Why Venezuela Is So Poor Despite Having So Much Oil

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Venezuela has the largest deposits of oil in the world. More than Saudi Arabia, more than Iraq, more than Canada. Despite this, the country has been in economic free-fall for the last few years. And its production of oil has dropped from about 3.5 million barrels per day to less than 600,000. Here's why Venezuela is so economically poor despite having so much oil.
Stock footage is acquired from www.storyblocks.com.
Some videos provided by Hiurich G. on Pexels.

[@sanguinj]

I am a Venezuelan Petroleum Engineer, coming from a family with lack of resources. However I was benefit from the government (democratic ) in 1974 with an scholarship to study in the US. I worked in Pdvsa (By the way the blue logo not the red as shown by you) from 1979 to 1995 when I left Venezuela. The reason my country is where’s it is due to the strategy led by international socialist /Communist countries with Fidel Castro in the leadership. Chavez and his party PSUV took over the country and today is a regime for more over 25 years in power. I would appreciate you make a more realistic history video on my country since is highly misleading the reality. The beginning of the story, yes I think it was well explained. I ‘ll be glad to help you in your future versions.

[@ricflairdrip5235]

Could you elaborate then ? Which strategies were wrong ? How could this video be more realistic?

[@crue-xx]

Im sorry but how can your country not be rich? How incompetent can a nation be?

[@DannyD-vw9vv]

sounds like the government is ripping the people off and keeping the money in their own pockets. looks like gas prices all around the world has gone up over 300% in the last 20 years. it's hard to believe that that government doesnt have the money to build other business and jobs in that country. Venezuela is starving for a real leader.

[@isaacfernandez4841]

@@crue-xx After the British government helped Hugo Chavez to get to power to get the petrol benefits for big companies then the people could not fight against the Venezuelan army because they were killed during riots.

[@teddymoon3744]

wrong opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$

[@s3cunit]

I was married to a Venezuelan and her father was an engineer in the oil industry. They left shortly after Chavez came to power. Why? Chevez used the military to take over private companies, which led to large multinational companies to flee the country. He installed unqualified cronies, who were loyal to him, into extremely technical jobs, which caused entire refineries to fail catastrophically. On top of all this, as Geoff mentioned, Chave won the election by promising things to the poor that, even when the country was flush with oil revenues, simply weren't possible. Despite not delivering on the outrageous promises, Chavez was giving the extremely poor small amounts of cash, just enough so they would vote for him time and time again. To make sure he won the elections, he killed or jailed any opposition, and took control over all state media. (Noticing a trend here?) Maduro was his "Vice President" and when Chavez died, Maduro took power and used the military to ensure there were not fair elections. It's extremely heartbreaking, as the standard of life for Venezuela was very high before Chavez and Venezuelan expatriates love their country very much, but know they can't go home with things the way they are.

[@user-sy4fg1wp4d]

Also even if multinationals don't set up shop in a country like Venezuela they try to negotiate selling technology that improves the economies of scale, output of certain industries like petroleum and Venezuela would use the technology with an agreement that the company that provides the technology gets a cut of the revenue from the oil extraction....but Venezuela wouldn't honor the deal and what happens is countries that do this can never get far more superior/advanced technology to have market share or even a competitive edge for their products on a global market and not to mention countries that won't buy their oil for not honoring deals for technology they sold them before.

[@ChomoBidensMules]

Sounds just like South Africa

[@caeruleusvm7621]

Yes, I think attributing too much of the failure to Dutch Disease and falling commodity prices is to ignore the overwhelming role played by thuggish and corrupt politicians.

[@joeybaggs]

I think all of what Matthew Evans said has way more to with the current state of venezuala than anything geography related. Their geography is actually great

[@doxydoxdelamanca9902]

This^. But you can't just put it all on Chavez. The so called "opposition" is an opposition onto itself. They can't agree on almost anything. More importantly, they can also thank Caldera for pardoning Chavez. And yet again when the military themselves had him in the helicopter, they should have shipped him to Cuba that moment. In fact, he himself wanted to go to Cuba. And who helped him after the coup? Gen. Baduel; yes, the same Baduel Chavez imprisoned. Baduel had a spoon-full of 'patria y socialismo'.

[@Chatterbox-94]

My wife is from Venezuela. She and my brother in law have told me about the horrors of the humanitarian crisis. Chavez was nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

[@kimmer6]

Does she like Regional or Polar beer? People would almost get into fights over which one was better. I worked there in 1979 at the power station near Mene Grande. It was a good country back then. Churrasco steaks with papas fritas! I met some great people there.

[@jikamos]

Are they colonisers, black or indigenous? You maybe so naive you cry with a crocodile tear!

[@DragNetJoe]

He's a wolf in wolf clothing.

[@andrewgeissinger5242]

I'm happy for Venezuelans since they got what they voted for.

[@kimmer6]

@@andrewgeissinger5242 Venezuela is where the vote counting fraud system was originally set up with the help of a US spy agency. Now, vote counting fraud around the world is a trillion dollar business. I worked there when Venezuela was a thriving oil rich country. Crooks willing to do the bidding for Globalist agendas get ''elected''. Chaves was installed.

