I was married to a Venezuelan and her father was an engineer in the oil industry. They left shortly after Chavez came to power. Why? Chevez used the military to take over private companies, which led to large multinational companies to flee the country. He installed unqualified cronies, who were loyal to him, into extremely technical jobs, which caused entire refineries to fail catastrophically. On top of all this, as Geoff mentioned, Chave won the election by promising things to the poor that, even when the country was flush with oil revenues, simply weren't possible. Despite not delivering on the outrageous promises, Chavez was giving the extremely poor small amounts of cash, just enough so they would vote for him time and time again. To make sure he won the elections, he killed or jailed any opposition, and took control over all state media. (Noticing a trend here?) Maduro was his "Vice President" and when Chavez died, Maduro took power and used the military to ensure there were not fair elections. It's extremely heartbreaking, as the standard of life for Venezuela was very high before Chavez and Venezuelan expatriates love their country very much, but know they can't go home with things the way they are.
Also even if multinationals don't set up shop in a country like Venezuela they try to negotiate selling technology that improves the economies of scale, output of certain industries like petroleum and Venezuela would use the technology with an agreement that the company that provides the technology gets a cut of the revenue from the oil extraction....but Venezuela wouldn't honor the deal and what happens is countries that do this can never get far more superior/advanced technology to have market share or even a competitive edge for their products on a global market and not to mention countries that won't buy their oil for not honoring deals for technology they sold them before.
Yes, I think attributing too much of the failure to Dutch Disease and falling commodity prices is to ignore the overwhelming role played by thuggish and corrupt politicians.
I think all of what Matthew Evans said has way more to with the current state of venezuala than anything geography related. Their geography is actually great
This^. But you can't just put it all on Chavez. The so called "opposition" is an opposition onto itself. They can't agree on almost anything. More importantly, they can also thank Caldera for pardoning Chavez. And yet again when the military themselves had him in the helicopter, they should have shipped him to Cuba that moment. In fact, he himself wanted to go to Cuba. And who helped him after the coup? Gen. Baduel; yes, the same Baduel Chavez imprisoned. Baduel had a spoon-full of 'patria y socialismo'.
You didn't mention that a lot of Venezuelans have also left to go to the West Indies as well. My family's from Guyana, right next door to Venezuela, so now that Guyana's discovered oil back in 2015, Guyana has been in development, and there are jobs to be had. They are now fleeing to Guyana for work and to live. So many are moving there that we've now incorporating the Spanish language into school curriculum, and is being used as a second language as they are, so many of them are living there. Even Trinidad, they are migrating too.
Some people did a study on what makes a country rich or poor and found that government policy was the #1 impact on that. More than natural resources, geographic opportunities, or history. Special economic zones were the real world result of those studies. Given the large number of climate and natural resource advantages the country has, the only real reason that can be so poor is that they have chosen a terrible government.
@@radix4400 Sorry, I didn't keep notes like that when I was watching the video, but if you actually want the secret to 9% economic growth, I've already given you the search terms to find your answers.
I am a Venezuelan Petroleum Engineer, coming from a family with lack of resources. However I was benefit from the government (democratic ) in 1974 with an scholarship to study in the US. I worked in Pdvsa (By the way the blue logo not the red as shown by you) from 1979 to 1995 when I left Venezuela. The reason my country is where’s it is due to the strategy led by international socialist /Communist countries with Fidel Castro in the leadership. Chavez and his party PSUV took over the country and today is a regime for more over 25 years in power. I would appreciate you make a more realistic history video on my country since is highly misleading the reality. The beginning of the story, yes I think it was well explained. I ‘ll be glad to help you in your future versions.
sounds like the government is ripping the people off and keeping the money in their own pockets. looks like gas prices all around the world has gone up over 300% in the last 20 years. it's hard to believe that that government doesnt have the money to build other business and jobs in that country. Venezuela is starving for a real leader.
@@crue-xx After the British government helped Hugo Chavez to get to power to get the petrol benefits for big companies then the people could not fight against the Venezuelan army because they were killed during riots.
Even though Venezuela has inferior fossil fuel to other countries, with proper management and an investment in a diverse economy, they could have trived. Corruption at its finest is what derailed the Venezuelan economy. Pure greed and those that wanted to control it for their own sake. Greed, pure greed.
HEAVY OIL NEEDS LIGHT OIL TO PUMP IT OUT THEY OWN CITGO AND HAVE A PLANT IN TEXAS THAT DOES THAT FOR THEM BUT GUESS WHAT IT'S SANTIONED HAVE TO GET IT FROM IRAN OR RUSSIA BUT IT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE AND US NAVY CAN SEIZE THOSE TANKERS ANY TIME. SO THE GREED I SEE IS FROM US GOVT AS THEY SEIZED THEIR ASSETS AND FROZEN IT'S GOLD RESERVES IN ENGLAND
Well said! Venezuela is just another victim of U.S. Corporate Colonialism against Latin America. Pick any of the Latin American countries that have had economic or military relationship with the U.S. Show me one that has been equally beneficial to the Latin American country. @@patrickfitzgerald2861
You forget something Norway it’s part of this mob called nato do you still believe they care about democracy ,freedom and rules of laws???? That’s it’s just SIMULATION they always had been invaders,looters
@@rmf9567 Yea, yea, we vote for politacal party, then complain, they lied, after a few years vote again, so we can complain again...its called democracy.
My wife is from Venezuela. She and my brother in law have told me about the horrors of the humanitarian crisis. Chavez was nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Does she like Regional or Polar beer? People would almost get into fights over which one was better. I worked there in 1979 at the power station near Mene Grande. It was a good country back then. Churrasco steaks with papas fritas! I met some great people there.
@@andrewgeissinger5242 Venezuela is where the vote counting fraud system was originally set up with the help of a US spy agency. Now, vote counting fraud around the world is a trillion dollar business. I worked there when Venezuela was a thriving oil rich country. Crooks willing to do the bidding for Globalist agendas get ''elected''. Chaves was installed.
How you know that is true if that information comes from American and it's allies fake news outlets. Us and UK are the best on media manipulation. Trump assasinated Sulemani because he defeated Isis and made dank meme about Trump. China and Russia wish they could lie to their population as well as the Americans do. If you remove the fake news outlets, where do you get youe info?
Yes, this. And it was such predictable outcomes. Crank up the money-printing presses in response to a budget shortfall? Obvious result is inflation. Slap strict price controls on businesses because of the inflation? Obvious result is shortages. Nationalize like crazy in response to the shortages? Okay, but who runs the now-nationalized businesses? What safeguards are you taking they know what they are doing (as opposed to being political hacks)? Oh, none? Obvious result is corruption.
It bears stating that not all oil is created equal, and the oil pumped in Venezuela has the highest sulpher concentration found anywhere- meaning additional refining has to be done to make it a usable industrial product, and therefore not as economically viable as oil from just about anywhere else.
This is partly correct. Refineries are mostly set up for a certain type of oil, sweet, light sweet, heavy,... oil from venezuela might be on the heavy side with a high sulpher content, but there are always refineries set up to deal with this. Not only that, some regions prefer heavier crude with high sulpher content, as they have an industry nearby depending on sulpher etc
@@rombaft HEAVY CRUDE NEEDS LIGHTER CRUDE TO PUMP OUT THE OIL LIGHT CRUDE IMPORTS FROM CITGO TEXAS REFINERY WAS SANCTIONED AND FORCED THE VENEZUELAN GOVT TO GET IT FROM IRAN OR RUSSIA WHICH WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE CAN BE SEIZED BY US NAVY
It wasn't oil that caused Venezuela to become poor. It was Greed. The daughters of Chavez are the richest women on Earth, because the wealth of Venezuelan oil was taken by Chavez and passed to his daughters.
Certainly oil isn't the cause, as Saudi did just fine. You can't blame it on greed either, because all human being are greedy. It's the socialist path that they took. Just look at North Korea and Cuba, they don't have much oil and are just as poor.
@@hugoramirez6698 On a personal level, there could be a small number of people that's not greedy. On a social level, we must assume all people are greedy when making decisions.
HEAVY OIL CAN'T BE PUMPED OUT NEEDS TO DILUTE WITH LIGHT OIL PUMP OUT THEY USED TO HAVE A PLANT IN TEXAS TO GET IT NOW THAT THEY ARE SANTIONED THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO IT ANYMORE MUST GET IT FROM IRAN WHICH THEY ALSO ARE SANCTIONED WHICH US NAVY CAN SEIZE THE OIL TANKERS MUST BE ESCORTED BY VENEZUELAN NAVY
At least we didn't have a guerrilla killing thousands of people but anyway don't forget that in the 70s Venezuela received an influx of Colombians running from the poverty leading Colombia in those years
@@Griffith_1802 not as much as Venezuela and it is decreasing everyday. Most is South America is improving their quality of life and decreasing the poverty except for Venezuela and maybe Bolivia
It's so sad how Venezuela fell from being Latin America's richest country per capita in and around the 1960s/1970s to being just about its poorest today, on the same level as Honduras, Nicaragua, etc.
I have several Venezuelan friends living in Caracas.Ive been there several times back in the 90's.Its an amazingly beautiful country. The government is the reason life is so difficult there. Socialism doesnt work.
@@keltberanski2757 Every tiype of government or regime needs capital it's how a government or regime manages it capital. However when China is seen as threatening islands in the south china seas its referred to a communist china but when its economy out strips western capitalist nations its call capitalistic.china
Nigeria in West Africa is going through the same, discovery of the Oil of has become more of an economic disaster than a blessing because of corruption
Maduro is the problem now, I went to school with Carlos Lehoffer in 1965 what a beautiful country his father was president of Shell oil and I never found out what happend to the Lehoffer engineering firm.Everyone in Venizula should be wealthy but look 600% inflation thanks to dictator Maduro.
that’s not the reason that’s just what the left likes to say the truth is it’s because of socialist policies and dictatorship and corruption for a very long time. They’re still free to sell it a China, India and neighboring countries. No one‘s really stopping them. They just can’t sell to America. That’s the extent of the embargoAmerica doesn’t have to trade with Venezuela. They are poor because of themselves stop blaming the USA for everything.
Venezuelan here. Don’t underestimate the way Chavez destroyed the national industry. Since the 1970s the economy had its ups and downs due to oil prices but the overall economy was relative fine. Chavez decided to take over most of the industries and give it to their military loyalists friends who would ruining these. Then Chavez suffocated other industries by not allowing access to USD for companies to trade and therefore had to close. Then enter the low oil prices that normally happen and this time the effect is massive as nothing was being produced locally and still importers couldn’t get access to USD without depletion of the central bank currency. This lead to the massive inflation as little products where being chased by too much consumares. Ironically the way that Venezuela was one for the riches countries in the world is because of socialism/state owned company invested in other industries and infrastructure. Once Chavez took over the and he decided to steal the money and let his loyalists steal others companies meant that Venezuela turned into a dictator lead kleptocracy. Oh, btw- the country recently stabilized because everyone bought/brought over USD and now the American dollar is the unofficial currency.
