opponents and the increasing grip of U.S. economic sanctions, which he says are part of a coup aimed at toppling his socialist government. David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University, wrote in The Conversation: "Russia has become Maduro’s most important ally.

Source: Fox News April 04, 2019 18:27 UTC