[@Alexis-ln2hp]

You didn't mention that a lot of Venezuelans have also left to go to the West Indies as well. My family's from Guyana, right next door to Venezuela, so now that Guyana's discovered oil back in 2015, Guyana has been in development, and there are jobs to be had. They are now fleeing to Guyana for work and to live. So many are moving there that we've now incorporating the Spanish language into school curriculum, and is being used as a second language as they are, so many of them are living there. Even Trinidad, they are migrating too.

[@ThreeGss]

Yes. I am here in guyana for work from the UK for oil and gas. There are many Spanish speakers here.

[@drear9879]

Now they want to steal half of Guyana!!!! 😂 so much for welcoming them with open arms

[@ianbynoe6515]

We don't need Venezuelans, let them go back home. When they were rich they never even gave us a glance.

[@user-kp6vq6jd7n]

Good people will always have a good life

[@armandocruz3112]

@@drear9879 how to steal the stolen?

[@HHIVR4]

I have several Venezuelan friends living in Caracas.Ive been there several times back in the 90's.Its an amazingly beautiful country. The government is the reason life is so difficult there. Socialism doesnt work.

[@georgewmitchell]

Meanwhile Afghanistan and Somalia are capitalist.

[@georgewmitchell]

Also China has lifted the most people out of poverty than any capitalist country by far, so there's that.

[@ishitunot5152]

Try telling China that socialism doesn't work they will fall about laughing

[@keltberanski2757]

@@ishitunot5152 CHINA IS VERY CAPITALISTIC..THEY QUIT SOCIALISM LONG TIME AGO

[@ishitunot5152]

@@keltberanski2757 Every tiype of government or regime needs capital it's how a government or regime manages it capital. However when China is seen as threatening islands in the south china seas its referred to a communist china but when its economy out strips western capitalist nations its call capitalistic.china

[@douglaswhite2873]

We lived in Venezuela in 2017, the issue is political. There is lots of money available, it all goes into personal accounts of Government leaders.

[@magnuszerum9177]

Some people did a study on what makes a country rich or poor and found that government policy was the #1 impact on that. More than natural resources, geographic opportunities, or history. Special economic zones were the real world result of those studies. Given the large number of climate and natural resource advantages the country has, the only real reason that can be so poor is that they have chosen a terrible government.

[@danharold3087]

Bingo. I have been saying that for about 20 years.

[@festerofest4374]

The shiny allure of socialism/communism....

[@radix4400]

What study?

[@magnuszerum9177]

@@radix4400 Sorry, I didn't keep notes like that when I was watching the video, but if you actually want the secret to 9% economic growth, I've already given you the search terms to find your answers.

[@silversolver7809]

@@festerofest4374 Yep, it's a shame that after Capitalism fails a country, the opposite then does the same!

[@chadwhitman1811]

What makes a country rich is not raw materials but its people its education and mores and work habits ,as well a wise leadership that has formed policies favorable for business and that includes security and safety .

[@livanoguerrero3385]

Venezuela has abundant raw materials, but its goverment lacks the most important raw material: grey matter...

[@mrboxheadd748]

HEAVY OIL CAN'T BE PUMPED OUT NEEDS TO DILUTE WITH LIGHT OIL PUMP OUT THEY USED TO HAVE A PLANT IN TEXAS TO GET IT NOW THAT THEY ARE SANTIONED THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO IT ANYMORE MUST GET IT FROM IRAN WHICH THEY ALSO ARE SANCTIONED WHICH US NAVY CAN SEIZE THE OIL TANKERS MUST BE ESCORTED BY VENEZUELAN NAVY

[@AntonioFGagliardiLugo]

🎉

[@marcuscole4394]

Even though Venezuela has inferior fossil fuel to other countries, with proper management and an investment in a diverse economy, they could have trived. Corruption at its finest is what derailed the Venezuelan economy. Pure greed and those that wanted to control it for their own sake. Greed, pure greed.

[@kpNov23]

This specific greed can only thrive backed by a dictatorship

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

Greed: the defining value of global gangster capitalism and its wealthy, powerful beneficiaries.

[@mrboxheadd748]

HEAVY OIL NEEDS LIGHT OIL TO PUMP IT OUT THEY OWN CITGO AND HAVE A PLANT IN TEXAS THAT DOES THAT FOR THEM BUT GUESS WHAT IT'S SANTIONED HAVE TO GET IT FROM IRAN OR RUSSIA BUT IT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE AND US NAVY CAN SEIZE THOSE TANKERS ANY TIME. SO THE GREED I SEE IS FROM US GOVT AS THEY SEIZED THEIR ASSETS AND FROZEN IT'S GOLD RESERVES IN ENGLAND

[@mikefruge8589]

Well said! Venezuela is just another victim of U.S. Corporate Colonialism against Latin America. Pick any of the Latin American countries that have had economic or military relationship with the U.S. Show me one that has been equally beneficial to the Latin American country. @@patrickfitzgerald2861

[@YannisPotamitis]

Its called communism

[@HarryWHill-GA]

Venezuela contrasts with Norway which VERY carefully managed its North Sea oil wealth avoiding all of these problems.

[@rm6857]

Difference is Norway just hasnt been sanctioned.

