CARACAS, Venezuela — Just three years ago, Venezuela was a nation on the verge of collapse.
Grocery shelves were bare, the national currency was nearly worthless, millions of people were fleeing the country, and a hostile U.S. government was exerting a “maximum pressure” strategy designed to oust its socialist president.
And though Venezuela has one of the world’s largest reserves of oil, motorists often waited 24 hours or more in lines stretching miles to fill up with gasoline that was nearly free.
