Massive protests in Venezuela....a failed state in the Southern hemisphere?

via USA Today.

Venezuela’s opposition is looking to keep up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro by taking to the streets again Thursday hours after at least two people were killed and hundreds arrested in the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years.

Billed as "the mother of all protests," tens of thousands of protesters demanding elections and denouncing what they consider increasingly dictatorial government were met by a curtain of tear gas and rubber bullets as they attempted to march to downtown Caracas on Wednesday. Dozens even had to slide down a concrete embankment and into the Guaire River to escape the noxious fumes.

Across the country the clashes were intense. Pro-government militias, some of whose members were armed, were blamed for the two deaths, including that of a teenager in Caracas who was heading to a soccer game with friends. In several cities, protesters described being terrorized by militia members, some of them armed and circling the protesters in motorcycles.

Story here. 

If I didn't know better I'd think this has the flavor of the "color" revolutions that we saw during the Arab Spring.  But surely this isn't being caused by outside forces...God knows the current govt has done absolutely everything wrong when it comes to that country's economy.

But forgetting that nonsense, the reality is stark.  We could be looking at a failed state in the Southern hemisphere and mass migration to all quadrants of the map.