[@josevelasquo2495]

You forget something Norway it’s part of this mob called nato do you still believe they care about democracy ,freedom and rules of laws???? That’s it’s just SIMULATION they always had been invaders,looters

[@sylversyrfer6894]

@@rm6857 nah - Venezuela fucked things up just fine on their own without ANY sanctions LoL! 😂😂

[@rmf9567]

@@rm6857 the difference is Norway is not a dictatorship

[@rm6857]

@@rmf9567 Yea, yea, we vote for politacal party, then complain, they lied, after a few years vote again, so we can complain again...its called democracy.

[@colorfunch]

Nigeria in West Africa is going through the same, discovery of the Oil of has become more of an economic disaster than a blessing because of corruption

[@teddymoon3744]

opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$

[@thewb8329]

Economic mismanagement from two inept corrupt dictators.

[@elchicovip01]

How you know that is true if that information comes from American and it's allies fake news outlets. Us and UK are the best on media manipulation. Trump assasinated Sulemani because he defeated Isis and made dank meme about Trump. China and Russia wish they could lie to their population as well as the Americans do. If you remove the fake news outlets, where do you get youe info?

[@smartindian8500]

Past leaders failed to diversify the economy and made the economy too reliable on oil.

[@davidbarts6144]

Yes, this. And it was such predictable outcomes. Crank up the money-printing presses in response to a budget shortfall? Obvious result is inflation. Slap strict price controls on businesses because of the inflation? Obvious result is shortages. Nationalize like crazy in response to the shortages? Okay, but who runs the now-nationalized businesses? What safeguards are you taking they know what they are doing (as opposed to being political hacks)? Oh, none? Obvious result is corruption.

[@ham.strings]

Economic mismanagement for over 50 years**

[@brianloper6669]

Chavez was popular and democratically elected. Can’t disagree with you about Maduro, though.

[@ttban1988]

I'm Colombian and I'm glad we don't have that much oil, otherwise we would be in the same situation as Venezuela.

[@Griffith_1802]

But i heard there is also extreme poverty in Colombia ? 🤔🤔

[@laguasa1968]

At least we didn't have a guerrilla killing thousands of people but anyway don't forget that in the 70s Venezuela received an influx of Colombians running from the poverty leading Colombia in those years

[@yodorob]

It's so sad how Venezuela fell from being Latin America's richest country per capita in and around the 1960s/1970s to being just about its poorest today, on the same level as Honduras, Nicaragua, etc.

[@stephenmoore6893]

Awesome video!! Thank you so much

[@simonmartinez2733]

Couple of mistake in this video; 1) OPEC was founded by a Venezuelan guy; 2) first place were oil was discovered in Venezuela was not in Maracaibo, it was in Tachira state, in a place called La petrolea.

[@teddymoon3744]

opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$

[@dispassionateobserver]

It's hard to solve problems if you are in denial about what is causing the problems.

[@drbichat5229]

Laziness. In the 1970s most technicians and engineers in the oil industry were foreign trained and educated. They had easy money from oil and didn’t develop any other industries

[@anthonydolio8118]

Awesome video. Thank you so much.

[@chriswaldorf1560]

Single biggest issue for Venezuela is Chavez and the socialist policies and huge government control he imposed. Certainly decline in price of oil played a significant role, but most of damage was caused by government policy choices. So sad for Venezuelans. In the 1980s this used to be a shining star in South America and a great place to live for most people. Now nearly everyone is much poorer.

[@alwillk]

When oil prices collapsed in the early 80s the country started to decline. Inflation peaked to 89 percent in 1989 and there were huge riots. Caracazo. This in part allowed Chavez to stage coups and eventually take over.

[@thomashenebry8269]

Chavez was a communist, pure and simple. He achieved the Communist Ideal, everyone was equal...equally poor, that is and Communism offers no way out.

[@GreenCowsGames]

Is nobody talking about what the usa did to venezuala?

[@ernst91]

Because it's Venezuela's own fault.

[@anthonymanderson7671]

Great informative video.

[@kingdomofgarvin3432]

Yes keep it coming real talk

[@teddymoon3744]

opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$

[@dreamingwolf8382]

It bears stating that not all oil is created equal, and the oil pumped in Venezuela has the highest sulpher concentration found anywhere- meaning additional refining has to be done to make it a usable industrial product, and therefore not as economically viable as oil from just about anywhere else.

[@jar407]

there's several refineries svral in USA 1 on one St. Croix island an i took ovr the companies thy lost xprts to run refineries

[@nickvanhorn681]

That's why we don't need the gross tar sand oil from canada

[@rombaft]

This is partly correct. Refineries are mostly set up for a certain type of oil, sweet, light sweet, heavy,... oil from venezuela might be on the heavy side with a high sulpher content, but there are always refineries set up to deal with this. Not only that, some regions prefer heavier crude with high sulpher content, as they have an industry nearby depending on sulpher etc

[@mrboxheadd748]

@@rombaft HEAVY CRUDE NEEDS LIGHTER CRUDE TO PUMP OUT THE OIL LIGHT CRUDE IMPORTS FROM CITGO TEXAS REFINERY WAS SANCTIONED AND FORCED THE VENEZUELAN GOVT TO GET IT FROM IRAN OR RUSSIA WHICH WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE CAN BE SEIZED BY US NAVY

[@mrboxheadd748]

THESE PROPAGANDA CHANNELS NEVER MENTIONS THIS THEY JUST SOLELY BLAME THE GOVT

[@Alexander-mk9kg]

Dude I don’t know how you don’t have more subscribers to your channel! Love your content and ALL of your videos are massively interesting!

