Venezuela’s Economy: Oil, Political Instability, and Social Challenges

When Christopher Columbus discovered the coast of Venezuela, he thought he had encountered an earthly paradise, today that grace land is ravaged by famine, inflation, scarcity, violence, social and political conflicts; “social implosion [being] driven by economic collapse, caused by shockingly self-destructive policy making” (Toro, 1). Venezuela’s antidemocratic government and its lack of foresight has created a severe economic crisis crumbling health care system and a lack of basic necessities and is jailing innocent people who object.

In recent years, an increasing number of professors, commentators, journalists, and teens on social media have claimed that capitalism has failed. What usually follows are suggestions to usher in a new wave of socialism, as if the chaos in Venezuela is somehow non-existent or something truly desirable.

Venezuela, located in the Latin American region, is a country that has been characterized by its abundance of oil reserve. A natural resource that has shaped the history and development of the country, affecting its economic, social and most important is political spheres. For many years Venezuela was controlled by authoritarian regimes. The country, being very important in the sense of geo-politics due to its abundance of oil, has been a key player in the international arena and most important, to those that for many years kept the country under their regime. It was not until 1958 that Venezuela experienced the change to democracy and a stable democracy was kept between the two main political parties of the time, Accion Democratica (AD)

The United States and Venezuela have not had been the best relations with one another. Now that the former President Hugo Chávez has passed away, there are still high hopes for the US that all of that will change. Currently, Venezuela is in a tight struggle right now and if it were not for the US they would be still standing. Venezuela is powerful when it comes to their oil, and have very strong polices: however these policies are not working like before so there are some considerations that might be an eye opener for you. Presenting that Venezuela should be giving with their assets the way the Americans are giving with theirs.

him great perspective of a ruler. Venezuela was a significant oil exporter and in the 1980s, there

Issue: In Venezuela, the United Socialist Party (PSUV) has been in the power 18 years first with Chavez and them with Maduro, both elected by democratic elections. Now the country is divided into two significant groups Chavistas, people who support socialism and the actual president, and opposition, people anti-government and believe the corruption of the actual president. With this, the country is immersed in extreme violence, constants violations of humans rights and alarm power corruption. Additionally, some problems that the dictatorship produces like protests, the end of commercial relations with other countries, and the decreasing economy. The abuse of power leading to incrust the violations of humans right is the significant issue that Venezuela has to face today. This has an extended history that began in 1999, with the victory of Chavez in the name of socialism, but the break in the government started when Maduro raises in power and with the end of relations with the United States, who was the principal oil buyer. As well, the counting falling oil prices had decreased the Venezuela’s economy and limited the public inversion that the government used to do. With bad relations and an affected economy poverty, violence and discomfort with the government began. The corrupt power and constant violation of human rights are affecting in significant ways the country, particularly in the investment that the government

“Venezuela reads like a textbook example of the socialist end-game: Social implosion driven by economic collapse, caused by shockingly self-destructive policy making” (Toro 39). “Socialism of the 21st Century” in the end just did not work and had failed. The changes made to the constitution have created a government that runs inefficiently and gives the president too much power. Chavez mismanaged the country's income and caused inflation of the Bolivar Note. Chavez had good intentions, but his programs to help the impoverished failed because of poor management. These people that he was trying to help are now more hurt than they were before because money put into these programs was not used effectively. This money could have been used to invest in the oil reserves and other parts of the economy to set the country up for success. Food is hard to come by and the crime and murder rate continues to raise. The country in debt and cannot even buy imports to sell to its citizens. Venezuela will need outside help if it is to recover from the situation caused by Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. The only reason Chavez remained popular in Venezuela is because the economy was doing well in the beginning and he was able to control the media so that the public opinion of him was kept

Venezuela is in a dyer state that is going to grow into a humanitarian danger to those who live in its borders. Due to the global value reduction of oil over the years, Venezuela, who has one of the world's largest oil reserves, cannot import the essential resources, such as food and animals, into its country. In fact, nighty-five percent of Venezuela's national income comes chastely from the black gold that they have a profuse amount of

Venezuela currently has a population of 31 million people. Venezuela is still growing in numbers, and it’s getting harder for the government to provide health care for their people. Venezuela’s population is 1.9 times larger than South America. The country is mainly urban, and the wealth rate is declining. The resources per person needs to be the same, and as of now that’s not the case. Overall fertility rates are failing in Latin America. In 2015 the population was six times the size that it was in 1950, and the United Nations projects that it will be nine time larger by 2050, and still growing at that point, despite the long-term decline in fertility. (Latin America) Although there are many economic crisis in Venezuela, this isn’t preventing them from having children in higher numbers. This could be the shortage of health care.

The oil-rich Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, located on the northern coast of South America, was for many decades considered among the wealthiest nations in the entire continent. While having the largest proven oil reserves in the world has often proved a tremendous boon for Venezuela, the very black gold that has been the cause of its success has also proven to repeatedly be its kryptonite. Over half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product stems from petroleum exports – which equates to approximately 95% of total exports. It is really not too hard to imagine what drastic consequences shifts in global oil prices could have on the economy.

Venezuela is currently facing the worst economic crisis in history. According to the International Monetary Fund, it has negative growth of -8%, the worst in the world and the worst inflation rate (482%). The current unemployment rate is 17% though this figure is expected to climb towards 30%. Venezuela is a country that is reported to have the worlds largest oil supply, a commodity that has a changing price based on supply and demand. Their ability to sell oil was a primary source of revenue for the government. Exporting oil was reported to be around 96 percent of Venezuela's total exports according to the World Bank. In 2014 the

The second article, discusses how the quinoa growing countries such as Bolivia have grown away from consuming quinoa. There are many factors that have led the people to consume less quinoa and move on to other products such as noodles and rice. The increase in export of quinoa and increasing prices have made it really difficult to the masses to afford and consume quinoa. The Bolivian government has been trying to increase the consumption by introducing schemes such as loans to provide quinoa for pregnant women and promoting schools breakfast with quinoa. However, the as time is passing the new generations in Bolivia are moving away from quinoa to other products.

Venezuela’s contemporary policy model is known for being deeply rooted in populist forms of governance since it supports the division between the people and the elite. This has been more prominent amongst Latin American rulers, since the role of a charismatic leader drives the relation between the government and its people. Regimes like these have specific policy mixes that fit into the spectrum of pro-poor and anti-imperialistic ideals. Chávez’s regime was a perfect fit for the definition and the history behind a populist paradigm. This essay focuses on the political and economic policies endured by the New Bolivarian Constitution by analyzing the general role of a populist regime, its autocratic power and the policy risks that come along with them.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves and by 1960, it became the wealthiest country in Latin America. Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state owned company, was the key to economic and social development in Venezuela under president Hugo Chavez. His government was settled in an environment where the oil prices were rising and the economy was booming, so he was able fund social programs and practices that were popular to the poor masses. This wealthy and growing Venezuela made Chavez to be very popular and his regime very powerful. Oil revenue accounted for nearly 90% of exports, more than 50% of government revenue, and 35% of country’s GDP.

The main purpose of the following report is to provide information about the profile of The Bolivarian Republican of Venezuela; in order to study the current situation of the country for further investigations in the future that may help to understand the opportunities and risk involve in importing and opening new markets in Venezuela.