Venezuela

In this series we will publish weekly cutouts from the book by Kristian Niemietz

VENEZUELA UNDER HUGO CHÁVEZ: ‘A DIFFERENT, AND A BETTER WAY OF DOING THINGS. IT’S CALLED SOCIALISM

And another chart for those who think US sanctions destroyed Venezuela.

Before recent sanctions on oil, it was mostly just on individuals close to Maduro. 

by Johan Norberg

In almost every article about Venezuela, we're told that the economy collapsed because the oil price did.

Here is the price of crude oil adjusted for inflation.

Today, the price is almost three times higher than when Chavez took power.

There are two Venezuelas: the Venezuela of yesterday, prosperous and thriving, and the Venezuela of today: poor, corrupt and in the dark.

"Compra velitas, no hay luz," a Venezuelan man says to me at the border between Colombia and Venezuela, "Buy candles, there is no electricity". A few days ago, the Venezuelan military started allowing pedestrians to cross the Simon Bolivar bridge after closing the border completely in February.

In Venezuela, not only the main industries have been taken or highly regulated by the State, education has also been the victim of a totalitarian project that aims to manufacture a mass of serfs, while pursuing any individual with critical thinking.

As a Venezuelan and an economist, I believe we economists sometimes need to go beyond economic indicators. We need to speak from our hearts about our experiences. Only by doing this can we truly communicate the social implications of an economic collapse of this magnitude.

Here you can see an illustration of hyperinflation since 1980 until the end of 2018.

This tragedy must be stopped. Venezuelans are suffering in the dark. With no electricity, parents have no means to communicate with their children in the midst of an oppressive regime, plus the tens and hundreds who perish in hospitals with no power.

This article will be updated all the time!     Last update sunday 10:30pm CET 

Friday 6:24CET