[@xijinbling2373]

Establishment shill.

[@svkicksforlife7050]

Good video thanks.

[@matthalpin1981]

I learn so much from these great videos. Thanks, Geoff!

[@GeronimoLogistics]

HOGWASH, your learning whatever someone else wants you to, thats not education that indoctrination. Chavez was murdered, he didn't die of natural causes

[@matthalpin1981]

@@GeronimoLogistics Where does it state in the video that Chavez died of natural causes? The video covers a LOT of ground and I can only remember a small part being about Chavez but it obviously means a lot to you. So, can you tell me the time stamp where the video says Chavez died of natural causes?

[@teddymoon3744]

opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$

[@MurseSamson]

Terrific video, thank you for this helpful explanation. I hope for the best for these people, I hope that they will develop and embrace free speech, and peace in their future. The world may depend on it!

[@Userkzb20253]

South America, mostly once Spanish colonies, and North America, once British colonies, are dramatically different. Why? Anything to do with the difference in the political systems inherited?

[@neutronsareawesome]

Awful, awful governments, for decades. Source: Live there

[@jmpalacios]

Pretty good video, pretty good summary, take it from a Venezuelan! I'd add just one thing: this is what happens not just when a society has an over-reliance on a single resource, which is always bad, but also when that society decides to rely on a dictator to "solve" its problems (very properly quoted, because absolutely nothing was solved, every single problem was made orders of magnitude worse by Chávez, and then many others were added on top), and bends over backwards to grant him every single bit of power he demands to then do as he pleases, without the slightest semblance of control, checks, nor balances (and history plainly tells us that has always led to disaster for any society that tries it).

[@dinonazamodeen5694]

What about the Americans' intervention? Like Sanctions, trying to putting their own political leader etc.!

[@jmpalacios]

​@@dinonazamodeen5694 However misguided those may be (I'm in favor of some form of sanctions, not so much of other forms), whatever negative consequences they may have had on the population at large, they're a very small drop in the inconmensurable ocean of damage that the Chávez regime has done to the country, in all fronts you could think of (political, societal, economical, etc.), over the course of more than 2 decades already, and counting!

[@kiuk_kiks]

No mention of sanctions against Venezuela???

[@jmpalacios]

@@kiuk_kiks Yes, I did, right above your comment.

[@wtfyomom]

Small drop lmfao you’re just a gusano

[@Stopinvadingmyhardware]

That’s their own fault for not investing in the tech industry which is more profitable with lots of inexpensive electricity, which they clearly have the ability to produce.

[@snoozy04]

They should have learned from Norway.

[@VanillaMacaron551]

We all should have.

[@dvdortiz9031]

Russia is a better teacher!!!!

[@teddymoon3744]

opec pays venezula rich to keep the country poor and not drilling....so they dont compete and saudi gets paid.$

[@rongendron8705]

In 1987, when American Airlines started direct flights to Caracas, Venezuela, I took my young family of four, there for a 2 week vacation! Not knowing much about the country, I was pleasantly surprised to find extremely low cost hotels, restaurants, entertainment,etc.plus beautiful beaches & gorgeous, clear waters! If Venezuela could rid themselves of their Communistic government, it could become the next, big tourist venue for cruises & the general public!

[@rawmixednuts3116]

They’re government isn’t communist you ignorant. Educate yourself before posting.

[@AndrewCharnley]

They are not communistic but are heavily sanctioned by the USA, as are 40 nations (all illegally), and their assets in mining (Oil through to gold) were extracted by US conglomerates, as with most of Lain America Africa (to this day) and the middle East, not to forget the Far East nd Russia during Yeltsin's presidency. The reason the US hates President Putin is because they assumed he was to be the puppet replacing Yeltsin, but he would not play their game and kicked out the Russian oligarchs and tok some of the to court. His background is law.

[@sandniqqa]

is it communism or is it socialism, or is it that yankees don't know up from down?

[@emmanuelking1461]

@@sandniqqait is a strong form of socialism where corporations are run by the Government

[@sandniqqa]

@@emmanuelking1461 ah unlike capitalism Where corporations run the government. Cool news.

[@jackperson3626]

Thanks!

[@renatoe9648]

Venezuela is poor cause of Chaves and his policías, you can have oíl and turn like norway or the gulf states

[@metalmilitia89]

They put all their effort on oil and not on diversifying their economy.

