On 7-29-24 Venezuela reelected Nicolas Maduro with 51% for a third term as President. His opponent, a 74 year old diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia with 44% claims voter fraud. Citizens are protesting. The US and other South American countries agree that the election results were rigged. Maduro claimed that the election data was hacked and the delay in reporting results was due to the hacking. The election needs to be audited.
Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has governed Venezuela since 2013, with the former union leader taking power after the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez. His 2018 election victory was widely regarded as an unfair contest, given that many prominent opposition parties were banned from taking part.
In the last decade, more than 7.7 million people are estimated to have left the country in search of better prospects, reflecting the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history and one of the biggest displacement crises in the world.
The United Nations refugee agency says that approximately 20% of the country’s population has fled the country since 2014, citing rampant violence, gang warfare, soaring inflation, as well as shortages of food, medicine and essential services.
In
2023, Venezuela produced 742,000 b/d of crude oil, a 70% cumulative decline
from production levels in 2013. Yet, for the first time in a decade,
Venezuela's crude oil production increased by 13% in 2021 and 18% in 2022.
https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/country/VEN
In 1960, Venezuela produced 137 million b/d. The decline in production to 742 thousand b/d reflects the failure of the Chavez and Maduro regimes. Communism always promises free stuff, but has delivered total economic collapse for most populations that elect them.
The success of China’s hybrid Communist/Capitalist economy suggests that their model will settle back to dominance limited to Asia. Overexpansion and overspending is costly and returning manufacturing from China to the US will limit their expansion.
See
Venezuela Economy on this blog posted 5-26-24.
https://ntlconsulting.blogspot.com/2024/05/venezuela-economy-5-26-24.html
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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