Venezuela just launched a campaign to revive its moribund tourism industry. And the timing couldn’t be worse. The country is suffering one of the world’s highest inflation rates — topping 40% last month — and South America’s worst violent crime. But the nation’s unhinged politics aren’t exactly the stuff of travel agency brochures, either. Despite Venezuela’s sublime natural attractions, any tour guide would have trouble hiding how ugly and volatile the civic scene keeps getting inside the western hemisphere’s most oil-rich nation.