[@shiny_teddiursa]

that isn’t the sole reason, the middle eastern petro-states do not have a diversified economy, but they actually manage their oil industry competently & tread their geopolitical relations very carefully, Venezuela on the other hand (like the rest of latin america) was already an extremely corrupt & incompetent state when they found oil, and the government mismanagement the oil industry the moment it took off while over-relying on it and mismanaging geopolitical relations, there’s honestly nothing unique about how Venezuela f*cked up its ticket to being wealthy, any other Latin American country would have done similarly in their position

[@hugoramirez6698]

@@shiny_teddiursa Let me correct you, it’s Hispanic America, not Latin America, that’s a term you Anglo-Saxons invented as a derogatory form to refer to the Sovereign Nations of America whose language is Spanish. The Corruption and incompetence in Hispanic countries is not coincidence, it’s not the result of them being inferior humans than US Americans or Europeans, they were the Spanish Empire, with thriving economies on land and sea, strong military might of the time and beautiful architecture and governmental and defense infrastructure, all while English were just a bunch of pirates and Protestant peasants that lived in wooden houses, but greed has a weird effect on those spiritually weak once they attain power. I live in the U.S. and I know how dumb and ignorant some US Americans can be so it’s nothing special about them. It has nothing to do with intelligence, it has be something else. Let’s focuse in the Last Century; In the words of ex CIA Agent John Perkins, he participated in many of the Hispanic American Coups during Operation Condor, a Regional strategy to depose or kill every Hispanic American president who wanted the progress of its specific country, this presidents always were democratically elected, but represented a threat to U.S. interests in the Region. US expectations were to have Oligarchs on this governments that function as puppets, allowing US Companies to exploit their countries resourses with cheap prices in an unregulated environment that did not protect its workers, that became cheap labor, it’s the reason why US economy exploded and the U.S. Americans increase their standard of living, out of the hard work and misery of this countries they were oppressing through this complex system of Neo Colonialism. John Perkins, made a tour throughout many Hispanic Countries, apologizing for his participation on this Coups and assassinations. Hispanic corrupt governments had a simple task assign by the U.S; hold this countries governments hostage by all means using their national military forces and police to enforce their oppression, while opening to “Free Trade” with the US, and also getting personal Loans from the FMI to be transferred to their personal bank accounts on Panama, Switzerland, Caiman Islands or their favorite, Miami, and then convert this personal loans into national debt so the people of the nation have to pay, it’s why many of this corrupt US puppets flew to Miami when they were prosecuted for this crimes and betrayal, and of course the US gave them protection. Rafael Correa from Ecuador proof to Hispanic America that with a real president, this countries with such resources can grow rapidly to be as capable as any other country and their people as capable and efficient as any human being with decent pay and preparation around the world. Oil money was involved to achieved this, before his administration, about 80% of Oil profits was falling into the hands of this Foreign company’s and the rest were profits for the Nation, this changed with Correa, who give an ultimatum to this company’s; is was either 80% of profits for the Nation or Ecuador will just replaced them with other European countries that were willing to accept this terms, now with that much profits at hand, Correa was able to reactivate the economy creating modern hospital, modern roads and highways, Schools, Universities, Scholarships, Jobs, efficient police, etc. Correa called himself socialist but he was not, he was a progresist and a person who loved his country. He kicked out the CIA from Ecuador and Closed all US military bases around the nation. It’s was imposible for Hispanic nations to become wealthy under such conditions imposed by the U.S., and with US puppet governments in command, they were literally paid to be as inefficient and incompetent as they can be so Hispanic America cannot grow to become a threat to the U.S. economy and standard of living.

[@ricflairdrip5235]

@@shiny_teddiursa Could you elaborate on how middle eastern countries managed their oil better and competently ?

[@BillGreenAZ]

I have to say I enjoy listening to your voice, Geoff. Have you been doing any voice training?

[@tilapiadave3234]

What bait do you use for Pearl "fishing" ?

[@edmitchell9405]

by the way Venezuela´s territory was larger then than it is shown in your video, the essequibo region was part of Venezuela, the British stole the Essequibo and expanded its British empire in the Essequibo. Now the Essequibo is also rich in oil gold and diamonds. It is in dispute between Venezuela and Guyana

[@HoustonGuy]

Wrong! Essequibo is not part of Venezuela and the GREED for oil continues.

[@ayeshaalbert2706]

Your loss 😂😝

[@lauravictoriapinedacely7208]

Awesome, would love to see one about colombia.

[@davidbarts6144]

40 years ago Colombia was the crazy corrupt country with lots of problems, and Venezuela was the stable, democratic, and prosperous one. Now the situation is reversed.

[@parzival2114]

​@@davidbarts6144jajajajaja Colombia is falling apart, is not prosperous, it is not stable...

[@davidbarts6144]

@@parzival2114 Compared to its neighbour, it is.

[@coachc125]

Many Venezuelans migrate to nearby Trinidad & Tobago. It's a growing community there.

[@parzival2114]

ánimo a nuestros hermanos venezolanos saludos desde México 🇲🇽🤝🇻🇪

[@JoaoSantos-md7tw]

Ustedes tan fregados como nosotros, con ese loco de AMLO. Saludos

[@guillersl9510]

​@@JoaoSantos-md7twNo puedes comparar a México con Venezuela en términos económicos. México es infinitamente superior.

[@jeromebarry1741]

It wasn't oil that caused Venezuela to become poor. It was Greed. The daughters of Chavez are the richest women on Earth, because the wealth of Venezuelan oil was taken by Chavez and passed to his daughters.

[@lesliejia3073]

Certainly oil isn't the cause, as Saudi did just fine. You can't blame it on greed either, because all human being are greedy. It's the socialist path that they took. Just look at North Korea and Cuba, they don't have much oil and are just as poor.

[@glenw-xm5zf]

and the middle class no longer exists there. and people still ask me 'What's wrong with Marxism?'

[@hugoramirez6698]

@@lesliejia3073Not all humans are greedy, people with values and honor still exist.

