The state grew too big and too power hungry, the people at the top of it were the driving force in that. Chavez led a populist revolution with short-term benefits and long-term consequences. It's funny to me that we condemn divide-and-conquer along lines of race, religion or tribe, but not along lines of education or class, with the former being particularly troubling. Also let's not overlook that Chavez hand-picked Maduro. The vision for the country Chavez presented and pursued initially was, for lack of a better word, noble. The means through which he pursued it were not, and the end result was a nightmare. They can point the finger outward all they want, that's a long-standing tactic and of course the U.S. legitimizes through their actions periodically. But U.S. meddling has been a fixture of Venezuelan politics through much more prosperous times than these. This administration is robbing the country blind with a total disregard for even the sustainability of their own greed. This is buck and grab, not a long con, and if they stay in power much longer, there won't be anything or anyone left to protect.