I'm from Brazil. One day, I took a uber. The driver was an old man from Venezuela and told me his story. He had a factory of soap. He didn't produce the quantity demanded by the government, so they took it from him. This is socialism. It can turn poor the richest country in oil in the world.
that isn’t the sole reason, the middle eastern petro-states do not have a diversified economy, but they actually manage their oil industry competently & tread their geopolitical relations very carefully, Venezuela on the other hand (like the rest of latin america) was already an extremely corrupt & incompetent state when they found oil, and the government mismanagement the oil industry the moment it took off while over-relying on it and mismanaging geopolitical relations, there’s honestly nothing unique about how Venezuela f*cked up its ticket to being wealthy, any other Latin American country would have done similarly in their position
@@shiny_teddiursa Let me correct you, it’s Hispanic America, not Latin America, that’s a term you Anglo-Saxons invented as a derogatory form to refer to the Sovereign Nations of America whose language is Spanish. The Corruption and incompetence in Hispanic countries is not coincidence, it’s not the result of them being inferior humans than US Americans or Europeans, they were the Spanish Empire, with thriving economies on land and sea, strong military might of the time and beautiful architecture and governmental and defense infrastructure, all while English were just a bunch of pirates and Protestant peasants that lived in wooden houses, but greed has a weird effect on those spiritually weak once they attain power. I live in the U.S. and I know how dumb and ignorant some US Americans can be so it’s nothing special about them. It has nothing to do with intelligence, it has be something else. Let’s focuse in the Last Century; In the words of ex CIA Agent John Perkins, he participated in many of the Hispanic American Coups during Operation Condor, a Regional strategy to depose or kill every Hispanic American president who wanted the progress of its specific country, this presidents always were democratically elected, but represented a threat to U.S. interests in the Region. US expectations were to have Oligarchs on this governments that function as puppets, allowing US Companies to exploit their countries resourses with cheap prices in an unregulated environment that did not protect its workers, that became cheap labor, it’s the reason why US economy exploded and the U.S. Americans increase their standard of living, out of the hard work and misery of this countries they were oppressing through this complex system of Neo Colonialism. John Perkins, made a tour throughout many Hispanic Countries, apologizing for his participation on this Coups and assassinations. Hispanic corrupt governments had a simple task assign by the U.S; hold this countries governments hostage by all means using their national military forces and police to enforce their oppression, while opening to “Free Trade” with the US, and also getting personal Loans from the FMI to be transferred to their personal bank accounts on Panama, Switzerland, Caiman Islands or their favorite, Miami, and then convert this personal loans into national debt so the people of the nation have to pay, it’s why many of this corrupt US puppets flew to Miami when they were prosecuted for this crimes and betrayal, and of course the US gave them protection. Rafael Correa from Ecuador proof to Hispanic America that with a real president, this countries with such resources can grow rapidly to be as capable as any other country and their people as capable and efficient as any human being with decent pay and preparation around the world. Oil money was involved to achieved this, before his administration, about 80% of Oil profits was falling into the hands of this Foreign company’s and the rest were profits for the Nation, this changed with Correa, who give an ultimatum to this company’s; is was either 80% of profits for the Nation or Ecuador will just replaced them with other European countries that were willing to accept this terms, now with that much profits at hand, Correa was able to reactivate the economy creating modern hospital, modern roads and highways, Schools, Universities, Scholarships, Jobs, efficient police, etc. Correa called himself socialist but he was not, he was a progresist and a person who loved his country. He kicked out the CIA from Ecuador and Closed all US military bases around the nation. It’s was imposible for Hispanic nations to become wealthy under such conditions imposed by the U.S., and with US puppet governments in command, they were literally paid to be as inefficient and incompetent as they can be so Hispanic America cannot grow to become a threat to the U.S. economy and standard of living.
Laziness. In the 1970s most technicians and engineers in the oil industry were foreign trained and educated. They had easy money from oil and didn’t develop any other industries
Disagree. Venezuela’s anti Western policies have created a global sanctions regime against them. They can’t sell to most of the highest paying customers
Couple of mistake in this video; 1) OPEC was founded by a Venezuelan guy; 2) first place were oil was discovered in Venezuela was not in Maracaibo, it was in Tachira state, in a place called La petrolea.
Yo hi there im a Canadian but both my parents are Venezuelan immigrants my family has gone everywhere since chaves came to power everywhere i go i have family near me. My parents dont regret choosing canada over any other country and im glad i live in Canada i hope my family is doing well wherever they are
Pretty good video, pretty good summary, take it from a Venezuelan! I'd add just one thing: this is what happens not just when a society has an over-reliance on a single resource, which is always bad, but also when that society decides to rely on a dictator to "solve" its problems (very properly quoted, because absolutely nothing was solved, every single problem was made orders of magnitude worse by Chávez, and then many others were added on top), and bends over backwards to grant him every single bit of power he demands to then do as he pleases, without the slightest semblance of control, checks, nor balances (and history plainly tells us that has always led to disaster for any society that tries it).
@@dinonazamodeen5694 However misguided those may be (I'm in favor of some form of sanctions, not so much of other forms), whatever negative consequences they may have had on the population at large, they're a very small drop in the inconmensurable ocean of damage that the Chávez regime has done to the country, in all fronts you could think of (political, societal, economical, etc.), over the course of more than 2 decades already, and counting!
Why nobody talked abou Sanciones Economicas, etc who has left Venezuela in very fragile economic situacion. Venezuela right now looks very good with supermarkets full of food, stores full of things to buy, restaurants full of people. Venezuela today, is beautiful ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Norway also nationalized their oil but the reason why Venezuela suffers for doing the same thing is that Norway has a functioning democracy. Both countries have nationalized their oil industry, have huge social programs, and yet only one has suffered not because of “socialism” but due to Venezuela having a corrupt government who didn’t diversify and having major powers put sanctions on them
Was Norway ever sanctioned to the point where it had 3000% inflation? I don't think any country can recover from that for decades even with ungodly amounts of oil. I don't think that's the whole reason, but western sanctions often make the people's lives miserable as opposed to the lives of the elites they try to target.
Single biggest issue for Venezuela is Chavez and the socialist policies and huge government control he imposed. Certainly decline in price of oil played a significant role, but most of damage was caused by government policy choices. So sad for Venezuelans. In the 1980s this used to be a shining star in South America and a great place to live for most people. Now nearly everyone is much poorer.
When oil prices collapsed in the early 80s the country started to decline. Inflation peaked to 89 percent in 1989 and there were huge riots. Caracazo. This in part allowed Chavez to stage coups and eventually take over.
South America, mostly once Spanish colonies, and North America, once British colonies, are dramatically different. Why? Anything to do with the difference in the political systems inherited?
HAHAH OI WOULD SAY US CIA REGIME CHANGE GAMES THURSTIING TO FRESH OIL.. YEAH BUT ONLY DOLLAR AND NOT YOUR OWN CURRENCY.. BUT WHAT WE CAN SEE ? ALL PUPPET NATIONS WHAT HAVING OIL LIVING IN RICHNESS... EDUCATE YOURSELF PLS BEFORE TALKING NONSENSE.. CHAVEZ WANTED THE OIL OWNED BY THE STATE AND NOT SOME COMPANIES. ACTUALLY THE STATE CAN EARN AND GIVE MORE TO ITS PEOPLE.. .. SAME AS LIBIYA AND GADDAFI WANTED TO MAKE GOLD OWNED BY STATE AND SO ON..NEVER BEEN IN PEACE AGAIN SINCE..BUT OTHER NATIONS WHO ACCEPT DICATERSHIP OF US, ACTUALLY LIVING IN RICHNESS... ITS CAUSE OF CRIMINAL AND CORRUPT US GEO-POLITICS... JUST LYING , SPREADING MISSINFORMATION, INAVDING , OVERTHRING NATIONS, SUPPORTING REBELL GROUPS JUST CALLED THAT WAY CAUSE IN FACT FOUNDING and supporting terror groups to bring destabilization into an country. like alqiada AND TALIBAN foundED by bush TO PKK FOR TRKEY REAGION, ISIS FOR IRAK SYRIA, , ALQAIDA FOR PAKISTAN AND AFGANISTAN NATIONS.. DO YOU KNOW WHAT FUNNY THAT AFTER UKRAINE WAR DIDNT HIT RUSSIA AND DIDNT MAKE THEM WEAKER AS USA WANTED TO, JUST WEAKINENING RUSSIA AND FACING CHINA THEN.. BUT AFTER IT WAS CLEAR RUISSIA EVEN WILL COME OUT OF THIS CONFLICT BECOMING STRONGER IN ECONOMIC AND MILITARY THEN ISIS-K POPPED UP AND ATTCKED RUSSIA FEW TIMES ANDD TRIED ALSO FEW MORE TIMES do u thnk thats coincidence
What makes a country rich is not raw materials but its people its education and mores and work habits ,as well a wise leadership that has formed policies favorable for business and that includes security and safety .
Venezuela has all kinds of oil, from condensates to extra heavy, it also has a lot of natural gas, for a good part of the last century it was the main exporting country of crude oil, during the Second World War it was the supplier of fuel to the allies, we have the infrastructure and refineries to process oil of any kind, there is no bad oil, the bad one is the government that we have that has impoverished the country. By the way, we are also a green country, with extensive agricultural and livestock areas with large rivers, but this sector was also ruined by the government. Before the oil era, Venezuela was the main coffee exporter in the world after Brazil, and before that it was the main exporter of cocoa. Some believe that without oil we would starve and that is not true, we will starve if we do not get rid of this government.
HOGWASH, your learning whatever someone else wants you to, thats not education that indoctrination. Chavez was murdered, he didn't die of natural causes
@@GeronimoLogistics Where does it state in the video that Chavez died of natural causes? The video covers a LOT of ground and I can only remember a small part being about Chavez but it obviously means a lot to you. So, can you tell me the time stamp where the video says Chavez died of natural causes?
In 1987, when American Airlines started direct flights to Caracas, Venezuela, I took my young family of four, there for a 2 week vacation! Not knowing much about the country, I was pleasantly surprised to find extremely low cost hotels, restaurants, entertainment,etc.plus beautiful beaches & gorgeous, clear waters! If Venezuela could rid themselves of their Communistic government, it could become the next, big tourist venue for cruises & the general public!
They are not communistic but are heavily sanctioned by the USA, as are 40 nations (all illegally), and their assets in mining (Oil through to gold) were extracted by US conglomerates, as with most of Lain America Africa (to this day) and the middle East, not to forget the Far East nd Russia during Yeltsin's presidency. The reason the US hates President Putin is because they assumed he was to be the puppet replacing Yeltsin, but he would not play their game and kicked out the Russian oligarchs and tok some of the to court. His background is law.