[@hugoramirez6698]

@@glenw-xm5zfNothing is wrong, Marxism is accomplishing the goals it was created for.

[@lesliejia3073]

@@hugoramirez6698 On a personal level, there could be a small number of people that's not greedy. On a social level, we must assume all people are greedy when making decisions.

[@Julian-tf8nj]

I would have like more depth on this matter; a lot of vague hand-waving... For example, why don't they increase production, to outcompete the gulf states, if they have so many reserves?

[@miriamgutierrez5031]

You did not mention how Chavez took direct measures including “ expropriation” of other industries and economical activities

[@BabyBearRudy]

Dammit Geoff if you keep busting out this quality content you’re gonna make me go to Substack 😣

[@michaelcammack1336]

Great summary on Venezuela oil story! How does the economy of other OPEC nations compare? Seems like Saudia Arabia, Iran, Kuwait do not have the same story.

[@danharold3087]

The others you mentioned have huge cash reserves achieved by putting aside some of the money. Easier to do when you don't have politicians giving it away to buy votes. Among other things.

[@alaskanbullworm5500]

Iran is in a similar place, their leadership just seems to have better/more authoritarian survival instincts than the Venezuelan leadership, plus they’re being backed more directly by China and Russia than venezuela is. The other gulf monarchies are propped up by western countries, they would collapse and regress into absolutist pariah states if it wasn’t for the western money/propping up that their oil reserves afford them.

[@Kuricang31]

​@@alaskanbullworm5500 Lol Western countries are the ones that cannot live without oil, not the other way around. The Arab countries could easily go back and live the nomadic desert lifestyle their ancestors used to 😂

[@davidbarts6144]

Venezuela has A LOT of people, and its oil is not worth as much on the market (not all petroleum is created equal; some is easier to refine than others). The Gulf states are sparsely-populated deserts. Lots of high-value oil, not many people, more $/person to spend.

[@alaskanbullworm5500]

@@davidbarts6144 Saudi Arabia has more people than venezuela, so it’s more so the first one you mentioned

[@Zonatedjaguar90]

Yo hi there im a Canadian but both my parents are Venezuelan immigrants my family has gone everywhere since chaves came to power everywhere i go i have family near me. My parents dont regret choosing canada over any other country and im glad i live in Canada i hope my family is doing well wherever they are

[@atlantasailor1]

I was thinking there in 2000 and went to angel Falls. It’s probably impossible to get there now. The most incredible trip of my life

[@bassmanjr100]

The number #1 corralation with a wealthy growing economy is a free market economy. A free market economy will beat a government controlled economy everytime. For those saying Norway, Norway, yes and there is a great example of a free market economy. The countries in Northern Europe are strongly free market. Many in Latin America are not.

[@rawmixednuts3116]

The USSR had a planned economy, and was a superpower. So your argument is debatable.

[@DustinStich-iy8eo]

The USSR fell so that also showed his point

[@smartindian8500]

How could you forget to mention Caracazo?

[@davidblack1639]

Hidden KZbin Gem, gr8 videos

[@MrTroenokarso]

One word corruption.

[@dl2839]

Their flag is a big frown of stars.

[@BruceM8]

That was very interesting, but the central reason seems to be a big drop in oil production (without economic diversification to balance it). So, you didn't explain at all why they cut their production so much or why they don't raise production now.

[@samueltorrealba8]

Negligence, They used the state oil company as a wallet for funding social welfare and corruption in order to win elections. Rather than reinvest in oil. Oil industry is so neglected that oil spills happens as often as 86 times in 2022.

[@ianshaver8954]

They didn’t choose to drop their oil production. They failed to invest in new oil production infrastructure or maintain what they had, and oil production dropped as a result.

[@BruceM8]

@@ianshaver8954 Thanks for that. Do you know why they wouldn't have invested or maintained the infrastructure when it was so central to funding what they wanted to do?

[@darkbubu]

​@@BruceM8 simply put, corruption, when the government took over the oil industry they started stealing money destined for maintenance and development of the refineries, when that money ran out and there were major incidents that caused both refineries to stop working, they started stealing from the oil extraction funds, I remember at some point they were removing the oil driller tips which were mare of some sturdy expensive material (can remember if it was diamond), and sold them in the black market, equipment was stolen, maintenance crews were dismantled, and whatever was left was sent to the "social programs" which was another excuse for the politicians to steal funds destined to education, food and health for the poor. This all happened before the sanctions. Source: my wife is Venezuelan that used to work for one of oil industry subsidiaries.

[@iljafritzler6823]

@@ianshaver8954 Yes, they failed. Because US Department has sanctioned and freezed Venezuelas money and their reserves and they had much less money through it.

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@jorgenicholls3742]

Have enjoyed these short historical videos on South America, but just want to point out that Venezuela was not the first independent nation of South America, it was Gran Colombia it’s self, subsequently other regions like Ecuador, Panama including Venezuela separated from Gran Colombia already an independent state.

[@kingdomofgarvin3432]

Do one about Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹

[@MikeySlou]

Nah

[@alessioartioli3323]

Your YT channel is awsome! You always do great vdeos, very accurate and easy to watch, providing a lot of interesting info's. In this case, by the way, I think that the real cause of Venezuela's bad economic situation nowadays is much more related to human reasons rather than geograpic ones. Kudos from Italy!

