Economic liberalization in Venezuela is possible after Maduro is captured by the US operation
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US special forces raided and captured the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and bringing him to the US to face charges related to drug trafficking and arms trafficking may lead to economic freedom for ordinary Venezuelans who are struggling under the economic policies of the socialist regime.
The economy of Venezuela it is heavily dependent on oil exports and suffered a major decline in the past decade as the mismanagement of the state-owned oil company caused production to drop and the rest of Venezuela’s economy struggled under sanctions and social policies.
Venezuela’s economy contracted in terms of real domestic product (GDP) every year from 2014 to 2020 – including declines of more than 15% in 2016, 2017 and 2018; and a decline of 27% or more in both 2019 and 2020, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.
Jorge Jraissati, president of the Economic Inclusion Group, told FOX Business that those changes have made economic conditions very difficult for ordinary Venezuelans, and that, “The average wage in Venezuela is very low in real terms. The legal minimum wage remains frozen at 130 bolivars per month, which is equivalent to less than $1 per month at current exchange rates.”
KIDNAPPED VENEZUELAN MUNICIPAL, Maduro, DOESN’T APOLOGIZE TO JUDGE BEFORE JUDGE RULES
Venezuela’s economy stagnated under Maduro’s regime amid a drop in oil production. (Photos by Javier Campos/NurPhoto/Getty)
“Even when including government bonuses such as meals or hardship allowances, most public sector workers make around $160 per month, while private sector workers tend to earn around $230-$240 per month on average,” said Jraissati.
“Household surveys also show household incomes hovering in the low $200s per month in most counties,” he added. “These rates remain below base costs food basket and essential goods. That’s why 70% of people live in poverty.
Jraissati noted that Venezuela’s economic struggles in recent decades are in stark contrast to the economic dynamics the country experienced for much of the last century before the Hugo Chávez regime took power in 1998 and was installed. social economic policies in the next ten years.
AFTER MADURO, VENEZUELA IS FACED WITH DIFFICULT DECISIONS TO REBUILD ITS CRASHED ECONOMY.
Venezuela’s average population has faced rampant inflation and poverty amid economic recession in recent decades. (Federico Parra / AFP via Getty Images)
“For most of the 20th century, Venezuela was not a poor country,” he said. “Between 1920 and 1980 it was the fastest growing economy in the world, with GDP per capita growing at an average of 6.4% per year, placing it among the 20 richest countries in the world.”
“The standard of living reflected this fact. Wider access to consumer goods, rising wages and the continued expansion of the middle class were the norm. That trajectory was reversed by social economic policies,” said Jraissti.
Chávez died in 2013 and was succeeded by Maduro, who consolidated the power to establish a dictatorship through fraud and fraud. undemocratic elections.
MADURO’S CAPTURE PUTS CUBA’S VENEZUELAN OIL WEALTH AT RISK.
Venezuela’s oil production has fallen amid the mismanagement of the state-owned oil company by the Maduro regime. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Economic crises fueled the exodus of Venezuelans over the past decade, as an increase in hyperinflation led to a lack of necessities such as food and medicine. Inflation rose to more than 130,000% in 2018, although it has slowed to 190% from 2023, according to the central bank.
“Since 2013, Venezuela has lost almost 70% of its GDP, the largest peacetime economic collapse in the modern history of the western hemisphere,” said Jraissati. “Inflation, land confiscation, price controls and currency controls have destroyed the productive capacity and purchasing power of the home.”
Venezuela’s oil industry has fallen sharply over the past 20 years, and Jraissati added that the wider economic collapse “occurred despite the extraordinary windfall” that has emerged. oil in foreign countries.
“Between 2003 and 2013, the country received nearly $1 trillion in oil profits,” he said. “Today, more than 80% of Venezuelans live on hand to hand, and extreme poverty affects almost half of the population. This does not even count the 8 million people who have left.”
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Data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows that Venezuela’s crude oil production has been above 2 million barrels per day from 2005 to 2016, when it began a significant decline – falling below the limit of 1.5 million barrels in 2018 and falling below 12 barrels in 2019.