Great summary on Venezuela oil story! How does the economy of other OPEC nations compare? Seems like Saudia Arabia, Iran, Kuwait do not have the same story.
The others you mentioned have huge cash reserves achieved by putting aside some of the money. Easier to do when you don't have politicians giving it away to buy votes. Among other things.
Iran is in a similar place, their leadership just seems to have better/more authoritarian survival instincts than the Venezuelan leadership, plus they’re being backed more directly by China and Russia than venezuela is. The other gulf monarchies are propped up by western countries, they would collapse and regress into absolutist pariah states if it wasn’t for the western money/propping up that their oil reserves afford them.
@@alaskanbullworm5500 Lol Western countries are the ones that cannot live without oil, not the other way around. The Arab countries could easily go back and live the nomadic desert lifestyle their ancestors used to 😂
Venezuela has A LOT of people, and its oil is not worth as much on the market (not all petroleum is created equal; some is easier to refine than others). The Gulf states are sparsely-populated deserts. Lots of high-value oil, not many people, more $/person to spend.
by the way Venezuela´s territory was larger then than it is shown in your video, the essequibo region was part of Venezuela, the British stole the Essequibo and expanded its British empire in the Essequibo. Now the Essequibo is also rich in oil gold and diamonds. It is in dispute between Venezuela and Guyana
That’s their own fault for not investing in the tech industry which is more profitable with lots of inexpensive electricity, which they clearly have the ability to produce.
40 years ago Colombia was the crazy corrupt country with lots of problems, and Venezuela was the stable, democratic, and prosperous one. Now the situation is reversed.
Terrific video, thank you for this helpful explanation. I hope for the best for these people, I hope that they will develop and embrace free speech, and peace in their future. The world may depend on it!
Love your videos Geoff, just one question, why did the Gulf states not experience the same economic hardships when oil prices dropped even though their economies were also almost exclusively petro driven? The Gulf states have only recently started diversifying their portfolios. I know the US hasn’t outright stopped buying oil from Venezuela but the licensing system to producers has cut down on purchasing for the last 20 years. Do you think these types of sanctions have affected Venezuelas influence in the world market and also the livelihoods of Venezuelans?
Because the US Navy seizes ships entering and leaving Venezuelan waters, but uses force to make sure the Gulf nations (aside from Iran) can import and export freely.
The Gulf states saved their money whereas Venezuela gave money away to social programmes, projects, other socialist countries etc. So when the shit hit the fan the former had reserves to weather the hard times. Venezuela simply started printing money by the ton.
I heard one that a loaf of bread was priced at 50 USD a few years ago because every loaf of bread and every grain of rice in that country was imported. By that rate, even a family doctor in US could not support a family. Not sure if that was true.
Suriname also has a border dispute with Guyana. If the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro decides tomorrow to annex the Essequibo area following a military action following a referendum, the Guyanese will be faced with a taste of their own medicine. The Venezuelans have been claiming the Essequibo area for decades, because they assume that during the colonial administration of the British - in what is now called Guyana - the aforementioned area was confiscated by the German Robert Hermann Schomburgk by drawing up false maps. . Venezuela was certainly no match for the British militarily at that period, so the area was added to Guyana. It must be clear that the British also wanted a so-called foothold on the mainland of South America. On our side too, the British have done everything they can to steal territory from the other colonizers in the North Sea. The fact that part of present-day Guyana also belonged to the colony of Suriname can still be deduced from the Dutch names in certain places. But it was the same Robert Hermann Schomburgk who ascended the Corentijn and also after this journey drew up a false map for the British, in which he indicated that the Coeroeni Cutari was the upper course of the Corantijn River. He had not seen the truly much larger stream of water that we call the Upper Corantijn. Later, upon further investigation by the British Barrington Brown, the Upper Corantijn - which he called the New River - turned out to be the real upper course, creating the so-called Tigri Delta, located between Coeroeni, Cutari, Upper Corantijn and the Acarai Mountains, without there was no doubt that it should be regarded as Surinamese territory. However, the British wanted nothing to do with Barrington Brown's findings. In 1969, before our political independence, President Forbes Burnham of Guyana, which became independent in 1966, decided to occupy the Tigri Delta by means of military force. As is known, the Netherlands, which still had to defend Suriname as a part of the empire, did not intervene. Due to this annexation and the violent actions of Guyana, Suriname still has a border dispute with that country, just like Venezuela has with the Guyanese over the Essequibo area. The Guyanese government is now screaming bloody murder and is seeking support all over the world against a possible Venezuelan attack to take over the area militarily, but Suriname should absolutely not side with Guyana when it comes to the Essequibo issue. Guyana has occupied part of our territory since 1969, and does everything if the area belongs to it. We may be part of the English-speaking club CARICOM, which immediately supported Guyana, but we have been robbed by the Guyanese for more than 54 years. They have taken our territory hostage with military force and we should not accept that for a moment and certainly should not side with them when it concerns the Essequibo issue between Venezuela and the Guyanese. The fact that the Venezuelans now want to take back the area, if necessary with the use of the much stronger Venezuelan army, of course has everything to do with the large oil and natural gas reserves that have been discovered off the coast of the aforementioned area. This border dispute could have enormous consequences for security in our area, which can be described as the Guyanas. An area that runs from the Orinoco to the Oyapock. It is understandable that Venezuela may wish to use military resources. Isn't that what the Guyanese did to us in 1969, when The Hague did everything it could to get the police unit out of the Tigri area and was under former officer Lapre. The Netherlands did not want to have trouble with NATO partner Great Britain, that was clear at the time. But we now live in the 21st century and must not forget that we have a Ukraine and a Gaza, where major powers commit actions that can cause changes within geopolitics, including on our continent, when business and major financial interests come into play. This is about oil, that's what it was about in Iraq too. We can always talk about green energy and electric cars, but oil is still of great and survival importance for most economies and that is why the Venezuelan-Guyanese border conflict can still cause a lot of trouble for all of us. And especially if world powers get involved. Is oil a blessing or a curse? Unfortunately, this will also be expressed or expressed in this region. Surinamese Newspaper / Source: De West, d.d., 19-11-2023
The number #1 corralation with a wealthy growing economy is a free market economy. A free market economy will beat a government controlled economy everytime. For those saying Norway, Norway, yes and there is a great example of a free market economy. The countries in Northern Europe are strongly free market. Many in Latin America are not.
I would have like more depth on this matter; a lot of vague hand-waving... For example, why don't they increase production, to outcompete the gulf states, if they have so many reserves?
Poor video. The oil industry was sanctioned which is hardly mentioned, this is the main driver of poverty. A quick Google search provides some insight.
All basically describes Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran yet those countries are doing perfectly fine. Even if some of them are under sanctions just like Venezuela
About as deadly as a popgun. They were largely ineffective. Oil production fell prior to sanctions. The limiting factor was not sales lost to sanctions but the inability to pump the oil needed for customers not following sanctions. Oil field equipment could have been purchased from China. On credit if required. The problem is an ineffective and corrupt government.
Exxon Mobil was profiting off of Venezuela's resources while Venezuelans lived in poverty. Venezuela's government decided to nationalise natural resources to redirect oil profits from Exxon shareholders to fund national development and poverty alleviation. The US then imposed punitive sanctions on Venezuela making it nearly impossible to trade causing an economic collapse and humanitarian crisis. Plus hundreds of billions of dollars of Venezuela's treasure was illegally seized in the UK.
As a venezuelan born and raised in Venezuela, this is completely incorrect, sanctions do not have anything to do with the venezuelan catastrophe. They were put in place long after the economy was destroyed by the regime.
5:25 The creation of the PDVSA. That is like allowing AOR Kurnell who used to run Caltex there to expel all oil companies from Australia, take over refineries in other capital cities, and brand all fuel outlets under the AOR brand. Including the Golden Fleece refinery at Perry Street Matraville. However, there are fewer oil companies now than was the case in the 1970s. Competition makes more sense in a post-Cold War economic environment.
Venezuela seized most of the oil and gas reserves ,drilling rigs and many other properties from many world corporations then put government officials in charge that knew nothing about the industry they took.We lived there in early 60's then again in 1972-1975 .It was booming then people had food,jobs etc.Yes some were poor but it was mostly people moving to cities from the rural areas that had no skill except to survive on the basics.
My baker here calgary alberta canada was from venezuela and left with wife and kids due chavez.he work in heavy oil so he finish education here calgary learn more heavy oil.he told me that calgary oil company was there they refuse leave they lost everything near close door calgary because they have oilfield canada.just before covid-19 he visist the pollution and rundown equipment was mess i saw picture just terrible.venezuela now are piss because guyana find huge oilfield well too bad.he told very lucky chevron still there and must return all asset to company if not there toast that it he said.thank you expose this mess.😊
I have visited Venezuela in 2014 and live nearby in Peru along with over a million Venezuelan immigrants. Venezuela did not collapse because of over-reliance on their oil industry and lack of diversification. The Middle Eastern petro states prove that idea to be false. Venezuela is impoverished solely because they elected Hugo Chavez, a Cuban-trained Communist dictator, to be their President. Chavez single-handedly destroyed their economy through nationalization of industry and corrupt financial arbitrage. Maduro has doubled down on those practices. Additionally, both Chavez and Maduro have personally involved themselves, their families and political cronies in cocaine trafficking by facilitating various Colombian cartel’s use of Venezuelan ports and facilities. Many of them including Maduro are under indictment in the Southern District of New York for narcotics trafficking. Maduro will never leave office peacefully because he knows that to do so makes him an instant fugitive. Lesson learned: don’t elect Communists if you want freedom and democracy.
There is still no clear explanation why their daily production was reduced from 3.6m barrels per day to 0.6m barels per day. Considering its 6x times less and oil is making 95% of their export income they could have today 6 time more money income if they keep their production. Also "dutch disease" effect makes no sense. There are countries like Kuwair who live only from oil and dont have such economic and social issues.
You claim Venezuela’s problems on its over dependence on oil revenue. By that logic Saudi Arabia and Qatar should also be in economic collapse. The real cause of Venezuela’s poverty is its disastrous communist regime. Communism has resulted in disaster for every country that has tried it. The Venezuelan people know this all too well. Recommended reading for you would be THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by FRIEDRICH HAYEK.
Your YT channel is awsome! You always do great vdeos, very accurate and easy to watch, providing a lot of interesting info's. In this case, by the way, I think that the real cause of Venezuela's bad economic situation nowadays is much more related to human reasons rather than geograpic ones. Kudos from Italy!
If they had diversified their economy and not only rely on oil, they would be at least ok today. Plus, corruption has played a big part of the collapse.
That was very interesting, but the central reason seems to be a big drop in oil production (without economic diversification to balance it). So, you didn't explain at all why they cut their production so much or why they don't raise production now.
