Venezuela entre el auge y el colapso

Abstract

The Venezuelan crisis is a striking event in the recent history of oil-producing countries. This article addresses this situation by analyzing the forms of distribution of the oil revenue, situating them more broadly in the history of the “Venezuela of oil.” For this purpose, it studies the specificities of the oil rent distribution in Bolivarian Venezuela, shedding light on two mechanisms: the overvaluation of the currency and the subsidies for petroleum products on the domestic market. The paper examines how such mechanisms have had a negative effect on the country’s productive capacity when they have occurred during rises in oil prices, a process whose consequences have worsened in recent years.

Keywords

• oil rent
• oil policy
• Chavismo
• extractivism
• Venezuela
• petropolitics