Why is no one talking about the fact that the economic downturn in Venezuela has turned into a humanitarian crisis?

It’s ludicrous that Venezuela should be in this position, when it has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Canada

The Venezuelan economic crisis has been deteriorating for so long now, it’s as though nobody has noticed it’s turned into a humanitarian crisis.

It’s not like this shouldn’t have been anticipated. The country’s currency, the bolivar, has been devalued to the point of being basically worthless, but it fell off a cliff a long time ago. Inflation has by now pushed prices to the point where Venezuelans often cannot afford to pay for one meal a day. This is only set to get worse, with inflation predicted to hit 1,000,000 per cent this year.

It’s ludicrous that Venezuela should be in this position, when it has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Canada. The idea of the second and third-largest holders of oil declining to the point that citizens start leaving the country in their millions - more than 2 million since 2014, according to the UN - is unfathomable.

The slew of departures naturally means Venezuela is suffering from a massive brain drain, with the health service bearing the brunt: an estimated 13,000 doctors are reported to have emigrated in the past four years.

Refugees from the cash-strapped country are now facing the hardship of closed borders when they reach Ecuador, and Peru could soon follow, while Colombia has warned that its capacity to welcome migrants is being stretched.

Meanwhile, the desolation of being refused entry to a potential new home must pale in comparison to the conditions of those left behind.

Attempts to protest the government actions that are keeping Venezuela locked in this downward spiral almost inevitably turn violent, with 165 people killed during political demonstrations last year.

Hospitals, already feeling the effects of fewer doctors, are struggling to treat people as they face shortage of 85 per cent of medicines. There has been a huge resurgence in malaria infections, despite the fact that Venezuela almost eradicated the disease decades ago.

But worse than all of that is the hunger.

Three-quarters of Venezuelans have lost an average of 11kg in body weight last year, while what doctors are left have reported children dying of malnutrition.

A Venezuelan friend of mine reports his father, who has remained in the country, recently noted: “You don’t see cats or dogs in the streets anymore.” That could be open to interpretation - animals will be suffering from a lack of food too - but it is because people are starving and desperate, my friend explains. They’re being forced to eat their pets.

Reports of food shortages have been emerging for a while now. Some schools have effectively shut down because children are so weakened by hunger that they cannot attend, leading to fears that a generation will grow up with little to no education. And even if pupils make it to class, it’s hard to teach on an empty stomach.

Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has isolated himself from other nations with his repressive, authoritarian regime - Brazil, Canada and Chile have all refused to recognise his government, and the US has in recent months escalated its sanctions on companies linked to Maduro’s administration. President Trump has even raised the prospect of a military invasion, although he was dissuaded by his own advisers, as well as other world leaders.

This policy of distancing themselves from all that Maduro stands for is admirable in a way, but nations cannot pass this off as taking a stand against the damage the Venezuelan government is doing to its own people.

Equally, military action will make little difference to a starving populace.

They need food and humanitarian aid, and they need it quickly.

It’s difficult to see why this aid has not been forthcoming. Perhaps it’s because Venezuela was once the richest economy in South America, which makes it hard to believe the country has descended into such utter chaos. It could be because it’s never been at the centre of a humanitarian crisis like this before, and so doesn’t spring to mind when you think of countries in need. It might be precisely because global powers have distanced themselves from Maduro, and out of sight means out of mind.

It doesn’t matter - the time to change the way we think about Venezuela is long past. Now is time for action.