Negligence, They used the state oil company as a wallet for funding social welfare and corruption in order to win elections. Rather than reinvest in oil. Oil industry is so neglected that oil spills happens as often as 86 times in 2022.
They didn’t choose to drop their oil production. They failed to invest in new oil production infrastructure or maintain what they had, and oil production dropped as a result.
@@ianshaver8954 Thanks for that. Do you know why they wouldn't have invested or maintained the infrastructure when it was so central to funding what they wanted to do?
@@BruceM8 simply put, corruption, when the government took over the oil industry they started stealing money destined for maintenance and development of the refineries, when that money ran out and there were major incidents that caused both refineries to stop working, they started stealing from the oil extraction funds, I remember at some point they were removing the oil driller tips which were mare of some sturdy expensive material (can remember if it was diamond), and sold them in the black market, equipment was stolen, maintenance crews were dismantled, and whatever was left was sent to the "social programs" which was another excuse for the politicians to steal funds destined to education, food and health for the poor. This all happened before the sanctions. Source: my wife is Venezuelan that used to work for one of oil industry subsidiaries.
@@ianshaver8954 Yes, they failed. Because US Department has sanctioned and freezed Venezuelas money and their reserves and they had much less money through it.
Great video, I just want to comment that it's not the sanctions, or the oil prices dropping that has damaged Venezuela so much, it's the communism that expropiated and destroyed both private companies and property, as well as the hopes for businesses to prosper.
There are probably a handful of countries in the world who have the expertise, manpower and equipment to unlock the true potential of Venezuela’s oil but only one of them has given work visas/ protected migrant status to 500,000 Venezuelans already in their country.
Please do an analysis of those who reached America before Christopher Columbus: (1) via the Bering Land Bridge, (2) from Polynesia, (3) from West Africa (4) the Welch, and (5) the Nordics.
Although you are correct that one of the key ingredients for their inflation crises is the over-reliance on oil in their economy, the true root cause is the mismanagement of their resources. Essentially it comes down to investing the the maintenance/sustainability/expansion of your assets. If you are heavy industry and you don't do it, you won't be in business for long... So yes, it sucks that so much of their resources put them in a position where they end up with all their eggs in one basket, but when life gives you lemons... The thing about Venezuelan crude is its a pretty poor quality and so in order to compete in the market they must upgrade it in syncrude facilities to make grades like PZH - petrozuata heavy. This is still pretty nasty and so has to be super discounted to be sold. For decades parts of their plants would have a fire or explosion and never be re-built. The workers weren't worth a damn (something to do with education?) and most technical talent was brought in from american and european companies. Maintenance turn-arounds could last months longer than planned, sometimes more than a year... Essentially they were in a blind leading the blind type of operation. So they were in a terrible position when the housing market crash came, then US bailed themselves out of the impending crash with fraccing lean tight oil at record rate while OPEC flooded the market which tanked the price of crude and created a huge supply of easily refined alternatives to PZH, etc. And then of course the Sanctions were imposed when Moduro took over... Checkmate. So the way I see it, yes over-reliance on one resource is bad, but the true root cause here is the government not enabling industry to do what they needed to do. So now you look at what is happening to the decline of refining assets in the united states... shift your attention to finished fuels rather than crude & intermediates... if the industrial infrastructure in this country isn't allowed to invest in maintenance and reliability and instead is forced to spend all available capital complying with obviously misguided regulatory pressures that can be easily shown to have no measurable positive impact on health or environment.... then the next several decades will be difficult indeed. Forget about cost of living, hello fuel shortages... Seems like the only group warning people is the AFPM, but good luck ever seeing that message get out... would make a good video essay to put on youtube...
INFLATION IS CAUSED BY OVER PRINTING MONEY AND SANCTIONS PARALLEL MARKET IS CAUSING THE INFLATION THE PARTS THEY FOR REFINERIES NEED TO FIX ANYTHING COMES FROM ABROAD AND VENEZUELAN GOVT CAN'T ACCESS THAT SO EASILY MUST USE 3RD PARTIES TO GET IT
Over-reliance on a single resource is always bad. It's how boom-towns become ghost-towns. If I were a head of state I would encourage communities built on a single resource to diversify into independent businesses -- independence is important, as businesses that are hangers-on to the big resource will go down just as the major resource goes down. Picture such businesses that cater to the oil business in Texas, or those that cater to government in Washington, D.C. (no wonder Donald Trump is so hated by people on the Left; he wants to reduce the size of government, and that affects the hangers-on).
I like the video, but, and others may have a different opinion, but say people’s names right. One thing that separates great creators are those that really put respect on saying foreign names correctly of people or places. I’m a teacher and if I ever called a latino student Sigh-mon, I think even they might take the opportunity to slap me.
Venezuela had its oil robbed and are now sanctioned for say no to neocolonialism but Norway is independent and allowed to sell its oil at market rates.
Thank you Geoff. At last, a good summary of how my home country became what it is today. I have been fed up with this simplistic, constant, and exclusive blaming of Chavez and his brand of socialism for its current crisis. Many of us left Venezuela way before Chavez. The country was profoundly corrupted (politicians and citizens in general) way before Chavez. The levels of crimes were unbearable, and with a deteriorating economy, of course it got worse. Poverty, which grew out of over-reliance on oil and abandoning agricultural workers as you explained in the video, was visible anywhere you went in the country, way before Chavez, starting in the 70s with peasants migrating to the cities, without skills for any decent job. Chavez tried to turn things around but lamentably he used dictatorial methods and irresponsible financial policies, not to mention political persecution (not that the latter didn’t happen before him, but most Venezuelans ignore his). I know this was just a summary in an 11-minute video, but I would add that already in the 1950s and even right after the end of the Second World War Venezuela had one of the highest GDPs in the world and was close to officially becoming an industrialized country. Juan Pablo Perez Alonzo, the Venezuela lawyer who helped create OPEC warned in 1976 about what economists now call the "natural resource curse": "Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you will see, oil will bring us ruin... It is the devil's excrement." This was the case during the "1980s oil glut". OPEC member countries were not adhering strictly to their assigned quotas, and once again oil prices plummeted.” (Wikipedia) From a social-cultural perspective, which I know intimately as Venezuelan, our indifference to social injustices plus the arrogance and overconfidence that tends to grow in people’s hearts during times of prosperity cannot be dismissed in the whole equation. That combination of indifference to the growing poor masses, corruption in politics and in the general culture, and deterioration of the state of the economy, led to a populist like Hugo Chavez. I could go on and on, but I don’t want to write a dissertation and what is the comment section.
I was married to a Venezuelan and her father was an engineer in the oil industry. They left shortly after Chavez came to power. Why? Chevez used the military to take over private companies, which led to large multinational companies to flee the country. He installed unqualified cronies, who were loyal to him, into extremely technical jobs, which caused entire refineries to fail catastrophically. On top of all this, as Geoff mentioned, Chave won the election by promising things to the poor that, even when the country was flush with oil revenues, simply weren't possible. Despite not delivering on the outrageous promises, Chavez was giving the extremely poor small amounts of cash, just enough so they would vote for him time and time again. To make sure he won the elections, he killed or jailed any opposition, and took control over all state media. (Noticing a trend here?) Maduro was his "Vice President" and when Chavez died, Maduro took power and used the military to ensure there were not fair elections. It's extremely heartbreaking, as the standard of life for Venezuela was very high before Chavez and Venezuelan expatriates love their country very much, but know they can't go home with things the way they are.
Also even if multinationals don't set up shop in a country like Venezuela they try to negotiate selling technology that improves the economies of scale, output of certain industries like petroleum and Venezuela would use the technology with an agreement that the company that provides the technology gets a cut of the revenue from the oil extraction....but Venezuela wouldn't honor the deal and what happens is countries that do this can never get far more superior/advanced technology to have market share or even a competitive edge for their products on a global market and not to mention countries that won't buy their oil for not honoring deals for technology they sold them before.
Sounds just like South Africa
Yes, I think attributing too much of the failure to Dutch Disease and falling commodity prices is to ignore the overwhelming role played by thuggish and corrupt politicians.
I think all of what Matthew Evans said has way more to with the current state of venezuala than anything geography related. Their geography is actually great
This^. But you can't just put it all on Chavez. The so called "opposition" is an opposition onto itself. They can't agree on almost anything. More importantly, they can also thank Caldera for pardoning Chavez. And yet again when the military themselves had him in the helicopter, they should have shipped him to Cuba that moment. In fact, he himself wanted to go to Cuba. And who helped him after the coup? Gen. Baduel; yes, the same Baduel Chavez imprisoned. Baduel had a spoon-full of 'patria y socialismo'.
You didn't mention that a lot of Venezuelans have also left to go to the West Indies as well. My family's from Guyana, right next door to Venezuela, so now that Guyana's discovered oil back in 2015, Guyana has been in development, and there are jobs to be had. They are now fleeing to Guyana for work and to live. So many are moving there that we've now incorporating the Spanish language into school curriculum, and is being used as a second language as they are, so many of them are living there. Even Trinidad, they are migrating too.
Yes. I am here in guyana for work from the UK for oil and gas. There are many Spanish speakers here.
Now they want to steal half of Guyana!!!! 😂 so much for welcoming them with open arms
We don't need Venezuelans, let them go back home. When they were rich they never even gave us a glance.
Good people will always have a good life
@@drear9879 how to steal the stolen?
Some people did a study on what makes a country rich or poor and found that government policy was the #1 impact on that. More than natural resources, geographic opportunities, or history. Special economic zones were the real world result of those studies. Given the large number of climate and natural resource advantages the country has, the only real reason that can be so poor is that they have chosen a terrible government.
Bingo. I have been saying that for about 20 years.
The shiny allure of socialism/communism....
What study?
@@radix4400 Sorry, I didn't keep notes like that when I was watching the video, but if you actually want the secret to 9% economic growth, I've already given you the search terms to find your answers.
@@festerofest4374 Yep, it's a shame that after Capitalism fails a country, the opposite then does the same!
I am a Venezuelan Petroleum Engineer, coming from a family with lack of resources. However I was benefit from the government (democratic ) in 1974 with an scholarship to study in the US. I worked in Pdvsa (By the way the blue logo not the red as shown by you) from 1979 to 1995 when I left Venezuela. The reason my country is where’s it is due to the strategy led by international socialist /Communist countries with Fidel Castro in the leadership. Chavez and his party PSUV took over the country and today is a regime for more over 25 years in power. I would appreciate you make a more realistic history video on my country since is highly misleading the reality. The beginning of the story, yes I think it was well explained. I ‘ll be glad to help you in your future versions.
Could you elaborate then ? Which strategies were wrong ? How could this video be more realistic?
