VENEZUELA ECONOMIC CRISIS

                                                       VENEZUELA ECONOMIC CRISIS

Venezuela boasts the largest oil reserves of any country in the world. Yet today it is
facing the worst economic crisis in its history. So why? We could go back decades if not centuries in search of answers to this question. But to keep things more concise, a good starting point is arguably the election of former president Hugo Chávez in 1998.    
                            

Causes Of Venezuella Crisis
1.Oil prices vs. government spending

With the money coming in from oil in the late 1990s, Chávez established a number of social programmes in Venezuela known as the “Misiones” (Missions). These programmes aimed to tackle poverty and inequality and included clinics and other organisations to provide free health care; free educational opportunities; and training for individuals to become teachers. 

Chávez imported several thousand Cuban doctors to come and work in these clinics in the  countryside. Thus, oil money was being used to support those nations that were either sympathetic to his ideology or who he could trade with for things that Venezuela did not have. 

But then, just like in the 1970s and 80s, petroleum prices significantly decreased and Venezuela didn’t have the income to meet its spending commitments. In the 2000s, as petroleum prices were bouncing back and forth, the government was spending an exorbitant amount of money on things like the Misiones. Meanwhile, it had committed to selling Venezuela’s petroleum to allies at extremely reduced rates.

2.Crimes against humanity

Just a few years ago, a powerful protest movement challenged the Maduro regime with daily demonstrations that involved hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.Brutally repressive tactics ended that. According to a recent report on human rights in Venezuela, police and other government forces killed 131 protesters between 2014 and 2017.And since 2013, the Venezuelan security forces have arrested 12,000 citizens, executed 8,292 and tortured nearly 300 people. The report was written by a panel of independent international experts appointed by the Organization of American States and based on witnesses’ public hearings.

3.Widespread Hunger
Due to hyperinflation, food shortages and high prices, 93 percent of the population does not earn enough to buy food, according to a 2017 study conducted in Venezuela. Venezuelans have lost, on average, 20 pounds since the country’s humanitarian crisis began in 2015.
Almost 1 million Venezuelans have fled hunger and repression by migrating to neighboring Colombia over the past two years. Another roughly 50,000 sought asylum in the United States. Eight hundred Venezuelan refugees cross the border into Brazil every day.The Venezuelans who remain must devote hours every day just to finding food. Starvation and endless food queues do not leave much time or energy for political resistance.

4.No International agreement

A government like Maduro’s might not last long in, say, France, because neighboring countries and the European Union would exert sufficient diplomatic, political and economic pressure to punish the rogue regime for its actions.Research shows that economic sanctions alone, such as those recently levied against Venezuela, rarely work to coerce governments into better behavior.

But international pressure can have some positive effect under two conditions. First, the target country must be heavily dependent on international economic exchange, without other strong allies. Second, the sanctions must be multilateral.Neither condition is true of Venezuela.

                                                      
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