Energy-Rich Venezuela Faces Power Crisis

CARACAS — Venezuela, a country with vast reserves of oil and natural gas, as well as massive rushing waterways that cut through its immense rain forests, strangely finds itself teetering on the verge of an energy crisis.

Venezuela’s seemingly endless resources have allowed the government for decades to just about give away its gasoline — a full tank of gas in Caracas costs about the same as a can of soda.

But due in part to the assumption by many Venezuelans that energy in all its forms would always be cheap and plentiful, the country is suddenly starved for electrical power, and officials are warning of a possible calamity.

President Hugo Ch