I had experience in Central America but none in South America when I finally visited Venezuela in the mid-80s. I was in culture shock because it was such an ultra-modern country compared to Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, et al.
My late father used to say, “There are now more neurosurgeons in Caracas, Venezuela than there were in the whole world when I became one.”
But then Venezuela changed.
And then Bernie Sanders, it’s maddening.