Communism

In 2001, I visited Venezuela. It was a terrific country and people, although parts were plagued by massive poverty. In 2002, Chavez came to power and there  people who were optimistic about his efforts to make a more equal society, despite the fact that communism has immiserated every single country where it's been tried.

Read this for what Venezuela is like today. A tragedy and the result of making dumb choices.