Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0

[InkaUtexas 26026]

OK, so here is the link to the sanctions. Can anyone show me where we prohibit the importation of food or medical supplies? 

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10715.pdf

Concerning CITGO. It was leveraged to the Russians as collateral for loans. The article is a bit dated, but Russia has not made the changes in asset ownership yet. CITGO does has a bit of infrastructure in the US, so it is an economic issue. 

State-owned Rosneft holds a 49.9 percent stake in Citgo as collateral for a loan last year of about $1.5 billion to the OPEC nation, which is reeling from low oil prices and a severe recession.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-rosneft-citgo-exclusive-idUSKBN1A52RN

 

 

[David Dennison 18941]

10 minutes ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

We’d be assuming our historical role ever since the late 19th century in helping to install a friendly government that advances our interests that would end the starvation in Venezuela. Whether you like it or not, we are the global superpower and hemispheric hegemon. We have a responsibility to the rest of the countries in the Americas to assist where we can in advancing liberal democracy, free enterprise and other American values. If the CIA can assist in any way with the logistics of coordinating an assassination of Maduro that is the most humane way of ending the strife in Venezuela and ending their people’s hunger. Long live President Guaidó. Seeing Maduro killed will have a cathartic effect for the Venezuelan people like it did for the Italians in stringing up Il Duce.

That's adorable.

[hayden_horn 11365]

i just want to pop in to recognize @hpslugga and @Brisketexan for their thoughtful exchange of ideas. very refreshing, and it appears that they are much more in agreement than either previously thought. it's a great example of what this place COULD be. posreps all around.

[GHOSTUSER 361]

As the article from the WSJ clearly states, the opposition was divided and demoralized until the bold actions taken by Guaidó and his 4 allies.  hpslugga ideally what  you’re saying of having multilateral led negotiations mediated by the OAS would be ideal. As the article states, the opposition was paralyzed because of disputes over how best to fight Maduro. The people of Venezuela are ready and itching to have their version of storming the Bastille. I want our government to help make that a reality.

[hayden_horn 11365]

one thing that i think some of yall are overlooking comparing the relative strength of maduro supporters vs guaido supporters is the ~3 million people have left venezuela over the past couple of years. the VAST majority of those people would be supporting guiado. 

[GHOSTUSER 361]

17 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i just want to pop in to recognize @hpslugga and @Brisketexan for their thoughtful exchange of ideas. very refreshing, and it appears that they are much more in agreement than either previously thought. it's a great example of what this place COULD be. posreps all around.

The reason why this is a good thread is that the nasty insult bomb throwers are not participating thankfully. I will let you figure out who I’m referring to.

Edited February 7, 2019 by Iconoclast Texan

[David Dennison 18941]

7 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

one thing that i think some of yall are overlooking comparing the relative strength of maduro supporters vs guaido supporters is the ~3 million people have left venezuela over the past couple of years. the VAST majority of those people would be supporting guiado. 

File that under the category of "Be Careful What You Wish For."

It is not clear at all that the majority of Venezuelans in Venezuela support Guaido.

[Fozzz 152]

15 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

OK, so here is the link to the sanctions. Can anyone show me where we prohibit the importation of food or medical supplies? 

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10715.pdf

The sanctions are basically designed to cut Venezuela off from the international banking system - like a financial blockade.

Quote

An even more problematic idea driving current U.S. policy is the belief that financial sanctions can hurt the Venezuelan government without causing serious harm to ordinary Venezuelans. That’s impossible when 95 percent of Venezuela’s export revenue comes from oil sold by the state-owned oil company. Cutting off the government’s access to dollars will leave the economy without the hard currency needed to pay for imports of food and medicine. Starving the Venezuelan economy of its foreign currency earnings risks turning the country’s current humanitarian crisis into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.

That’s what began to happen in 2017. Last year, Venezuela’s export revenues rose from $28 to $32 billion, buoyed by the recovery in world oil prices. Under normal conditions, a rise in a country’s exports would leave it with more resources to pay for its imports. But in the Venezuelan case, imports fell by 31 percent during the same year. The reason is that the country lost access to international financial markets. Unable to roll over its debt, it was forced to build up huge external surpluses to continue servicing that debt in a desperate attempt to avoid a default. Meanwhile, creditors threatened to seize the Venezuelan government’s remaining revenue sources if the country defaulted, including refineries located abroad and payments for oil shipments.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/12/why-more-sanctions-wont-help-venezuela/

 

[bad_teammate 13221]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

So, regional economic stability is not a valid interest - huh.  In a world where economics is perhaps the chief player (shit happens via economics/commerce, diplomacy, and warfare -- that's pretty much it).....that's an interesting take.  I mean, we can PRETEND that economic interests don't matter, but we'd be literally the only nation state on earth participating in that fantasy.

