Tough Times For Venezuela As Oil Price Remain Unstable

President Hugo Chavez

Times are tough in Venezuela and likely to get even tougher this year.

Before oil prices started crashing last summer, cutting revenue for the oil-rich country, President Nicolas Maduro was already presiding over a country plagued by food shortages, soaring inflation and rising discontent, NPR.com reports.

All this has made the president unpopular in many quarters. And it would seem to present a golden opportunity for opponents of the country’s socialist government that’s held power for the past 15 years.

However, Venezuela’s opposition remains fractured and weak while one of its main leaders, Leopoldo Lopez, is behind bars.