AP EXPLAINS: Standoff, dying economy drive Venezuelan crisis.

Venezuela is being wracked by an increasingly belligerent standoff between the government and opposition, while many Venezuelans are becoming fed up with a floundering economy marked by long lines for food and the world’s highest inflation. President Nicolas Maduro has declared a state of emergency to let him deal with the economy by decree, but the opposition is vowing to push ahead with its campaign to force a recall referendum seeking his ouster.

A political “standoff” didn’t create breadlines and brownouts, destroy the value of the Bolivar, or cripple Venezuela’s oil industry — socialism did.