It's intellectually dishonest, to say the least, to conflate the interests of CITGO with "regional economic stability". It is exactly the language used by people like Bolton and Abrams to promote such adventurism.

[bad_teammate 13221]

"We'll give you some food and medicine while we strangle your economy in an attempt to make sure our powerful corporations get control of your oil reserves! We're the good guys!"

[Brisketexan 105190]

1 minute ago, bad_teammate said:

It's intellectually dishonest, to say the least, to conflate the interests of CITGO with "regional economic stability". It is exactly the language used by people like Bolton and Abrams to promote such adventurism.

So....it's disingenuous to account for an enterprise that 1) generates significant revenue (billions) for a large country in the hemisphere, 2) generates significant economic activity in our own country (also billions).....seriously, we can stop there.  My point is accurate regardless of what Bolton or Abrams may think.

[bad_teammate 13221]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

So....it's disingenuous to account for an enterprise that 1) generates significant revenue (billions) for a large country in the hemisphere, 2) generates significant economic activity in our own country (also billions).....seriously, we can stop there.  My point is accurate regardless of what Bolton or Abrams may think.

Which one?

[Brisketexan 105190]

Just now, bad_teammate said:

Which one?

The one that rhymes with Penezuela.

[bad_teammate 13221]

In a market situation unfettered by our sanctions and impositions, Citgo itself is entirely irrelevant to Venezuela's ability to profit from its oil reserves.

[texastough 1129]

11 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

File that under the category of "Be Careful What You Wish For."

It is not clear at all that the majority of Venezuelans in Venezuela support Guaido.

This can't be serious. You're suggesting that a majority may still support the Maduro regime?

For some in this thread that advocate doing nothing, your thinking is a form of misguided nationalism imo. That political boundaries are somehow sacrosanct and it is immoral to involve ourselves in other country's affairs. I don't think that is defensible from either a theoretical or practical standpoint.

An alternate way of thinking that makes more sense to me is to recognize the increasingly interconnected global community, with aiding fellow human beings as the guiding principle instead of rigidly following political boundaries.

About a year ago, I checked Venezuela news and the headline was "Child gangs killing each other over rights to 'good' trash." I agree that the U.S. should not act unilaterally, but when a despot is starving his people, we should get involved. Especially when it is crystal clear that the Venezuelan people have no power to get rid of Maduro and their only option is to flee the country. There is a lot of room for debate on the right ways to help, most effective ways to help, whether help will have unintended consequences, etc. But to simply say "let them figure it out" is the wrong answer in my book.

I recognize that the devil may be in the details, and that the U.S. does not have a squeaky clean record meddling in other countries. But I think the debate should be over the proper ways, means, and motivations to help, not whether to help at all.

[Brisketexan 105190]

8 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

In a market situation unfettered by our sanctions and impositions, Citgo itself is entirely irrelevant to Venezuela's ability to profit from its oil reserves.

Ummm.....you do know that Venezula doesn't operate solely through Citgo, right?  Citgo is quite important here in the US, and isn't irrelevant to Venezuela (so, overstatement on your part), but it also ain't the sole ballgame.

And, you're running away from the core point -- economics matter.  They always have, and they always will, in every place that isn't fantasy land.

[texastough 1129]

15 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

In a market situation unfettered by our sanctions and impositions, Citgo itself is entirely irrelevant to Venezuela's ability to profit from its oil reserves.

Do you understand that the deals big oil companies make internationally look a lot like oil and gas leases domestically -- the basic framework being that the oil companies take on the risk and cost to extract oil, and the mineral owners receive royalties for doing nothing? When Maduro reneged on leases to big oil, Venezuelan production dropped dramatically because they do not have the technology, equipment, and expertise to extract oil themselves. If an oil company is making money in another country, it is not by definition stealing natural resources. Unless there is corruption involved (big if) it is a contract where both sides benefit.

Edited February 7, 2019 by texastough

[Fozzz 152]

The US could have followed Mexico's and Uruguay's approach if they actually cared about the welfare of ordinary Venezuelans.  The fact that they chose economic warfare instead (and are now deliberating on authorization to use military force) shows that is plainly not what this is about. 

 

The US is now making up the most farcical reasons imaginable for justifying intervention.  Are we sure that Maduro is not in possession of WMDs?

 

 

[David Dennison 18941]

13 minutes ago, texastough said:

This can't be serious. You're suggesting that a majority may still support the Maduro regime?