[@jbusta8548]

Stealing everything before someone else steals it do the math

[@davetomlinson9063]

Government incompetence comes to mind

[@melvinjefferson2812]

The us ban them from saleing oil an takes there oil tankers refuse ti sale them parts for the rigs

[@CC-rw1yn]

Love your videos Geoff, just one question, why did the Gulf states not experience the same economic hardships when oil prices dropped even though their economies were also almost exclusively petro driven? The Gulf states have only recently started diversifying their portfolios. I know the US hasn’t outright stopped buying oil from Venezuela but the licensing system to producers has cut down on purchasing for the last 20 years. Do you think these types of sanctions have affected Venezuelas influence in the world market and also the livelihoods of Venezuelans?

[@Jelperman]

Because the US Navy seizes ships entering and leaving Venezuelan waters, but uses force to make sure the Gulf nations (aside from Iran) can import and export freely.

[@SchutzeAmon]

The Gulf states saved their money whereas Venezuela gave money away to social programmes, projects, other socialist countries etc. So when the shit hit the fan the former had reserves to weather the hard times. Venezuela simply started printing money by the ton.

[@cck4863]

The cost of drilling for oil is vastly different.

[@CarlOttersen]

Essentially because Gulf States began diversifying through their sovereign funds decades ago.

[@wtfyomom]

Because America isn’t sabotaging them

[@thomasreynolds9268]

How about their debt defaults/loans from the banks??? I would think that their unwillingness to pay the interest is what has them stuck at the bus stop without a ticket back to the real world(..those loans being fair or unfair).

[@FelixRogriquez]

Very good video. I fear that Spain is likely to follow the steps of Venezuela. Socialism and its interference in the economy is making people poorer and stopping competitiveness. Diversifying the economy is also essential when prices of the main source of income plummet.

[@xxlionroarxxxxxxxx4438]

But socialism is and always the guardian angel of Capitalism

[@Sorenose]

Norway also nationalized their oil but the reason why Venezuela suffers for doing the same thing is that Norway has a functioning democracy. Both countries have nationalized their oil industry, have huge social programs, and yet only one has suffered not because of “socialism” but due to Venezuela having a corrupt government who didn’t diversify and having major powers put sanctions on them

[@davidt02]

Was Norway ever sanctioned to the point where it had 3000% inflation? I don't think any country can recover from that for decades even with ungodly amounts of oil. I don't think that's the whole reason, but western sanctions often make the people's lives miserable as opposed to the lives of the elites they try to target.

[@ernst91]

It's their own fault at the end of the day.

[@bruceangel4459]

There are probably a handful of countries in the world who have the expertise, manpower and equipment to unlock the true potential of Venezuela’s oil but only one of them has given work visas/ protected migrant status to 500,000 Venezuelans already in their country.

[@CountofSerenno]

Exxon Mobil was profiting off of Venezuela's resources while Venezuelans lived in poverty. Venezuela's government decided to nationalise natural resources to redirect oil profits from Exxon shareholders to fund national development and poverty alleviation. The US then imposed punitive sanctions on Venezuela making it nearly impossible to trade causing an economic collapse and humanitarian crisis. Plus hundreds of billions of dollars of Venezuela's treasure was illegally seized in the UK.

[@aston0708]

correct

[@aritvanegas619]

As a venezuelan born and raised in Venezuela, this is completely incorrect, sanctions do not have anything to do with the venezuelan catastrophe. They were put in place long after the economy was destroyed by the regime.

[@aidanaldrich7795]

The US only sanctions countries that steal from them on a large scale. Venezuela and Cuba took control of companies and didn't give any recompense

[@RangaTurk]

5:25 The creation of the PDVSA. That is like allowing AOR Kurnell who used to run Caltex there to expel all oil companies from Australia, take over refineries in other capital cities, and brand all fuel outlets under the AOR brand. Including the Golden Fleece refinery at Perry Street Matraville. However, there are fewer oil companies now than was the case in the 1970s. Competition makes more sense in a post-Cold War economic environment.

[@robertstout260]

Venezuela seized most of the oil and gas reserves ,drilling rigs and many other properties from many world corporations then put government officials in charge that knew nothing about the industry they took.We lived there in early 60's then again in 1972-1975 .It was booming then people had food,jobs etc.Yes some were poor but it was mostly people moving to cities from the rural areas that had no skill except to survive on the basics.

[@patricklawler4138]

Gee stupid and greedy politicians. Imagine that.

[@leeallen3052]

Maduro is the problem now, I went to school with Carlos Lehoffer in 1965 what a beautiful country his father was president of Shell oil and I never found out what happend to the Lehoffer engineering firm.Everyone in Venizula should be wealthy but look 600% inflation thanks to dictator Maduro.

[@kingdomofgarvin3432]

Real Talk

[@AFFK176]

I'm from Brazil. One day, I took a uber. The driver was an old man from Venezuela and told me his story. He had a factory of soap. He didn't produce the quantity demanded by the government, so they took it from him. This is socialism. It can turn poor the richest country in oil in the world.

[@tmghui888]

If they had diversified their economy and not only rely on oil, they would be at least ok today. Plus, corruption has played a big part of the collapse.

