Real concerns start to rise up about that on multiple levels, including some non-traditional military conquest type scenarios.
For example, how long does the rest of the world watch as Venezuela possibly descends into genocide and starvation? They're pretty close to starvation / famine now. Then if outside nations act, the ruling regime uses that as a tool to increase domestic patriotism to increase the power of said regime (if only temporarily). When Trump made the mistake of opening his mouth about Venezuela and the mess there, Maduro immediately utilized it for nationalistic purposes to give himself a small prop-up (Trump has lowered the volume since, on advice no doubt).
If Venezuela were to allow foreign nations in to help stabilize the country, what are the risks that those invited guests then plunder or annex (whether directly in a traditional sense, or by occupation & refusing to leave). From a very long historical perspective, that has to be taken seriously given the extraordinary energy resources of Venezuela. They've put themselves in a very precarious situation.
Judging from Zimbabwe's example, the rest of the world will watch it descend all the way down.
No private company wants to send in resources and investment just to see it nationalized. No government wants to buy oil with blood when they could get it more cheaply for cash on the open market. The most that would likely happen is covert support of rebels via third-party cutouts. For instance, the CIA (the US) might funnel resources through the existing US relationship with the Colombian national military, ostensibly to manage the FARC/ELN conflict and combat drug smuggling, but secretly also to smuggle supplies and dollars into Venezuela to support reformists.
For example, how long does the rest of the world watch as Venezuela possibly descends into genocide and starvation? They're pretty close to starvation / famine now. Then if outside nations act, the ruling regime uses that as a tool to increase domestic patriotism to increase the power of said regime (if only temporarily). When Trump made the mistake of opening his mouth about Venezuela and the mess there, Maduro immediately utilized it for nationalistic purposes to give himself a small prop-up (Trump has lowered the volume since, on advice no doubt).
If Venezuela were to allow foreign nations in to help stabilize the country, what are the risks that those invited guests then plunder or annex (whether directly in a traditional sense, or by occupation & refusing to leave). From a very long historical perspective, that has to be taken seriously given the extraordinary energy resources of Venezuela. They've put themselves in a very precarious situation.