For some in this thread that advocate doing nothing, your thinking is a form of misguided nationalism imo. That political boundaries are somehow sacrosanct and it is immoral to involve ourselves in other country's affairs. I don't think that is defensible from either a theoretical or practical standpoint.

An alternate way of thinking that makes more sense to me is to recognize the increasingly interconnected global community, with aiding fellow human beings as the guiding principle instead of rigidly following political boundaries.

About a year ago, I checked Venezuela news and the headline was "Child gangs killing each other over rights to 'good' trash." I agree that the U.S. should not act unilaterally, but when a despot is starving his people, we should get involved. Especially when it is crystal clear that the Venezuelan people have no power to get rid of Maduro and their only option is to flee the country. There is a lot of room for debate on the right ways to help, most effective ways to help, whether help will have unintended consequences, etc. But to simply say "let them figure it out" is the wrong answer in my book.

I recognize that the devil may be in the details, and that the U.S. does not have a squeaky clean record meddling in other countries. But I think the debate should be over the proper ways, means, and motivations to help, not whether to help at all.

Tell us, who do the majority of Venezuelans support?

[DCA_HORN 725]

The nationalization of the oil industry started way before Maduro. Also Chavez fired most of the technical staff 15 years ago. Citgo is very important because they are the biggest refiner of Venezuelan crude. There ate only limited refineries around the world that can handle that type of crude.

[texastough 1129]

2 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Tell us, who do the majority of Venezuelans support?

Instead of firing off cryptic one liners and answering questions with questions, why don't you show some support for your suggestion that they are still behind Maduro, or whatever you meant.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

48 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

 

It is not clear at all that the majority of Venezuelans in Venezuela support Guaido.

[David Dennison 18941]

Just now, texastough said:

Instead of firing off cryptic one liners and answering questions with questions, why don't you show some support for your suggestion that they are still behind Maduro, or whatever you meant.

I never suggested anything of the sort.

[texastough 1129]

ok cool, my bad

 

JFC

 

My belief based on virtually everything I have seen/read is that the vast majority of Venezuelans want a regime change. I don't know whether they would elect Guaido as president specifically, but getting rid of Maduro is the overriding goal. Guaido's stated goal is to serve in the interim only until free/fair elections can be held. Then, it will become clear who the "majority of Venezuelans in Venezuela support."  

[UncleCharlie 334]

19 minutes ago, Fozzz said:

The US could have followed Mexico's and Uruguay's approach if they actually cared about the welfare of ordinary Venezuelans.  The fact that they chose economic warfare instead (and are now deliberating on authorization to use military force) shows that is plainly not what this is about. 

 

The US is now making up the most farcical reasons imaginable for justifying intervention.  Are we sure that Maduro is not in possession of WMDs?

 

 

I object your honor.  Defense is clearly leading the witness....

[David Dennison 18941]

4 minutes ago, texastough said:

ok cool, my bad

 

JFC

 

My belief based on virtually everything I have seen/read is that the vast majority of Venezuelans want a regime change. I don't know whether they would elect Guaido as president specifically, but getting rid of Maduro is the overriding goal. Guaido's stated goal is to serve in the interim only until free/fair elections can be held. Then, it will become clear who the "majority of Venezuelans in Venezuela support."  

Regardless of who they want to lead Venezuela, it's clear that they don't want the United States to intervene. It's also safe to say that they don't want sanctions that will harm everyday Venezuelans any more than they are already being harmed.

[texastough 1129]

1 minute ago, David Dennison said:

it's clear that they don't want the United States to intervene

what are you basing this on?

[David Dennison 18941]

2 minutes ago, texastough said:

what are you basing this on?

https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/29/venezuelans-oppose-intervention-us-sanctions-poll/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

[texastough 1129]

6 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/29/venezuelans-oppose-intervention-us-sanctions-poll/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

From the guy who posted the video asking our politicians whether we are meddling in Venezuela? So sorry if I don't take that at face value.

[David Dennison 18941]

Just now, texastough said:

From the guy who posted the video asking our politicians whether we are meddling in Venezuela? So sorry if I don't take that at face value.

And that's fine. But if you aren't going to take those numbers at face value, at least provide some of your own. 

[GHOSTUSER 361]

WSJ’s coverage of the Venezuelan uprising has been top notch. Great summary of events that turned the richest country in South America to one in which the people are rummaging through garbage for food and starving as a result of Bolívarian socialism. Remember that whenever you confront socialists about true life examples like Venezuela they respond by saying it wasn’t done right in those countries. It can never be done right because it’s an amoral system that fails to account for the true nature of human behavior.

