IN THE 1950s, massive oil reserves made Venezuela the fourth-richest country in the world. But that wealth wasn’t enough to pay for socialism’s false promise to the country.
In 1982, Venezuela was still one of the world’s richest nations. But an over-reliance on oil would soon decimate the economy. Instead of diversifying its economy, Venezuela’s socialist leaders used the country’s oil revenue to essentially get rid of Venezuelan markets and develop massive government funded social programs around health care, education, transportation, and food subsidies. By the mid-1980s, the world’s oil glut demolished oil prices and crippled Venezuela’s economy—and the Venezuelan people who relied on government for every aspect of their life.
As oil prices continued to fluctuate throughout the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, Venezuela’s leaders—culminating with Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro—resorted to price controls, exchange rate controls, and private property confiscation in failed attempt after failed attempt to dictate prosperity onto the country.
Today, years of rampant inflation have made Venezuela’s currency effectively worthless, and Venezuela is one of the poorest countries in the world.
