[Pearls Before Swine]

Maybe he was trying to pull a John DeLorean.

DeLorean was trying to resurrect a company he believed in. Are you implying Maduro was operating on a larger scale, trying to buttress the economy of the New Venezuela?

My take: Dirtbag, after money and power. He has to pay off his droogs (Clockwork Orange reference) somehow.

[fhayek]

Well, I guess I was saying, like everyone, Maduro needs cash. Maybe he needs it for his security detail. Maybe he can use it to hand out goodies to Venezuelan VIP's. Since he doesn't have a productive economy to draw on, perhaps he is looking for a source of quick money to make his country not look as bad as it is.

Again, maybe he is feathering his own nest pending a quick Exodus from Venezuela. Just throwing out possibilities.

And yes, got the Clockwork Orange reference.