 

 

Paradise Lost: Venezuela’s Path from Riches to Ruin

By 

Juan Forero and 

David Luhnow 

Feb. 7, 2019 3:21 p.m. ET

The discovery of oil in the early 20th century transformed Venezuela from an economic backwater into one of the richest nations in South America. Today, the country is grappling with a political crisis and an economic meltdown, which has led to shortages of food and medicine and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee.

Simón Bolívar was president of Gran Colombia. Photo: AISA/Everett Collection

1829-1830 
Venezuela breaks away from Gran Colombia and becomes independent.

1835 
U.S. recognizes Venezuela and diplomatic relations are established. 

1914 
The first commercial oil well is drilled on the shores of Lake Maracaibo. 

1908-1935 
Dictator Juan Vicente Gómez rules Venezuela, whose 20th-century history is marked by strongmen and coups.

1952-1958 
Hard-line dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez rules, his government toppling on Jan. 23, 1958 in an uprising of students, unions and the military. Venezuelan democracy takes hold, with two parties sharing power until 1998.

1940s-1970s 
Immigrants from Europe, Colombia and other countries remake Venezuela. 

1970s 
Venezuela enjoys a boom thanks to high oil prices. The oil industry is nationalized in 1976.

Central Maracaibo, 1950s Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty Images

Cafe culture in Caracas, 1976 Photo: Robert Madden/National Geographic/Getty Images

1980s 
The collapse of oil prices ends the boom and Venezuela enters into a period of chronic economic crises, marked by high inflation and a weakening currency—setting the stage for a revolt by an unknown army officer, Hugo Chávez. 

1992 
Mr. Chávez launches a coup that is quickly turned back. His captors, though, give him the opportunity to address the nation on television. “We have failed, for now,” Mr. Chávez says in brief comments that make him famous.

Mr. Chávez campaigning during the 1998 presidential election. Photo: John van Hasselt/Sygma/Getty Images

1998 
Mr. Chávez runs for president and wins in a landslide, smashing two political parties. His victory comes on a tide of citizen disgust with the corruption of democratically elected politicians who had ruled Venezuela for four decades. He goes on to dominate the country for 14 years, spending billions to create what he calls “21st-century socialism.”

Oil revenue funds the spending spree. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.

When Mr. Chávez takes power, Venezuela ranks among the wealthiest countries in Latin America.

1999 
Mr. Chávez oversees the writing of a new constitution. He pursues his “Bolivarian revolution” and an anti-American foreign policy. 

2000 
The new constitution requires new elections, and Mr. Chávez is re-elected to a six-year term. 

Mr. Chávez greets supporters in Caracas in August 2000, after being sworn in for a six-year term.Photo: Andres Leighton/Newsmakers/Getty Images

April 2002 
Days of large protests turn violent when police and civilian gunmen fire on crowds, killing 19. The military withdraws support for Mr. Chávez, forcing him to resign, and a businessman, Pedro Carmona, takes power in a coup that receives tacit U.S. support. But 48 hours later, after a mass uprising by slum dwellers, Mr. Chávez returns to power. 

Pedro Carmona during the April 2002 coup attempt against Mr. Chávez. Photo: UAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of Mr. Chávez burn tires in the streets of Caracas on April 13, 2002. Photo: AP

December 2002 
A national oil strike by Mr. Chávez’s opponents is used to try to oust him. It paralyzes the state oil monopoly, but Mr. Chávez fires 20,000 of the striking oil workers and beats back the challenge.

The shadow of opposition demonstrators is cast during their march through Maracaibo on Dec. 13, 2002, on the 12th day of a general strike seeking the ouster of Mr. Chávez. Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Venezuelans wait in line to fill empty gas canisters for cooking in Caracas on Dec. 30, 2002. Photo: AP

2003-2012 
A steady rise in oil prices that begins in 2003 gives Mr. Chávez cash to cement his popularity. 

Mr. Chávez expropriates farms and businesses, and uses oil revenue to build homes, distribute food and upgrade health care. The programs reduce poverty and make him popular. But he also saddles Venezuela with high inflation, billions in foreign debt and makes the country even more oil dependent.

Chávez supporters wait outside the polling station where he is voting in Caracas in December 2005 during legislative elections. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

2006  
Mr. Chávez is re-elected president.

Workers of oil state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela attend a rally in Barcelona, Venezuela in May 2007. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

2007 
Mr. Chávez nationalizes key oil assets. Mismanagement and corruption will in time sharply reduce production, leaving the state with little money to pay for food and medicine imports. 

2009 
Voters approve in a referendum the abolition of term limits, permitting Mr. Chávez to run for re-election indefinitely.

January 2010 
Mr. Chávez, harried by recession and declining popularity, devalues Venezuela’s currency.

