Oil was nationalized for decades before Chavez. What happened was that he made a bunch of policies that were unpopular causing a general strike. The response was to fire everyone in PDVSA and hire only people associated with his political party and giving managerial positions to army generals. The brain drain collapsed oil production and essentially crashed the country’s economy when global oil prices dropped. Even today many US companies still operate in Venezuela under special conssesions and sanctions loopholes. The US remains the number one buyer of venezuelan oil, accounting for the majority of exports.
If anyone in the US wants to get a feel of how Chavez rule was, just imagine a younger, less mentally addled, Trump in power. Trump’s plotting to Totalitarianism is very similar to Chavez rise to absolute power. Is just that Chavez painted the road with communist rethoric, no actual policy though, but it is just fascism under a Cuban costume.
Oil was nationalized for decades before Chavez. What happened was that he made a bunch of policies that were unpopular causing a general strike. The response was to fire everyone in PDVSA and hire only people associated with his political party and giving managerial positions to army generals. The brain drain collapsed oil production and essentially crashed the country’s economy when global oil prices dropped. Even today many US companies still operate in Venezuela under special conssesions and sanctions loopholes. The US remains the number one buyer of venezuelan oil, accounting for the majority of exports.
If anyone in the US wants to get a feel of how Chavez rule was, just imagine a younger, less mentally addled, Trump in power. Trump’s plotting to Totalitarianism is very similar to Chavez rise to absolute power. Is just that Chavez painted the road with communist rethoric, no actual policy though, but it is just fascism under a Cuban costume.