"[Venezuela's President Maduro] seems to be clearing the decks for a presidential run in 2018, trying to reduce the stature and perhaps the freedom of anyone who might be a countervailing center of power," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth.

“The potential for massive corruption is huge and Venezuela has become a society that’s really overtaken by corruption,” said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth in response to Venezuela's plans to launch a national crypto-currency. 

The Maduro administration has Sunday's municipal elections mostly in hand. But there's a bigger prize on the horizon.

“[President Maduro] clearly needs the military in order to maintain control," observed AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth. 

Latin Americans will vote for nine new presidents in two years, along with more than 2,900 legislators.

Maduro’s calls for restructuring may be disingenuous – or the government could indeed have a plan for its debt.

“The most striking thing to me is that [Lorenzo Mendoza’s] still committed to Venezuela despite being able to take his company elsewhere,” says AS/COA's Guillermo Zubillaga on the Empresas Polar CEO.