The crisis in Venezuela began when Hugo Chavez was elected to power in 1998. His socialist government put into effect a plan to provide services and goods to the people of Venezuela. However, after years of not managing the economy properly while Chavez was in power, he brought Venezuela closer to oil exports altogether. This later caused a huge drop in global oil prices in 2014, leading to a rapid downturn in the economy. Chavez died in 2013, so Vice President Maduro became president. Maduro tried to fix Venezuela's economic crisis by ordering the government to print money. Unfortunately, this plan only exacerbated the situation and caused hyperinflation throughout the country.
The hyperinflation really hurt Venezuela and its economy. It caused prices to almost triple which makes it harder to buy food or just to purchase everyday necessities. The rate of malnutrition in kids has rose, crimes rates have gone up due to people stealing food and things that they now can’t afford for families. Because the Maduro administration refuses any help or assistance for the crisis, the whole country continues to suffer. These shortages of food, basic necessities, and medicine supplies in Venezuela was the result of the enactment of price controls all under the government of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. Many people are seen eating out of trash cans and garbage dumps due to not having food at home because of the such high prices. This led to people rioting and protesting against the government, which did nothing to try and fix the problem. Most families decided to leave Venezuela and find a new home elsewhere usually to the neighboring countries like Colombia and Brazil, while others try to live through this crisis. All people in Venezuela would like a change to happen. Venezuela use to be the richest country in the world. Unfortunately, it quickly went downhill because of the wrong people in office and government positions making the wrong decisions. There are physical and mental violence from national guards towards people who protest or who just demand for help and a change to happen.
The economic devastation of the past four years in Venezuela defies words. Registering the world’s inflation and a profound recession for these years, Venezuela has become the first country in decades to transition from middle income to almost no income. And it seems that the government has no interest in solving the disaster. Rather, the crisis is starting to look like a deliberate plan. The government’s central response is an economic package (called ‘the Red Package’) comprising nothing more than devaluing the currency by almost 95%, redenominating new bills by dropping five zeros and pegging the new bolivar soberano to a nonexistent, nontraded cryptocurrency called the petro. These measures are useless redecorating. Even economists sympathetic to the regime are unimpressed. A socioeconomic and political crisis has been taking place in Venezuela since 2010 under the presidency of Hugo Chavez and has continued into the current presidency of Nicolas Maduro. The current situation is the worst economic crisis in Venezuela’s history and among one of the worst crises experienced in the Americas. The crisis was the result of Bolivarian Revolution’s policies that began under the Chavez administration. On June 2, 2010, President Chavez declared that “the economic situation was due to the increasing shortages in Venezuela”. Maduro denies that Venezuela has been facing a crisis. Many of the policies that were in action throughout Maduro’s presidency were the same or similar to policies created by his predecessor Hugo Chavez. Maduro stuck to Chavez’s policies in order to remain popular to those who find a connection between the two. Despite the increasingly difficult crises facing Venezuela such as a faltering economy and high crime rate, Maduro continued the use of Chavez’s policies.
Overall, there needs to be a drastic change in the government in Venezuela for the sake of the economy and the people who are being affected the most.