Why Venezuela Is Feeling No Peer Pressure

The news out of Venezuela couldn't be grimmer. Annual inflation is the highest in the world. Food is so scarce that desperate people are rifling through trash for scraps while others have taken to looting. But don't tell that to the country's diplomats. They're on a roll.

Last year, Venezuela took a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council, and even presided over the world body in February. Starting in July, it will chair the South American trade bloc, Mercosur. And last week President Nicolas Maduro's envoys won the blessings of international peacemakers to hold "open and inclusive dialogue" with the same political opposition whose leaders his security forces tear gassed on the streets of Caracas Tuesday.