Joining North Korea, Zimbabwe and Cuba and behind Congo (DRC), Burma and Iran while losing standing for personal liberty, rule of law and economic opportunity, Venezuela has plummeted on global and regional scale. It has continued the general decline under regime of Hugo Chavez. Disregard for Rule of Law as Economic Development Impediment: According to the analysis compiled by the Heritage Foundation & Wall Street Journal: “Venezuela continues to be mired in a climate of economic repression. Severely hampered by state interference, the formal economy is increasingly stagnant, and informal economic activity is expanding. Monetary stability is particularly weak, and there are extensive price controls on almost all goods and services. Government interference in the financial sector further distorts price levels and constrains private-sector growth by allocating credit on non-market terms. Because of rampant corruption and deficiencies in the legal framework, the rule of law remains fragile and uneven across the Venezuelan economy. Contracts and property rights are not well respected, and the threat of government expropriation remains high. The government dictates most production and investment activity.” Read Also – Venezuela Rule of Law Regress According to UN Experts” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/venezuela-rule-of-lawhuman-rights-regress-un-experts-by-ambassador-mo/43169 Well Below Regional & Global Standards: Venezuela also falls far below the regional (60.0) and global average (59.5) with a score of 38.1. Free economies have an average score of 84.7. By comparison, a neighbor that has faced extended conflict, drug trafficking and lacks the petroleum base as Venezuela, Columbia scored at 68. Venezuela’s problems appear not to be so much that it does not have the resources or does not know how. Simply corruption and crony capitalism masked as regulation/state control are discouraging investment and causing others to to cut back or pull out: “The overall freedom to engage in entrepreneurial activity is constrained by heavy government control and inconsistent enforcement of regulations. There is little transparency in decision-making, and most contracts are awarded without competition. No minimum capital requirement for establishing a business is imposed, but the process takes over 100 days. The labor market remains controlled by the state. Inflation has been very high.: Venezuela Financial Sector as Personal Piggy Bank, Smashed: The financial sector appears to be operated as a private piggy-bank just smashed. According to the Report: “The financial sector is tightly controlled by the state, which often allocates credit based on political expediency.” – Link to Complete Report on Venezuela - heritage.org/Index/country/Venezuela Read Also –Why Economies Will/Will Not be Biggest by 2050” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/why-economies-willwill-not-be-biggest-by-2050-by-ambassador-mo/43552 By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey Twitter Follow @MuhamedSacirbey Facebook = Become a Fan at “Diplomatically Incorrect” Twitter – Follow us at DiplomaticallyX "Venezuela" - Channel: diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/venezuela