Im sorry but how can your country not be rich? How incompetent can a nation be?
sounds like the government is ripping the people off and keeping the money in their own pockets. looks like gas prices all around the world has gone up over 300% in the last 20 years. it's hard to believe that that government doesnt have the money to build other business and jobs in that country. Venezuela is starving for a real leader.
@@crue-xx After the British government helped Hugo Chavez to get to power to get the petrol benefits for big companies then the people could not fight against the Venezuelan army because they were killed during riots.
wrong opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$
Even though Venezuela has inferior fossil fuel to other countries, with proper management and an investment in a diverse economy, they could have trived. Corruption at its finest is what derailed the Venezuelan economy. Pure greed and those that wanted to control it for their own sake. Greed, pure greed.
This specific greed can only thrive backed by a dictatorship
Greed: the defining value of global gangster capitalism and its wealthy, powerful beneficiaries.
HEAVY OIL NEEDS LIGHT OIL TO PUMP IT OUT
THEY OWN CITGO AND HAVE A PLANT IN TEXAS THAT DOES THAT FOR THEM BUT GUESS WHAT IT'S SANTIONED
HAVE TO GET IT FROM IRAN OR RUSSIA BUT IT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE AND US NAVY CAN SEIZE THOSE TANKERS ANY TIME.
SO THE GREED I SEE IS FROM US GOVT
AS THEY SEIZED THEIR ASSETS AND FROZEN IT'S GOLD RESERVES IN ENGLAND
Well said! Venezuela is just another victim of U.S. Corporate Colonialism against Latin America. Pick any of the Latin American countries that have had economic or military relationship with the U.S. Show me one that has been equally beneficial to the Latin American country. @@patrickfitzgerald2861
Its called communism
We lived in Venezuela in 2017, the issue is political. There is lots of money available, it all goes into personal accounts of Government leaders.
Venezuela contrasts with Norway which VERY carefully managed its North Sea oil wealth avoiding all of these problems.
Difference is Norway just hasnt been sanctioned.
You forget something Norway it’s part of this mob called nato do you still believe they care about democracy ,freedom and rules of laws???? That’s it’s just SIMULATION they always had been invaders,looters
@@rm6857 nah - Venezuela fucked things up just fine on their own without ANY sanctions LoL! 😂😂
@@rm6857 the difference is Norway is not a dictatorship
@@rmf9567 Yea, yea, we vote for politacal party, then complain, they lied, after a few years vote again, so we can complain again...its called democracy.
My wife is from Venezuela. She and my brother in law have told me about the horrors of the humanitarian crisis. Chavez was nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Does she like Regional or Polar beer? People would almost get into fights over which one was better. I worked there in 1979 at the power station near Mene Grande. It was a good country back then. Churrasco steaks with papas fritas!
I met some great people there.
Are they colonisers, black or indigenous?
You maybe so naive you cry with a crocodile tear!
He's a wolf in wolf clothing.
I'm happy for Venezuelans since they got what they voted for.
@@andrewgeissinger5242 Venezuela is where the vote counting fraud system was originally set up with the help of a US spy agency. Now, vote counting fraud around the world is a trillion dollar business. I worked there when Venezuela was a thriving oil rich country. Crooks willing to do the bidding for Globalist agendas get ''elected''. Chaves was installed.
Economic mismanagement from two inept corrupt dictators.
How you know that is true if that information comes from American and it's allies fake news outlets. Us and UK are the best on media manipulation. Trump assasinated Sulemani because he defeated Isis and made dank meme about Trump. China and Russia wish they could lie to their population as well as the Americans do. If you remove the fake news outlets, where do you get youe info?
Past leaders failed to diversify the economy and made the economy too reliable on oil.
Yes, this. And it was such predictable outcomes. Crank up the money-printing presses in response to a budget shortfall? Obvious result is inflation. Slap strict price controls on businesses because of the inflation? Obvious result is shortages. Nationalize like crazy in response to the shortages? Okay, but who runs the now-nationalized businesses? What safeguards are you taking they know what they are doing (as opposed to being political hacks)? Oh, none? Obvious result is corruption.
Economic mismanagement for over 50 years**
Chavez was popular and democratically elected. Can’t disagree with you about Maduro, though.
It bears stating that not all oil is created equal, and the oil pumped in Venezuela has the highest sulpher concentration found anywhere- meaning additional refining has to be done to make it a usable industrial product, and therefore not as economically viable as oil from just about anywhere else.
there's several refineries svral in USA 1 on one St. Croix island an i took ovr the companies thy lost xprts to run refineries
That's why we don't need the gross tar sand oil from canada
This is partly correct. Refineries are mostly set up for a certain type of oil, sweet, light sweet, heavy,... oil from venezuela might be on the heavy side with a high sulpher content, but there are always refineries set up to deal with this. Not only that, some regions prefer heavier crude with high sulpher content, as they have an industry nearby depending on sulpher etc
@@rombaft HEAVY CRUDE NEEDS LIGHTER CRUDE TO PUMP OUT THE OIL
LIGHT CRUDE IMPORTS FROM CITGO TEXAS REFINERY WAS SANCTIONED AND FORCED THE VENEZUELAN GOVT TO GET IT FROM IRAN OR RUSSIA WHICH WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE CAN BE SEIZED BY US NAVY
THESE PROPAGANDA CHANNELS NEVER MENTIONS THIS
THEY JUST SOLELY BLAME THE GOVT
It wasn't oil that caused Venezuela to become poor. It was Greed. The daughters of Chavez are the richest women on Earth, because the wealth of Venezuelan oil was taken by Chavez and passed to his daughters.
Certainly oil isn't the cause, as Saudi did just fine. You can't blame it on greed either, because all human being are greedy. It's the socialist path that they took. Just look at North Korea and Cuba, they don't have much oil and are just as poor.
and the middle class no longer exists there. and people still ask me 'What's wrong with Marxism?'
@@lesliejia3073Not all humans are greedy, people with values and honor still exist.
@@glenw-xm5zfNothing is wrong, Marxism is accomplishing the goals it was created for.
@@hugoramirez6698 On a personal level, there could be a small number of people that's not greedy. On a social level, we must assume all people are greedy when making decisions.
Venezuela has abundant raw materials, but its goverment lacks the most important raw material: grey matter...
HEAVY OIL CAN'T BE PUMPED OUT
NEEDS TO DILUTE WITH LIGHT OIL PUMP OUT
THEY USED TO HAVE A PLANT IN TEXAS TO GET IT NOW THAT THEY ARE SANTIONED THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO IT ANYMORE
MUST GET IT FROM IRAN WHICH THEY ALSO ARE SANCTIONED WHICH US NAVY CAN SEIZE THE OIL TANKERS MUST BE ESCORTED BY VENEZUELAN NAVY
🎉
I'm Colombian and I'm glad we don't have that much oil, otherwise we would be in the same situation as Venezuela.
But i heard there is also extreme poverty in Colombia ? 🤔🤔
At least we didn't have a guerrilla killing thousands of people but anyway don't forget that in the 70s Venezuela received an influx of Colombians running from the poverty leading Colombia in those years
Exactly.
@@Griffith_1802 not as much as Venezuela and it is decreasing everyday. Most is South America is improving their quality of life and decreasing the poverty except for Venezuela and maybe Bolivia
It's so sad how Venezuela fell from being Latin America's richest country per capita in and around the 1960s/1970s to being just about its poorest today, on the same level as Honduras, Nicaragua, etc.
I have several Venezuelan friends living in Caracas.Ive been there several times back in the 90's.Its an amazingly beautiful country.
The government is the reason life is so difficult there.
Socialism doesnt work.
Meanwhile Afghanistan and Somalia are capitalist.
Also China has lifted the most people out of poverty than any capitalist country by far, so there's that.
Try telling China that socialism doesn't work they will fall about laughing
@@ishitunot5152 CHINA IS VERY CAPITALISTIC..THEY QUIT SOCIALISM LONG TIME AGO
@@keltberanski2757 Every tiype of government or regime needs capital it's how a government or regime manages it capital. However when China is seen as threatening islands in the south china seas its referred to a communist china but when its economy out strips western capitalist nations its call capitalistic.china
Nigeria in West Africa is going through the same, discovery of the Oil of has become more of an economic disaster than a blessing because of corruption
opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$
Maduro is the problem now, I went to school with Carlos Lehoffer in 1965 what a beautiful country his father was president of Shell oil and I never found out what happend to the Lehoffer engineering firm.Everyone in Venizula should be wealthy but look 600% inflation thanks to dictator Maduro.
they can not sell oil to other nation because of the US embargo and restrictions
that’s not the reason that’s just what the left likes to say the truth is it’s because of socialist policies and dictatorship and corruption for a very long time. They’re still free to sell it a China, India and neighboring countries. No one‘s really stopping them. They just can’t sell to America. That’s the extent of the embargoAmerica doesn’t have to trade with Venezuela. They are poor because of themselves stop blaming the USA for everything.
Thanks!
Venezuelan here. Don’t underestimate the way Chavez destroyed the national industry. Since the 1970s the economy had its ups and downs due to oil prices but the overall economy was relative fine. Chavez decided to take over most of the industries and give it to their military loyalists friends who would ruining these. Then Chavez suffocated other industries by not allowing access to USD for companies to trade and therefore had to close. Then enter the low oil prices that normally happen and this time the effect is massive as nothing was being produced locally and still importers couldn’t get access to USD without depletion of the central bank currency. This lead to the massive inflation as little products where being chased by too much consumares.
Ironically the way that Venezuela was one for the riches countries in the world is because of socialism/state owned company invested in other industries and infrastructure. Once Chavez took over the and he decided to steal the money and let his loyalists steal others companies meant that Venezuela turned into a dictator lead kleptocracy.
Oh, btw- the country recently stabilized because everyone bought/brought over USD and now the American dollar is the unofficial currency.
I'm from Brazil. One day, I took a uber. The driver was an old man from Venezuela and told me his story. He had a factory of soap. He didn't produce the quantity demanded by the government, so they took it from him. This is socialism. It can turn poor the richest country in oil in the world.
They put all their effort on oil and not on diversifying their economy.
that isn’t the sole reason, the middle eastern petro-states do not have a diversified economy, but they actually manage their oil industry competently & tread their geopolitical relations very carefully,
Venezuela on the other hand (like the rest of latin america) was already an extremely corrupt & incompetent state when they found oil, and the government mismanagement the oil industry the moment it took off while over-relying on it and mismanaging geopolitical relations,
there’s honestly nothing unique about how Venezuela f*cked up its ticket to being wealthy, any other Latin American country would have done similarly in their position
@@shiny_teddiursa Let me correct you, it’s Hispanic America, not Latin America, that’s a term you Anglo-Saxons invented as a derogatory form to refer to the Sovereign Nations of America whose language is Spanish. The Corruption and incompetence in Hispanic countries is not coincidence, it’s not the result of them being inferior humans than US Americans or Europeans, they were the Spanish Empire, with thriving economies on land and sea, strong military might of the time and beautiful architecture and governmental and defense infrastructure, all while English were just a bunch of pirates and Protestant peasants that lived in wooden houses, but greed has a weird effect on those spiritually weak once they attain power. I live in the U.S. and I know how dumb and ignorant some US Americans can be so it’s nothing special about them. It has nothing to do with intelligence, it has be something else.
