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Hugo Chavez's Economic Crisis

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Venezuela is one of the countries with the largest oil reserves in the world. Three decades ago it was considered one of the countries with the highest living standards. Today, after seventeen years of revolution its economy is suffering a severe crisis. The question is, how this country that has larger oil reserves than Saudi Arabia, cannot fin basic good in shops?
The crisis is a consequence of an economic mismanagement and the authoritarian Chavista Government. When Hugo Chavez came to power, his goal was to reduce inequality and provide a fair distribution of wealth among the population but, his failure was to diversify Venezuela’s economy. The financial health of the country was in excellent condition when the price of a barrel of crude oil was 100 dollars, between 2013 and 2014. The revenues of the oil industry were designated to fund social programs to reduce poverty, creating a socialist government. Instead of investing …show more content…
On top of having no food or water, Venezuelans are left with no electricity. Due to the drought, there is little to no hydropower generation. Because Venezuelans are starving due to a lack of daily household needs and the fact that supplies are being sold at a price lower than they’re worth, there is a black market for a lot of groceries. This has made a lot of citizens quit their full time jobs in order to start selling household needs. These citizens are referred to as bachaqueros. More than half of Venezuelans have bought from these “business” men and women. These people are taking advantage of a bad situation and earning a profit. This is not a good thing because it doesn’t fix anything; there is simply not enough of a supply to match the countries demand for food. The labor from bachaqueros doesn’t produce anything, therefore it is not helping the economy, it is only helping people cope with the fact

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