A supermarket in Caracas, 2010. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

2011 
Mr. Chávez announces he has cancer in a televised address from Cuba. He undergoes medical treatment in Havana.

2012 
Mr. Chávez wins reelection.

March 2013  
Mr. Chávez dies after a battle with cancer at the age of 58. 

The hearse carrying Chávez’s coffin makes its way through Caracas in March 2013. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

April 2013 
Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Chávez’s handpicked successor, wins a razor-thin victory in presidential elections. By November 2013, inflation soars above 50% amid a big increase in government spending. 

Mr. Maduro waves to supporters after casting his vote in Caracas in April 2013. Photo: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images

Mr. Maduro presides over a prolonged contraction in Venezuela’s economy.

February 2014 
University students lead antigovernment protests over high crime and a crumbling economy.

Antigovernment demonstrators in Caracas on Feb. 28, 2014. Photo: LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/Getty Images

Opposition leader Leopoldo López is taken into custody in Caracas in February 2014. Photo: Alejandro Cegarra/Associated Press

December 2015 
The country holds midterm elections and Venezuela’s opposition handily defeats Chavismo, winning a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. Within days, Maduro’s government weakens the National Assembly. 

People in Caracas protest against Maduro’s government in May 2016. Photo: Roman Camacho/NurPhoto/ZUMA PRESS

September 2016 
Hundreds of thousands of antigovernment protesters descend on Caracas to pressure Mr. Maduro to permit a recall referendum they hope will oust his Socialist government and end severe food shortages, rampant crime and the world’s highest inflation.

March 29, 2017 
Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which has been stacked with pro-government justices, takes over the legislative powers of the National Assembly. 

Venezuela’s attorney general Luisa Ortega in Caracas, May 2017 Photo: Miguel Gutierrez for The Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2017 
Venezuela’s attorney general Luisa Ortega says the top court’s move is illegal. She is fired months later, and flees to Colombia, claiming to have evidence of the regime’s corruption and human-rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.

May 2017 
Mr. Maduro signs an order to convene a special assembly to redraft the country’s constitution, the latest in a string of efforts to retain power in the face of mounting protests and civil unrest.

July 2017 
Deadly protests flare across Venezuela as Mr. Maduro’s supporters vote for the new assembly to replace the legitimate National Assembly. Government opponents warn that the new assembly will lead to a dictatorship. 

With the economy collapsing, the country is plagued by widespread shortages of food and medicine, leading to rising infant mortality and the spread of epidemics. 

Venezuela’s misery fuels migration on an epic scale. 

Venezuelans in 2018 on a clandestine trail that is used by migrants who for lack of a passport cannot cross over the Simón Bolívar International Bridge. Photo: Stephen Ferry for The Wall Street Journal

January 2018 
Opposition leaders and the government hold talks in the Dominican Republic, but the talks end without an agreement. In the following months, the government bars major opposition parties and figures from running. 

May 2018 
After barring key opposition leaders from campaigning against him, Mr. Maduro wins re-election to a six-year term in a presidential election deemed illegitimate by the opposition and foreign governments. The economy is in free fall.

Maduro after the National Electoral Council declared winner him of Venezuela’s election, May 2018Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

In 2018, in response to falling oil income, the government rapidly increases bolivar supply, stoking hyperinflation.

August 2018 
With the bolivar continuing to weaken against the dollar, Venezuela hikes wages and devalues the currency. A re-denomination lops five zeros off bolivar notes.

Jan. 10 
Mr. Maduro is sworn in for a second term in defiance of international calls to resign.

Jan. 15 
Lawmakers in the National Assembly vote to allow Juan Guaidó, a little known politician who heads the legislative body, to become the country’s legitimate leader. The resolution says he must assume an interim presidency to head a transitional government and help organize new elections.

Mr. Guaidó announcing that he assumes executive powers in Caracas on Jan. 23. Photo: miguel gutiérrez/Shutterstock

Jan. 23 
Mr. Guaidó proclaims himself interim president and takes the oath of office before a crowd of tens of thousands in Caracas. The U.S., Canada and leading Latin American governments recognize him as legitimate president.

Jan. 28 
The U.S. imposes sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil giant in a move designed to empower the opposition and cripple Mr. Maduro’s government by preventing the proceeds of U.S. crude sales from returning to Caracas.

Supporters of the opposition protest in Caracas against the Maduro government. Photo: Oscar B.Castillo / FRACTURES COL for The Wall Street Journal

Write to Juan Forero at Juan.Forero@wsj.com and David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com

Edited February 7, 2019 by Iconoclast Texan

[texastough 1129]

In the last real elections, 2015, the opposition party won in a landslide. Then Maduro neutered the National Assembly and rigged the 2018 presidential election to the point where the opposition did not participate. And the average Venezuelan has lost 20 lbs while this has been going on. Its not that hard dude.