Let’s focuse in the Last Century; In the words of ex CIA Agent John Perkins, he participated in many of the Hispanic American Coups during Operation Condor, a Regional strategy to depose or kill every Hispanic American president who wanted the progress of its specific country, this presidents always were democratically elected, but represented a threat to U.S. interests in the Region. US expectations were to have Oligarchs on this governments that function as puppets, allowing US Companies to exploit their countries resourses with cheap prices in an unregulated environment that did not protect its workers, that became cheap labor, it’s the reason why US economy exploded and the U.S. Americans increase their standard of living, out of the hard work and misery of this countries they were oppressing through this complex system of Neo Colonialism. John Perkins, made a tour throughout many Hispanic Countries, apologizing for his participation on this Coups and assassinations. Hispanic corrupt governments had a simple task assign by the U.S; hold this countries governments hostage by all means using their national military forces and police to enforce their oppression, while opening to “Free Trade” with the US, and also getting personal Loans from the FMI to be transferred to their personal bank accounts on Panama, Switzerland, Caiman Islands or their favorite, Miami, and then convert this personal loans into national debt so the people of the nation have to pay, it’s why many of this corrupt US puppets flew to Miami when they were prosecuted for this crimes and betrayal, and of course the US gave them protection.
Rafael Correa from Ecuador proof to Hispanic America that with a real president, this countries with such resources can grow rapidly to be as capable as any other country and their people as capable and efficient as any human being with decent pay and preparation around the world. Oil money was involved to achieved this, before his administration, about 80% of Oil profits was falling into the hands of this Foreign company’s and the rest were profits for the Nation, this changed with Correa, who give an ultimatum to this company’s; is was either 80% of profits for the Nation or Ecuador will just replaced them with other European countries that were willing to accept this terms, now with that much profits at hand, Correa was able to reactivate the economy creating modern hospital, modern roads and highways, Schools, Universities, Scholarships, Jobs, efficient police, etc. Correa called himself socialist but he was not, he was a progresist and a person who loved his country. He kicked out the CIA from Ecuador and Closed all US military bases around the nation.
It’s was imposible for Hispanic nations to become wealthy under such conditions imposed by the U.S., and with US puppet governments in command, they were literally paid to be as inefficient and incompetent as they can be so Hispanic America cannot grow to become a threat to the U.S. economy and standard of living.
@@shiny_teddiursa Could you elaborate on how middle eastern countries managed their oil better and competently ?
@@ricflairdrip5235By allying with the West
Laziness. In the 1970s most technicians and engineers in the oil industry were foreign trained and educated. They had easy money from oil and didn’t develop any other industries
Disagree. Venezuela’s anti Western policies have created a global sanctions regime against them. They can’t sell to most of the highest paying customers
Couple of mistake in this video; 1) OPEC was founded by a Venezuelan guy; 2) first place were oil was discovered in Venezuela was not in Maracaibo, it was in Tachira state, in a place called La petrolea.
opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$
Yo hi there im a Canadian but both my parents are Venezuelan immigrants my family has gone everywhere since chaves came to power everywhere i go i have family near me. My parents dont regret choosing canada over any other country and im glad i live in Canada i hope my family is doing well wherever they are
Pretty good video, pretty good summary, take it from a Venezuelan! I'd add just one thing: this is what happens not just when a society has an over-reliance on a single resource, which is always bad, but also when that society decides to rely on a dictator to "solve" its problems (very properly quoted, because absolutely nothing was solved, every single problem was made orders of magnitude worse by Chávez, and then many others were added on top), and bends over backwards to grant him every single bit of power he demands to then do as he pleases, without the slightest semblance of control, checks, nor balances (and history plainly tells us that has always led to disaster for any society that tries it).
What about the Americans' intervention? Like Sanctions, trying to putting their own political leader etc.!
@@dinonazamodeen5694 However misguided those may be (I'm in favor of some form of sanctions, not so much of other forms), whatever negative consequences they may have had on the population at large, they're a very small drop in the inconmensurable ocean of damage that the Chávez regime has done to the country, in all fronts you could think of (political, societal, economical, etc.), over the course of more than 2 decades already, and counting!
No mention of sanctions against Venezuela???
@@kiuk_kiks Yes, I did, right above your comment.
Small drop lmfao you’re just a gusano
Why nobody talked abou Sanciones Economicas, etc who has left Venezuela in very fragile economic situacion. Venezuela right now looks very good with supermarkets full of food, stores full of things to buy, restaurants full of people. Venezuela today, is beautiful ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Norway also nationalized their oil but the reason why Venezuela suffers for doing the same thing is that Norway has a functioning democracy. Both countries have nationalized their oil industry, have huge social programs, and yet only one has suffered not because of “socialism” but due to Venezuela having a corrupt government who didn’t diversify and having major powers put sanctions on them
Was Norway ever sanctioned to the point where it had 3000% inflation? I don't think any country can recover from that for decades even with ungodly amounts of oil. I don't think that's the whole reason, but western sanctions often make the people's lives miserable as opposed to the lives of the elites they try to target.
Single biggest issue for Venezuela is Chavez and the socialist policies and huge government control he imposed. Certainly decline in price of oil played a significant role, but most of damage was caused by government policy choices. So sad for Venezuelans. In the 1980s this used to be a shining star in South America and a great place to live for most people. Now nearly everyone is much poorer.
When oil prices collapsed in the early 80s the country started to decline. Inflation peaked to 89 percent in 1989 and there were huge riots. Caracazo. This in part allowed Chavez to stage coups and eventually take over.
Chavez was a communist, pure and simple. He achieved the Communist Ideal, everyone was equal...equally poor, that is and Communism offers no way out.
South America, mostly once Spanish colonies, and North America, once British colonies, are dramatically different. Why? Anything to do with the difference in the political systems inherited?
Venezuela is poor cause of Chaves and his policías, you can have oíl and turn like norway or the gulf states
HAHAH OI WOULD SAY US CIA REGIME CHANGE GAMES THURSTIING TO FRESH OIL.. YEAH BUT ONLY DOLLAR AND NOT YOUR OWN CURRENCY.. BUT WHAT WE CAN SEE ? ALL PUPPET NATIONS WHAT HAVING OIL LIVING IN RICHNESS... EDUCATE YOURSELF PLS BEFORE TALKING NONSENSE.. CHAVEZ WANTED THE OIL OWNED BY THE STATE AND NOT SOME COMPANIES. ACTUALLY THE STATE CAN EARN AND GIVE MORE TO ITS PEOPLE.. .. SAME AS LIBIYA AND GADDAFI WANTED TO MAKE GOLD OWNED BY STATE AND SO ON..NEVER BEEN IN PEACE AGAIN SINCE..BUT OTHER NATIONS WHO ACCEPT DICATERSHIP OF US, ACTUALLY LIVING IN RICHNESS... ITS CAUSE OF CRIMINAL AND CORRUPT US GEO-POLITICS... JUST LYING , SPREADING MISSINFORMATION, INAVDING , OVERTHRING NATIONS, SUPPORTING REBELL GROUPS JUST CALLED THAT WAY CAUSE IN FACT FOUNDING and supporting terror groups to bring destabilization into an country. like alqiada AND TALIBAN foundED by bush TO PKK FOR TRKEY REAGION, ISIS FOR IRAK SYRIA, , ALQAIDA FOR PAKISTAN AND AFGANISTAN NATIONS..
DO YOU KNOW WHAT FUNNY THAT AFTER UKRAINE WAR DIDNT HIT RUSSIA AND DIDNT MAKE THEM WEAKER AS USA WANTED TO, JUST WEAKINENING RUSSIA AND FACING CHINA THEN.. BUT AFTER IT WAS CLEAR RUISSIA EVEN WILL COME OUT OF THIS CONFLICT BECOMING STRONGER IN ECONOMIC AND MILITARY THEN ISIS-K POPPED UP AND ATTCKED RUSSIA FEW TIMES ANDD TRIED ALSO FEW MORE TIMES do u thnk thats coincidence
They should have learned from Norway.
We all should have.
Russia is a better teacher!!!!
opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$
What makes a country rich is not raw materials but its people its education and mores and work habits ,as well a wise leadership that has formed policies favorable for business and that includes security and safety .
Dude I don’t know how you don’t have more subscribers to your channel! Love your content and ALL of your videos are massively interesting!
Establishment shill.
Venezuela has all kinds of oil, from condensates to extra heavy, it also has a lot of natural gas, for a good part of the last century it was the main exporting country of crude oil, during the Second World War it was the supplier of fuel to the allies, we have the infrastructure and refineries to process oil of any kind, there is no bad oil, the bad one is the government that we have that has impoverished the country.
By the way, we are also a green country, with extensive agricultural and livestock areas with large rivers, but this sector was also ruined by the government.
Before the oil era, Venezuela was the main coffee exporter in the world after Brazil, and before that it was the main exporter of cocoa. Some believe that without oil we would starve and that is not true, we will starve if we do not get rid of this government.
I learn so much from these great videos. Thanks, Geoff!
HOGWASH, your learning whatever someone else wants you to, thats not education that indoctrination. Chavez was murdered, he didn't die of natural causes
@@GeronimoLogistics Where does it state in the video that Chavez died of natural causes? The video covers a LOT of ground and I can only remember a small part being about Chavez but it obviously means a lot to you. So, can you tell me the time stamp where the video says Chavez died of natural causes?
opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$
In 1987, when American Airlines started direct flights to Caracas, Venezuela, I took my young
family of four, there for a 2 week vacation! Not knowing much about the country, I was pleasantly
surprised to find extremely low cost hotels, restaurants, entertainment,etc.plus beautiful
beaches & gorgeous, clear waters! If Venezuela could rid themselves of their Communistic
government, it could become the next, big tourist venue for cruises & the general public!
They’re government isn’t communist you ignorant. Educate yourself before posting.
They are not communistic but are heavily sanctioned by the USA, as are 40 nations (all illegally), and their assets in mining (Oil through to gold) were extracted by US conglomerates, as with most of Lain America Africa (to this day) and the middle East, not to forget the Far East nd Russia during Yeltsin's presidency. The reason the US hates President Putin is because they assumed he was to be the puppet replacing Yeltsin, but he would not play their game and kicked out the Russian oligarchs and tok some of the to court. His background is law.
is it communism or is it socialism, or is it that yankees don't know up from down?
@@sandniqqait is a strong form of socialism where corporations are run by the Government
@@Mr.Rothschild ah unlike capitalism
Where corporations run the government. Cool news.
