You skipped the 90’s. Prior to Chávez, 80% of the population lived under the poverty level. Although the country was rich in resources, the wealth never reached the people. Under Chavez and nationalization of the oil industry, the standard of living increased tremendously. Beginning in 2008, problems and events began reversing the gains.
The first was the oil crash. The second factor was that corruption had never been rooted out. Then in 2015, the US under Obama and pressured by the oil industry, lifted a 40 year statute prohibiting the US from exporting oil. At the same time, the US and Saudi Arabia orchestrated a production increase to create another drop in the price of oil. The US placed sanctions on Venezuela making it difficult to make repairs needed to upgrade their oil infrastructure as well as create shortages of goods in order to place hardships on the population in hopes the people would rise up against the government; much the same tactics used against Syria and Iran.
The news doesn’t emphasize the heavy role in Venezuela’s demise played by the US government and the lobbying of major oil companies such as Exxon (why do you think the CEO of Exxon was chosen by Trump to be Secretary of State?).
Civil War may be next and our government eggs it on and most stupid Americans applaud the effort. Let’s see how it turns out for them.
Last edited: Jan 23, 2019