Crisis in Venezuela

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Crisis in Venezuela
Top to bottom, left to right: Hundreds of Venezuelans wait to seal their passports at an Ecuadorian customs house; millions demonstrate during the Mother of All Marches in 2017; a man eating from garbage in Venezuela; empty store shelves from shortages; people queued to enter a store; Paola Ramírez, a student killed by colectivos[1][2][3] during the 2017 protests
Date	2 June 2010[4][5] – present (14 years, 5 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
Location	Venezuela
Caused by	Bolivarian Revolution and presidency of Hugo Chávez Desire for Hugo Chávez to seek a third term as President of Venezuela Economic crisis caused by the failure of the country's economic policies Continued decline in oil prices since the financial crisis of 2007–2008
Status	Ongoing
Parties
GPPSB PSUV PCV PPT MRT MUD / AD / PU PJ UNT VP LCR
Lead figures
Hugo Chávez † Nicolás Maduro Diosdado Cabello Delcy Rodríguez Tareck El Aissami Leopoldo López Juan Guaidó Henrique Capriles María Corina Machado Edmundo González

Crisis in Venezuela
Causes
Bolivarian Revolution Economic policy of Hugo Chávez Economic policy of Nicolás Maduro
Effects
Refugee crisis Energy crisis 2019 blackouts 2024 blackouts Zulia energy collapse Defections Hyperinflation International sanctions Interventions of political parties Shortages Censorship Catatumbo campaign Xenophobic incidents Pemon conflict
Events
Dakazo La Salida Detention of Antonio Ledezma 2016 recall movement 2017 constitutional crisis| 2018 Nicolás Maduro re-election campaign Presidential crisis 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela Venezuela Aid Live COVID-19 pandemic 2022 recall movement 2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries 2024 Venezuelan political crisis
Elections
2013 presidential election 2015 parliamentary election 2017 referendum 2017 Constituent Assembly election 2018 presidential election 2020 parliamentary election 2023 referendum 2024 presidential election
Protests
2013 2014 2017 2019 2024
Timeline
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Armed violence
Caracas helicopter incident 2017 National Assembly attack Attack on Fort Paramacay El Junquito raid Caracas drone attack 2019 uprising attempt 2020 Barquisimeto shooting Operation Gideon (2020) 2021 Apure clashes 2022 Arauca clashes
Venezuela portal
v t e

An ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened during the presidency of successor Nicolás Maduro. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation,^[6] disease, crime and mortality rates, resulting in massive emigration.^[7]

It is the worst economic crisis in Venezuela's history, and the worst facing a country in peacetime since the mid-20th century. The crisis is often considered more severe than the Great Depression in the United States, the 1985–1994 Brazilian economic crisis, or the 2008–2009 hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.^[8] Writers have compared aspects, such as unemployment and GDP contraction, to that of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the 1992–95 Bosnian War, and those in Russia, Cuba and Albania following the Revolutions of 1989.^[9][10]

In June 2010, Chávez declared an "economic war" due to increasing shortages in Venezuela. The crisis intensified under the Maduro government, growing more severe as a result of low oil prices in 2015,^[11] and a drop in oil production from lack of maintenance and investment.^[12] In January 2016, the opposition-led National Assembly declared a "health humanitarian crisis".^[13] The government failed to cut spending in the face of falling oil revenues, denied the existence of a crisis,^[14] and violently repressed opposition.^[12][15] Extrajudicial killings by the government became common, with the UN reporting 5,287 killings by the Special Action Forces in 2017, with at least another 1,569 killings in the first six months of 2019, stating some killings were "done as a reprisal for [the victims'] participation in anti-government demonstrations."^[16] Political corruption, chronic shortages of food and medicine, closure of businesses, unemployment, deterioration of productivity, authoritarianism, human rights violations, gross economic mismanagement and high dependence on oil have contributed to the crisis.^[17][18]

As a response to human rights abuses, the degradation in the rule of law, and corruption, the European Union, the Lima Group, the US and other countries have applied sanctions against government officials and members of the military and security forces.^[19] The US extended its sanctions to the petroleum sector. Supporters of Chávez and Maduro said the problems result from an "economic war" on Venezuela,^[20] falling oil prices, international sanctions,^[21] and the business elite, while critics of the government say the cause is economic mismanagement and corruption.^[22] Most observers cite anti-democratic governance,^[23][24] corruption,^[17][25] and mismanagement of the economy as causes.^[18][26] Others attribute the crisis to the "socialist",^{[27][28][29][30]} "populist",^{[31][32][33][34]} or "hyper-populist" nature of the government's policies,^[35] and the use of these to maintain political power.^[36][37][38] National and international analysts and economists stated the crisis is not the result of a conflict, natural disaster, or sanctions, but the consequences of populist policies and corrupt practices that began under the Chávez administration's Bolivarian Revolution and continued under Maduro.^[39][40]

The crisis has affected the life of the average Venezuelan on all levels. By 2017, hunger had escalated to the point where almost 75% of the population had lost an average of over 8 kg (over 19 lbs)^[a] and more than half did not have enough income to meet their basic food needs.^[42][43][44] By 2021 20% of Venezuelans (5.4 million) had left the country.^[45][46] The UN analysis estimates in 2019 that 25% of Venezuelans needed some form of humanitarian assistance.^[47] Following increased international sanctions throughout 2019, the Maduro government abandoned policies established by Chávez such as price and currency controls, which resulted in the country seeing a temporary rebound from economic decline before COVID entered Venezuela.^[48][49] As a response to the devaluation of the official bolívar currency, by 2019 the population increasingly started relying on US dollars for transactions.^[50]

According to the national Living Conditions Survey (ENCOVI), by 2021 95% of the population was living in poverty based on income, out of which 77% lived under extreme poverty, the highest figure ever recorded in the country.^[51] In 2022, after the implementation of mild economic liberalization, poverty decreased and the economy grew for the first time in 8 years. Despite these improvements, Venezuela continues to have the highest rate of inequality in the Americas. Although food shortages and hyperinflation have largely ended, inflation remains high.^[52]

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