[David Dennison 18941]

Just now, Iconoclast Texan said:

WSJ’s coverage of the Venezuelan uprising has been top notch. Great summary of events that turned the riches country in South America to one in which the people are rummaging through garbage for food and starving as a result of Bolívarian socialism. Remember that whenever you confront socialists about true life is samples like Venezuela they respond by saying it wasn’t done right in those countries. It can never be done right because it’s an amoral system that fails to account for the true nature of human behavior.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Paradise Lost: Venezuela’s Path from Riches to Ruin

By 

Juan Forero and 

David Luhnow 

Feb. 7, 2019 3:21 p.m. ET

The discovery of oil in the early 20th century transformed Venezuela from an economic backwater into one of the richest nations in South America. Today, the country is grappling with a political crisis and an economic meltdown, which has led to shortages of food and medicine and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee.

Simón Bolívar was president of Gran Colombia. Photo: AISA/Everett Collection

1829-1830 
Venezuela breaks away from Gran Colombia and becomes independent.

1835 
U.S. recognizes Venezuela and diplomatic relations are established. 

1914 
The first commercial oil well is drilled on the shores of Lake Maracaibo. 

1908-1935 
Dictator Juan Vicente Gómez rules Venezuela, whose 20th-century history is marked by strongmen and coups.

1952-1958 
Hard-line dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez rules, his government toppling on Jan. 23, 1958 in an uprising of students, unions and the military. Venezuelan democracy takes hold, with two parties sharing power until 1998.

1940s-1970s 
Immigrants from Europe, Colombia and other countries remake Venezuela. 

1970s 
Venezuela enjoys a boom thanks to high oil prices. The oil industry is nationalized in 1976.

Central Maracaibo, 1950s Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty Images

Cafe culture in Caracas, 1976 Photo: Robert Madden/National Geographic/Getty Images

1980s 
The collapse of oil prices ends the boom and Venezuela enters into a period of chronic economic crises, marked by high inflation and a weakening currency—setting the stage for a revolt by an unknown army officer, Hugo Chávez. 

1992 
Mr. Chávez launches a coup that is quickly turned back. His captors, though, give him the opportunity to address the nation on television. “We have failed, for now,” Mr. Chávez says in brief comments that make him famous.

Mr. Chávez campaigning during the 1998 presidential election. Photo: John van Hasselt/Sygma/Getty Images

1998 
Mr. Chávez runs for president and wins in a landslide, smashing two political parties. His victory comes on a tide of citizen disgust with the corruption of democratically elected politicians who had ruled Venezuela for four decades. He goes on to dominate the country for 14 years, spending billions to create what he calls “21st-century socialism.”

Oil revenue funds the spending spree. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.

When Mr. Chávez takes power, Venezuela ranks among the wealthiest countries in Latin America.

1999 
Mr. Chávez oversees the writing of a new constitution. He pursues his “Bolivarian revolution” and an anti-American foreign policy. 

2000 
The new constitution requires new elections, and Mr. Chávez is re-elected to a six-year term. 

Mr. Chávez greets supporters in Caracas in August 2000, after being sworn in for a six-year term.Photo: Andres Leighton/Newsmakers/Getty Images

April 2002 
Days of large protests turn violent when police and civilian gunmen fire on crowds, killing 19. The military withdraws support for Mr. Chávez, forcing him to resign, and a businessman, Pedro Carmona, takes power in a coup that receives tacit U.S. support. But 48 hours later, after a mass uprising by slum dwellers, Mr. Chávez returns to power. 

Pedro Carmona during the April 2002 coup attempt against Mr. Chávez. Photo: UAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of Mr. Chávez burn tires in the streets of Caracas on April 13, 2002. Photo: AP

December 2002 
A national oil strike by Mr. Chávez’s opponents is used to try to oust him. It paralyzes the state oil monopoly, but Mr. Chávez fires 20,000 of the striking oil workers and beats back the challenge.

The shadow of opposition demonstrators is cast during their march through Maracaibo on Dec. 13, 2002, on the 12th day of a general strike seeking the ouster of Mr. Chávez. Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Venezuelans wait in line to fill empty gas canisters for cooking in Caracas on Dec. 30, 2002. Photo: AP

2003-2012 
A steady rise in oil prices that begins in 2003 gives Mr. Chávez cash to cement his popularity. 

Mr. Chávez expropriates farms and businesses, and uses oil revenue to build homes, distribute food and upgrade health care. The programs reduce poverty and make him popular. But he also saddles Venezuela with high inflation, billions in foreign debt and makes the country even more oil dependent.

