Venezuela, once a thriving petrostate, now faces one of the worst man-made crises. Millions have fled, and many blame Maduro. But the roots lie deeper—in decades of state mismanagement. Heavy oil dependence and Chavez’s expansion of presidential power crippled institutions. Chavez’s reforms, while popular, eroded checks and balances, setting the stage for authoritarianism and economic collapse long before oil prices fell.

On 6 October 2019, US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of US troops from northeastern Syria, abandoning their Kurdish allies...