It's hard to solve problems if you are in denial about what is causing the problems.
Somewhere in the pipeline America had something to do with venezuelas downfall whether directly or indirectly.
Great summary on Venezuela oil story! How does the economy of other OPEC nations compare? Seems like Saudia Arabia, Iran, Kuwait do not have the same story.
The others you mentioned have huge cash reserves achieved by putting aside some of the money. Easier to do when you don't have politicians giving it away to buy votes. Among other things.
Iran is in a similar place, their leadership just seems to have better/more authoritarian survival instincts than the Venezuelan leadership, plus they’re being backed more directly by China and Russia than venezuela is. The other gulf monarchies are propped up by western countries, they would collapse and regress into absolutist pariah states if it wasn’t for the western money/propping up that their oil reserves afford them.
@@alaskanbullworm5500 Lol Western countries are the ones that cannot live without oil, not the other way around. The Arab countries could easily go back and live the nomadic desert lifestyle their ancestors used to 😂
Venezuela has A LOT of people, and its oil is not worth as much on the market (not all petroleum is created equal; some is easier to refine than others). The Gulf states are sparsely-populated deserts. Lots of high-value oil, not many people, more $/person to spend.
@@davidbarts6144 Saudi Arabia has more people than venezuela, so it’s more so the first one you mentioned
Based on the southern border of the United States, Venezuela's biggest export today is people.
by the way Venezuela´s territory was larger then than it is shown in your video, the essequibo region was part of Venezuela, the British stole the Essequibo and expanded its British empire in the Essequibo. Now the Essequibo is also rich in oil gold and diamonds. It is in dispute between Venezuela and Guyana
Wrong! Essequibo is not part of Venezuela and the GREED for oil continues.
Your loss 😂😝
Stealing everything before someone else steals it do the math
That’s their own fault for not investing in the tech industry which is more profitable with lots of inexpensive electricity, which they clearly have the ability to produce.
8 million Venezuelans have fled the country
Is nobody talking about what the usa did to venezuala?
Because it's Venezuela's own fault.
Awesome, would love to see one about colombia.
40 years ago Colombia was the crazy corrupt country with lots of problems, and Venezuela was the stable, democratic, and prosperous one. Now the situation is reversed.
@@davidbarts6144jajajajaja Colombia is falling apart, is not prosperous, it is not stable...
@@parzival2114 Compared to its neighbour, it is.
Terrific video, thank you for this helpful explanation. I hope for the best for these people, I hope that they will develop and embrace free speech, and peace in their future. The world may depend on it!
Same as other countries corrupt politicians.
Love your videos Geoff, just one question, why did the Gulf states not experience the same economic hardships when oil prices dropped even though their economies were also almost exclusively petro driven? The Gulf states have only recently started diversifying their portfolios. I know the US hasn’t outright stopped buying oil from Venezuela but the licensing system to producers has cut down on purchasing for the last 20 years. Do you think these types of sanctions have affected Venezuelas influence in the world market and also the livelihoods of Venezuelans?
Because the US Navy seizes ships entering and leaving Venezuelan waters, but uses force to make sure the Gulf nations (aside from Iran) can import and export freely.
The Gulf states saved their money whereas Venezuela gave money away to social programmes, projects, other socialist countries etc. So when the shit hit the fan the former had reserves to weather the hard times. Venezuela simply started printing money by the ton.
The cost of drilling for oil is vastly different.
Because America isn’t sabotaging them
@@JelpermanThats just blatantly false. Venezuela has and continues to export oil to China, Cuba, India, and Malaysia
I heard one that a loaf of bread was priced at 50 USD a few years ago because every loaf of bread and every grain of rice in that country was imported. By that rate, even a family doctor in US could not support a family. Not sure if that was true.
One word will answer this. SOCIALISM!
Suriname also has a border dispute with Guyana.
If the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro decides tomorrow to annex the Essequibo area following a military action following a referendum, the Guyanese will be faced with a taste of their own medicine. The Venezuelans have been claiming the Essequibo area for decades, because they assume that during the colonial administration of the British - in what is now called Guyana - the aforementioned area was confiscated by the German Robert Hermann Schomburgk by drawing up false maps. . Venezuela was certainly no match for the British militarily at that period, so the area was added to Guyana. It must be clear that the British also wanted a so-called foothold on the mainland of South America. On our side too, the British have done everything they can to steal territory from the other colonizers in the North Sea. The fact that part of present-day Guyana also belonged to the colony of Suriname can still be deduced from the Dutch names in certain places. But it was the same Robert Hermann Schomburgk who ascended the Corentijn and also after this journey drew up a false map for the British, in which he indicated that the Coeroeni Cutari was the upper course of the Corantijn River. He had not seen the truly much larger stream of water that we call the Upper Corantijn. Later, upon further investigation by the British Barrington Brown, the Upper Corantijn - which he called the New River - turned out to be the real upper course, creating the so-called Tigri Delta, located between Coeroeni, Cutari, Upper Corantijn and the Acarai Mountains, without there was no doubt that it should be regarded as Surinamese territory. However, the British wanted nothing to do with Barrington Brown's findings. In 1969, before our political independence, President Forbes Burnham of Guyana, which became independent in 1966, decided to occupy the Tigri Delta by means of military force. As is known, the Netherlands, which still had to defend Suriname as a part of the empire, did not intervene. Due to this annexation and the violent actions of Guyana, Suriname still has a border dispute with that country, just like Venezuela has with the Guyanese over the Essequibo area. The Guyanese government is now screaming bloody murder and is seeking support all over the world against a possible Venezuelan attack to take over the area militarily, but Suriname should absolutely not side with Guyana when it comes to the Essequibo issue. Guyana has occupied part of our territory since 1969, and does everything if the area belongs to it. We may be part of the English-speaking club CARICOM, which immediately supported Guyana, but we have been robbed by the Guyanese for more than 54 years. They have taken our territory hostage with military force and we should not accept that for a moment and certainly should not side with them when it concerns the Essequibo issue between Venezuela and the Guyanese. The fact that the Venezuelans now want to take back the area, if necessary with the use of the much stronger Venezuelan army, of course has everything to do with the large oil and natural gas reserves that have been discovered off the coast of the aforementioned area. This border dispute could have enormous consequences for security in our area, which can be described as the Guyanas. An area that runs from the Orinoco to the Oyapock. It is understandable that Venezuela may wish to use military resources. Isn't that what the Guyanese did to us in 1969, when The Hague did everything it could to get the police unit out of the Tigri area and was under former officer Lapre. The Netherlands did not want to have trouble with NATO partner Great Britain, that was clear at the time. But we now live in the 21st century and must not forget that we have a Ukraine and a Gaza, where major powers commit actions that can cause changes within geopolitics, including on our continent, when business and major financial interests come into play. This is about oil, that's what it was about in Iraq too. We can always talk about green energy and electric cars, but oil is still of great and survival importance for most economies and that is why the Venezuelan-Guyanese border conflict can still cause a lot of trouble for all of us. And especially if world powers get involved. Is oil a blessing or a curse? Unfortunately, this will also be expressed or expressed in this region.
Surinamese Newspaper / Source: De West, d.d., 19-11-2023
How could you forget to mention Caracazo?
You did not mention how Chavez took direct measures including “ expropriation” of other industries and economical activities
ánimo a nuestros hermanos venezolanos saludos desde México 🇲🇽🤝🇻🇪
Ustedes tan fregados como nosotros, con ese loco de AMLO. Saludos
@@JoaoSantos-md7twNo puedes comparar a México con Venezuela en términos económicos. México es infinitamente superior.
Venezuela is a great example of failed socialism.
The number #1 corralation with a wealthy growing economy is a free market economy. A free market economy will beat a government controlled economy everytime. For those saying Norway, Norway, yes and there is a great example of a free market economy. The countries in Northern Europe are strongly free market. Many in Latin America are not.
The USSR had a planned economy, and was a superpower. So your argument is debatable.
The USSR fell so that also showed his point
@@DustinStich-iy8eoAll countries fall.
I would have like more depth on this matter; a lot of vague hand-waving... For example, why don't they increase production, to outcompete the gulf states, if they have so many reserves?
Poor video. The oil industry was sanctioned which is hardly mentioned, this is the main driver of poverty. A quick Google search provides some insight.
I thought Argentina was the first Spanish colony in South America to gain independence?
Socialism, populism, corruption, bad management, etc
The US is next.
All basically describes Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran yet those countries are doing perfectly fine. Even if some of them are under sanctions just like Venezuela
@@Kuricang31 print too much money to pay debts = superinflation
@@chipaguasustudios The US is edging into hyperinflation territory now.
I'm guessing the immigration increasing percentages are a bit misleading. Basically two times zero is still zero.
You forgot about American deadly santions to Venezuela.
LMAO....
Towards government officials, not the country as a whole
About as deadly as a popgun. They were largely ineffective. Oil production fell prior to sanctions. The limiting factor was not sales lost to sanctions but the inability to pump the oil needed for customers not following sanctions. Oil field equipment could have been purchased from China. On credit if required. The problem is an ineffective and corrupt government.
@@alaskanbullworm5500no, is against the county as a whole
there is a whole world outside of the US that can buy their products, and the same was true for Cuba
One word-SOCIALISM.
Exxon Mobil was profiting off of Venezuela's resources while Venezuelans lived in poverty. Venezuela's government decided to nationalise natural resources to redirect oil profits from Exxon shareholders to fund national development and poverty alleviation. The US then imposed punitive sanctions on Venezuela making it nearly impossible to trade causing an economic collapse and humanitarian crisis. Plus hundreds of billions of dollars of Venezuela's treasure was illegally seized in the UK.
correct
As a venezuelan born and raised in Venezuela, this is completely incorrect, sanctions do not have anything to do with the venezuelan catastrophe. They were put in place long after the economy was destroyed by the regime.
The US only sanctions countries that steal from them on a large scale. Venezuela and Cuba took control of companies and didn't give any recompense
5:25 The creation of the PDVSA. That is like allowing AOR Kurnell who used to run Caltex there to expel all oil companies from Australia, take over refineries in other capital cities, and brand all fuel outlets under the AOR brand. Including the Golden Fleece refinery at Perry Street Matraville. However, there are fewer oil companies now than was the case in the 1970s. Competition makes more sense in a post-Cold War economic environment.
Venezuela seized most of the oil and gas reserves ,drilling rigs and many other properties from many world corporations then put government officials in charge that knew nothing about the industry they took.We lived there in early 60's then again in 1972-1975 .It was booming then people had food,jobs etc.Yes some were poor but it was mostly people moving to cities from the rural areas that had no skill except to survive on the basics.
How come gulf countries didn’t face the same fate when they rely on their oil just as much, if not more?
Yep, same thought here! My guess would be no US or better yet Western interest (no Shell, BP etc.).