Chávez supporters wait outside the polling station where he is voting in Caracas in December 2005 during legislative elections. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

2006  
Mr. Chávez is re-elected president.

Workers of oil state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela attend a rally in Barcelona, Venezuela in May 2007. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

2007 
Mr. Chávez nationalizes key oil assets. Mismanagement and corruption will in time sharply reduce production, leaving the state with little money to pay for food and medicine imports. 

2009 
Voters approve in a referendum the abolition of term limits, permitting Mr. Chávez to run for re-election indefinitely.

January 2010 
Mr. Chávez, harried by recession and declining popularity, devalues Venezuela’s currency.

A supermarket in Caracas, 2010. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

2011 
Mr. Chávez announces he has cancer in a televised address from Cuba. He undergoes medical treatment in Havana.

2012 
Mr. Chávez wins reelection.

March 2013  
Mr. Chávez dies after a battle with cancer at the age of 58. 

The hearse carrying Chávez’s coffin makes its way through Caracas in March 2013. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

April 2013 
Nicolás Maduro, Mr. Chávez’s handpicked successor, wins a razor-thin victory in presidential elections. By November 2013, inflation soars above 50% amid a big increase in government spending. 

Mr. Maduro waves to supporters after casting his vote in Caracas in April 2013. Photo: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images

Mr. Maduro presides over a prolonged contraction in Venezuela’s economy.

February 2014 
University students lead antigovernment protests over high crime and a crumbling economy.

Antigovernment demonstrators in Caracas on Feb. 28, 2014. Photo: LEO RAMIREZ/AFP/Getty Images

Opposition leader Leopoldo López is taken into custody in Caracas in February 2014. Photo: Alejandro Cegarra/Associated Press

December 2015 
The country holds midterm elections and Venezuela’s opposition handily defeats Chavismo, winning a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. Within days, Maduro’s government weakens the National Assembly. 

People in Caracas protest against Maduro’s government in May 2016. Photo: Roman Camacho/NurPhoto/ZUMA PRESS

September 2016 
Hundreds of thousands of antigovernment protesters descend on Caracas to pressure Mr. Maduro to permit a recall referendum they hope will oust his Socialist government and end severe food shortages, rampant crime and the world’s highest inflation.

March 29, 2017 
Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which has been stacked with pro-government justices, takes over the legislative powers of the National Assembly. 

Venezuela’s attorney general Luisa Ortega in Caracas, May 2017 Photo: Miguel Gutierrez for The Wall Street Journal

March 31, 2017 
Venezuela’s attorney general Luisa Ortega says the top court’s move is illegal. She is fired months later, and flees to Colombia, claiming to have evidence of the regime’s corruption and human-rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings.

May 2017 
Mr. Maduro signs an order to convene a special assembly to redraft the country’s constitution, the latest in a string of efforts to retain power in the face of mounting protests and civil unrest.

July 2017 
Deadly protests flare across Venezuela as Mr. Maduro’s supporters vote for the new assembly to replace the legitimate National Assembly. Government opponents warn that the new assembly will lead to a dictatorship. 

With the economy collapsing, the country is plagued by widespread shortages of food and medicine, leading to rising infant mortality and the spread of epidemics. 

Venezuela’s misery fuels migration on an epic scale. 

Venezuelans in 2018 on a clandestine trail that is used by migrants who for lack of a passport cannot cross over the Simón Bolívar International Bridge. Photo: Stephen Ferry for The Wall Street Journal

January 2018 
Opposition leaders and the government hold talks in the Dominican Republic, but the talks end without an agreement. In the following months, the government bars major opposition parties and figures from running. 

May 2018 
After barring key opposition leaders from campaigning against him, Mr. Maduro wins re-election to a six-year term in a presidential election deemed illegitimate by the opposition and foreign governments. The economy is in free fall.

Maduro after the National Electoral Council declared winner him of Venezuela’s election, May 2018Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images

In 2018, in response to falling oil income, the government rapidly increases bolivar supply, stoking hyperinflation.

August 2018 
With the bolivar continuing to weaken against the dollar, Venezuela hikes wages and devalues the currency. A re-denomination lops five zeros off bolivar notes.

Jan. 10 
Mr. Maduro is sworn in for a second term in defiance of international calls to resign.

Jan. 15 
Lawmakers in the National Assembly vote to allow Juan Guaidó, a little known politician who heads the legislative body, to become the country’s legitimate leader. The resolution says he must assume an interim presidency to head a transitional government and help organize new elections.

