One of Venezuela’s top opposition figures is warning Wall Street that a recall referendum is the only way of staving off a full-blown crisis in the South American nation already gripped by deep recession, runaway inflation and chronic shortages of basic staples. Henri Falcon, governor of Lara state, has met with with investors in the U.S. this week, as Venezuela’s opposition ramps-up its efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro from office before his term ends in 2019. In those meetings, Falcon was accompanied by Francisco Rodriguez, a Harvard-trained, Venezuelan economist formerly with Bank of America Corp. “The referendum is an escape valve,” Falcon said in an interview Thursday in New York. “We are not only betting for the referendum, we understand that is the only democratic, constitutional way out.” Accusing the government of intentionally dragging its feet, Venezuela’s opposition has staged a slew of nationwide demonstrations in recent weeks, […]