@duskodragic649 Hmm but then that begs the question - why no similar level of Western interest in Venezuela? They could have set up shop there, no?
Their flag is a big frown of stars.
Awesome video!! Thank you so much
Socialms makes everybody equally poor.
My baker here calgary alberta canada was from venezuela and left with wife and kids due chavez.he work in heavy oil so he finish education here calgary learn more heavy oil.he told me that calgary oil company was there they refuse leave they lost everything near close door calgary because they have oilfield canada.just before covid-19 he visist the pollution and rundown equipment was mess i saw picture just terrible.venezuela now are piss because guyana find huge oilfield well too bad.he told very lucky chevron still there and must return all asset to company if not there toast that it he said.thank you expose this mess.😊
I have visited Venezuela in 2014 and live nearby in Peru along with over a million Venezuelan immigrants. Venezuela did not collapse because of over-reliance on their oil industry and lack of diversification. The Middle Eastern petro states prove that idea to be false. Venezuela is impoverished solely because they elected Hugo Chavez, a Cuban-trained Communist dictator, to be their President. Chavez single-handedly destroyed their economy through nationalization of industry and corrupt financial arbitrage. Maduro has doubled down on those practices. Additionally, both Chavez and Maduro have personally involved themselves, their families and political cronies in cocaine trafficking by facilitating various Colombian cartel’s use of Venezuelan ports and facilities. Many of them including Maduro are under indictment in the Southern District of New York for narcotics trafficking. Maduro will never leave office peacefully because he knows that to do so makes him an instant fugitive. Lesson learned: don’t elect Communists if you want freedom and democracy.
There is still no clear explanation why their daily production was reduced from 3.6m barrels per day to 0.6m barels per day. Considering its 6x times less and oil is making 95% of their export income they could have today 6 time more money income if they keep their production. Also "dutch disease" effect makes no sense. There are countries like Kuwair who live only from oil and dont have such economic and social issues.
You claim Venezuela’s problems on its over dependence on oil revenue. By that logic Saudi Arabia and Qatar should also be in economic collapse. The real cause of Venezuela’s poverty is its disastrous communist regime. Communism has resulted in disaster for every country that has tried it. The Venezuelan people know this all too well. Recommended reading for you would be THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by FRIEDRICH HAYEK.
Right - so whatever you think of MBS in Saudi he is doing the right thing, and the gulf states are already diversifying successully.
Sanctions on Venezuela are not a cause for its inflation.
Your YT channel is awsome!
You always do great vdeos, very accurate and easy to watch, providing a lot of interesting info's.
In this case, by the way, I think that the real cause of Venezuela's bad economic situation nowadays is much more related to human reasons rather than geograpic ones.
Kudos from Italy!
Many Venezuelans migrate to nearby Trinidad & Tobago. It's a growing community there.
If they had diversified their economy and not only rely on oil, they would be at least ok today. Plus, corruption has played a big part of the collapse.
You didn’t give details about the sanctions? Why are there sanctions against Venezuela?
That was very interesting, but the central reason seems to be a big drop in oil production (without economic diversification to balance it). So, you didn't explain at all why they cut their production so much or why they don't raise production now.
Negligence, They used the state oil company as a wallet for funding social welfare and corruption in order to win elections. Rather than reinvest in oil. Oil industry is so neglected that oil spills happens as often as 86 times in 2022.
They didn’t choose to drop their oil production. They failed to invest in new oil production infrastructure or maintain what they had, and oil production dropped as a result.
@@ianshaver8954 Thanks for that. Do you know why they wouldn't have invested or maintained the infrastructure when it was so central to funding what they wanted to do?
@@BruceM8 simply put, corruption, when the government took over the oil industry they started stealing money destined for maintenance and development of the refineries, when that money ran out and there were major incidents that caused both refineries to stop working, they started stealing from the oil extraction funds, I remember at some point they were removing the oil driller tips which were mare of some sturdy expensive material (can remember if it was diamond), and sold them in the black market, equipment was stolen, maintenance crews were dismantled, and whatever was left was sent to the "social programs" which was another excuse for the politicians to steal funds destined to education, food and health for the poor. This all happened before the sanctions.
Source: my wife is Venezuelan that used to work for one of oil industry subsidiaries.
@@ianshaver8954 Yes, they failed. Because US Department has sanctioned and freezed Venezuelas money and their reserves and they had much less money through it.
I was thinking there in 2000 and went to angel Falls. It’s probably impossible to get there now. The most incredible trip of my life
And why is Haiti so poor? Nothing to do with the Yankee Empire I suppose?
French empire stripped the land from over farming not letting the soil heal now the Haitians are suffering it looks like hell on earth 🌍
You forgot to mention Guyana and Trinidad. I know many people that fled there and surprised how well they speak English.
Great video, I just want to comment that it's not the sanctions, or the oil prices dropping that has damaged Venezuela so much, it's the communism that expropiated and destroyed both private companies and property, as well as the hopes for businesses to prosper.
There are probably a handful of countries in the world who have the expertise, manpower and equipment to unlock the true potential of Venezuela’s oil but only one of them has given work visas/ protected migrant status to 500,000 Venezuelans already in their country.
Please do an analysis of those who reached America before Christopher Columbus: (1) via the Bering Land Bridge, (2) from Polynesia, (3) from West Africa (4) the Welch, and (5) the Nordics.
West Africa? Says who, Louis Farrakhan?
A lot of it is due to societal outlook and culture and education honestly. Mentality of society is very important
Do one about Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹
Nah
Great informative video.
Although you are correct that one of the key ingredients for their inflation crises is the over-reliance on oil in their economy, the true root cause is the mismanagement of their resources. Essentially it comes down to investing the the maintenance/sustainability/expansion of your assets. If you are heavy industry and you don't do it, you won't be in business for long... So yes, it sucks that so much of their resources put them in a position where they end up with all their eggs in one basket, but when life gives you lemons... The thing about Venezuelan crude is its a pretty poor quality and so in order to compete in the market they must upgrade it in syncrude facilities to make grades like PZH - petrozuata heavy. This is still pretty nasty and so has to be super discounted to be sold. For decades parts of their plants would have a fire or explosion and never be re-built. The workers weren't worth a damn (something to do with education?) and most technical talent was brought in from american and european companies. Maintenance turn-arounds could last months longer than planned, sometimes more than a year... Essentially they were in a blind leading the blind type of operation. So they were in a terrible position when the housing market crash came, then US bailed themselves out of the impending crash with fraccing lean tight oil at record rate while OPEC flooded the market which tanked the price of crude and created a huge supply of easily refined alternatives to PZH, etc. And then of course the Sanctions were imposed when Moduro took over... Checkmate. So the way I see it, yes over-reliance on one resource is bad, but the true root cause here is the government not enabling industry to do what they needed to do. So now you look at what is happening to the decline of refining assets in the united states... shift your attention to finished fuels rather than crude & intermediates... if the industrial infrastructure in this country isn't allowed to invest in maintenance and reliability and instead is forced to spend all available capital complying with obviously misguided regulatory pressures that can be easily shown to have no measurable positive impact on health or environment.... then the next several decades will be difficult indeed. Forget about cost of living, hello fuel shortages... Seems like the only group warning people is the AFPM, but good luck ever seeing that message get out... would make a good video essay to put on youtube...
INFLATION IS CAUSED BY OVER PRINTING MONEY
AND SANCTIONS
PARALLEL MARKET IS CAUSING THE INFLATION
THE PARTS THEY FOR REFINERIES NEED TO FIX ANYTHING COMES FROM ABROAD AND VENEZUELAN GOVT CAN'T ACCESS THAT SO EASILY MUST USE 3RD PARTIES TO GET IT
Could you compare their actions/model to countries like Saudi Arabia for example ? What did Saudi Arabia do differently?
Over-reliance on a single resource is always bad. It's how boom-towns become ghost-towns. If I were a head of state I would encourage communities built on a single resource to diversify into independent businesses -- independence is important, as businesses that are hangers-on to the big resource will go down just as the major resource goes down. Picture such businesses that cater to the oil business in Texas, or those that cater to government in Washington, D.C. (no wonder Donald Trump is so hated by people on the Left; he wants to reduce the size of government, and that affects the hangers-on).
I like the video, but, and others may have a different opinion, but say people’s names right. One thing that separates great creators are those that really put respect on saying foreign names correctly of people or places.
I’m a teacher and if I ever called a latino student Sigh-mon, I think even they might take the opportunity to slap me.
Socialism destroyed Venezuela, In 1950 it had an enviable economy
very deep thinking. keep exercising your brains.
Yes keep it coming real talk
opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$
Venezuela had its oil robbed and are now sanctioned for say no to neocolonialism but Norway is independent and allowed to sell its oil at market rates.
Thank you Geoff. At last, a good summary of how my home country became what it is today. I have been fed up with this simplistic, constant, and exclusive blaming of Chavez and his brand of socialism for its current crisis.
Many of us left Venezuela way before Chavez. The country was profoundly corrupted (politicians and citizens in general) way before Chavez. The levels of crimes were unbearable, and with a deteriorating economy, of course it got worse.
Poverty, which grew out of over-reliance on oil and abandoning agricultural workers as you explained in the video, was visible anywhere you went in the country, way before Chavez, starting in the 70s with peasants migrating to the cities, without skills for any decent job.
Chavez tried to turn things around but lamentably he used dictatorial methods and irresponsible financial policies, not to mention political persecution (not that the latter didn’t happen before him, but most Venezuelans ignore his).
I know this was just a summary in an 11-minute video, but I would add that already in the 1950s and even right after the end of the Second World War Venezuela had one of the highest GDPs in the world and was close to officially becoming an industrialized country.
Juan Pablo Perez Alonzo, the Venezuela lawyer who helped create OPEC warned in 1976 about what economists now call the "natural resource curse": "Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you will see, oil will bring us ruin... It is the devil's excrement." This was the case during the "1980s oil glut". OPEC member countries were not adhering strictly to their assigned quotas, and once again oil prices plummeted.” (Wikipedia)
From a social-cultural perspective, which I know intimately as Venezuelan, our indifference to social injustices plus the arrogance and overconfidence that tends to grow in people’s hearts during times of prosperity cannot be dismissed in the whole equation. That combination of indifference to the growing poor masses, corruption in politics and in the general culture, and deterioration of the state of the economy, led to a populist like Hugo Chavez.
I could go on and on, but I don’t want to write a dissertation and what is the comment section.
Dammit Geoff if you keep busting out this quality content you’re gonna make me go to Substack 😣
Why no Paraguay as a destination? Legal reason?
The us ban them from saleing oil an takes there oil tankers refuse ti sale them parts for the rigs
As per your diversification argument, what else does Saudi Arabia export? Why do they not similarly suffer?
Yeah it’s bogus. The reason is the sanctions.