Mr. Guaidó announcing that he assumes executive powers in Caracas on Jan. 23. Photo: miguel gutiérrez/Shutterstock

Jan. 23 
Mr. Guaidó proclaims himself interim president and takes the oath of office before a crowd of tens of thousands in Caracas. The U.S., Canada and leading Latin American governments recognize him as legitimate president.

Jan. 28 
The U.S. imposes sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil giant in a move designed to empower the opposition and cripple Mr. Maduro’s government by preventing the proceeds of U.S. crude sales from returning to Caracas.

Supporters of the opposition protest in Caracas against the Maduro government. Photo: Oscar B.Castillo / FRACTURES COL for The Wall Street Journal

Write to Juan Forero at Juan.Forero@wsj.com and David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com

 

There are plenty of examples of socialism working. 

[David Dennison 18941]

Just now, texastough said:

In the last real elections, 2015, the opposition party won in a landslide. Then Maduro neutered the National Assembly and rigged the 2018 presidential election to the point where the opposition did not participate. And the average Venezuelan has lost 20 lbs while this has been going on. Its not that hard dude.

Sounds like it's time for a revolution.

Let's watch.

[texastough 1129]

Would you change your opinion if a majority of Venezuelans wanted international help making a regime change?

[David Dennison 18941]

Just now, texastough said:

Would you change your opinion if a majority of Venezuelans wanted international help making a regime change?

No.

[suddenly shaggy 929]

Why do any of you give a shit what David Dennison thinks? He's either a troll or a mental invalid. Let him play with his feces by himself. 

[SimonBolivar 10958]

11 minutes ago, Iconoclast Texan said:

WSJ’s coverage of the Venezuelan uprising has been top notch. Great summary of events that turned the richest country in South America to one in which the people are rummaging through garbage for food and starving as a result of Bolívarian socialism. Remember that whenever you confront socialists about true life examples like Venezuela they respond by saying it wasn’t done right in those countries. It can never be done right because it’s an amoral system that fails to account for the true nature of human behavior.

[InkaUtexas 26026]

46 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

There are plenty of examples of socialism working. 

In Latin America? Africa? 

[hpslugga 4062]

1 hour ago, David Dennison said:

There are plenty of examples of socialism working. 

Again, I wouldn't bother with this. The person you're quoting hasn't the foggiest idea what socialism is, and we've seen that over and over again from that group for years. Also, what hayden said earlier was correct: the idea that Venezuela is in any way a socialist society is a bad joke, so conceding that assertion in some sort of argument is utterly pointless. It's like starting a debate with "given that the moon is made of green cheese..."

[David Dennison 18941]

46 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

In Latin America? Africa? 

Bolivia is the closest thing to democratic socialism in Latin America. Latin American socialism fails under totalitarian regimes, which says more about totalitarianism than socialism.

I don't know much about African socialism. My guess is that success or failure would depend on the type of government associated with the socialist policies.

[Fozzz 152]

2 hours ago, texastough said:

From the guy who posted the video asking our politicians whether we are meddling in Venezuela? So sorry if I don't take that at face value.

Do you think Max Blumenthal conducted the poll himself?

[InkaUtexas 26026]

1 hour ago, David Dennison said:

Bolivia is the closest thing to democratic socialism in Latin America. Latin American socialism fails under totalitarian regimes, which says more about totalitarianism than socialism.

I don't know much about African socialism. My guess is that success or failure would depend on the type of government associated with the socialist policies.

In Africa it kind of worked in Ethiopia until it didn't. 

[bad_teammate 13221]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

And, you're running away from the core point -- economics matter.  They always have, and they always will, in every place that isn't fantasy land.

Who said economics don't matter? Of course they "matter". What the hell are you even trying to say?

Your argument is that we should starve the Venezuelan people until they support the installation of a leader/government that will enrich American business, yes? Be bold. Speak your truth.

[David Dennison 18941]

2 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

In Africa it kind of worked in Ethiopia until it didn't. 

Cool.

It still works in plenty of places. Democracies, for example.

[InkaUtexas 26026]

25 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Cool.

It still works in plenty of places. Democracies, for example.

Wanna name a few in Africa? democracies or socialist systems that work? 

[David Dennison 18941]

52 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Wanna name a few in Africa? democracies or socialist systems that work? 

Subtle.

[InkaUtexas 26026]

5 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Subtle.

nice... 

[David Dennison 18941]

1 minute ago, InkaUtexas said:

nice... 

Wanna talk about the places where socialism works now?

[InkaUtexas 26026]

1 minute ago, David Dennison said:

Wanna talk about the places where socialism works now?

Sure, you got 30 seconds? Ya gonna bring up Burma? Oh, wait, no Mugabe's paradise. 

Look man, I am pulling my last associate out of Venezuela right now. You chat, I live this.