[@FAFetus]

video on Venezuela and old school runescape

[@wdd3141]

Over-reliance on a single resource is always bad. It's how boom-towns become ghost-towns. If I were a head of state I would encourage communities built on a single resource to diversify into independent businesses -- independence is important, as businesses that are hangers-on to the big resource will go down just as the major resource goes down. Picture such businesses that cater to the oil business in Texas, or those that cater to government in Washington, D.C. (no wonder Donald Trump is so hated by people on the Left; he wants to reduce the size of government, and that affects the hangers-on).

[@elchicovip01]

You forgot about American deadly santions to Venezuela.

[@VL1975]

LMAO....

[@alaskanbullworm5500]

Towards government officials, not the country as a whole

[@danharold3087]

About as deadly as a popgun. They were largely ineffective. Oil production fell prior to sanctions. The limiting factor was not sales lost to sanctions but the inability to pump the oil needed for customers not following sanctions. Oil field equipment could have been purchased from China. On credit if required. The problem is an ineffective and corrupt government.

[@champan250]

​@@alaskanbullworm5500no, is against the county as a whole

[@johnl5316]

there is a whole world outside of the US that can buy their products, and the same was true for Cuba

[@ripthesystem2248]

Although you are correct that one of the key ingredients for their inflation crises is the over-reliance on oil in their economy, the true root cause is the mismanagement of their resources. Essentially it comes down to investing the the maintenance/sustainability/expansion of your assets. If you are heavy industry and you don't do it, you won't be in business for long... So yes, it sucks that so much of their resources put them in a position where they end up with all their eggs in one basket, but when life gives you lemons... The thing about Venezuelan crude is its a pretty poor quality and so in order to compete in the market they must upgrade it in syncrude facilities to make grades like PZH - petrozuata heavy. This is still pretty nasty and so has to be super discounted to be sold. For decades parts of their plants would have a fire or explosion and never be re-built. The workers weren't worth a damn (something to do with education?) and most technical talent was brought in from american and european companies. Maintenance turn-arounds could last months longer than planned, sometimes more than a year... Essentially they were in a blind leading the blind type of operation. So they were in a terrible position when the housing market crash came, then US bailed themselves out of the impending crash with fraccing lean tight oil at record rate while OPEC flooded the market which tanked the price of crude and created a huge supply of easily refined alternatives to PZH, etc. And then of course the Sanctions were imposed when Moduro took over... Checkmate. So the way I see it, yes over-reliance on one resource is bad, but the true root cause here is the government not enabling industry to do what they needed to do. So now you look at what is happening to the decline of refining assets in the united states... shift your attention to finished fuels rather than crude & intermediates... if the industrial infrastructure in this country isn't allowed to invest in maintenance and reliability and instead is forced to spend all available capital complying with obviously misguided regulatory pressures that can be easily shown to have no measurable positive impact on health or environment.... then the next several decades will be difficult indeed. Forget about cost of living, hello fuel shortages... Seems like the only group warning people is the AFPM, but good luck ever seeing that message get out... would make a good video essay to put on youtube...

[@mrboxheadd748]

INFLATION IS CAUSED BY OVER PRINTING MONEY AND SANCTIONS PARALLEL MARKET IS CAUSING THE INFLATION THE PARTS THEY FOR REFINERIES NEED TO FIX ANYTHING COMES FROM ABROAD AND VENEZUELAN GOVT CAN'T ACCESS THAT SO EASILY MUST USE 3RD PARTIES TO GET IT

[@ricflairdrip5235]

Could you compare their actions/model to countries like Saudi Arabia for example ? What did Saudi Arabia do differently?

[@fr9714]

A lot of it is due to societal outlook and culture and education honestly. Mentality of society is very important

[@ArthurMusicOfficial]

I hope u can make a video about my country: Lebanon. I can help u out with some details are our ECONOMICAL situation is worse than Venezuela bu 10x. In 2019 we have collapsed and we’re doing worse now (getting even worse).

[@zacnewzealand]

I thought Argentina was the first Spanish colony in South America to gain independence?

[@brianloper6669]

I like the video, but, and others may have a different opinion, but say people’s names right. One thing that separates great creators are those that really put respect on saying foreign names correctly of people or places. I’m a teacher and if I ever called a latino student Sigh-mon, I think even they might take the opportunity to slap me.

[@pyotrivanignat]

As per your diversification argument, what else does Saudi Arabia export? Why do they not similarly suffer?

[@lambastepirate]

They have pretty good gold in the country also!

[@josephwilliammarek9566]

Please do an analysis of those who reached America before Christopher Columbus: (1) via the Bering Land Bridge, (2) from Polynesia, (3) from West Africa (4) the Welch, and (5) the Nordics.

[@ChomoBidensMules]

West Africa? Says who, Louis Farrakhan?

[@carver3147]

Maybe should've gone into more details on the sanctions, they are a large contributor to Venezuela's poverty as well

[@danharold3087]

I know you would like to blame the poverty on the US. But Venezuela was selling all the oil it could produce with sanctions in place. This is because the country's oil production had already declined significantly before the sanctions were imposed. China was ready and willing to sell oil field equipment. Sanctions were a flop. The corrupt government in Venezuela was a much greater burden than the sanctions

[@mathewvanostin7118]

Exactly 😂 that dude has a geopolitical youtube channel. And dont even know about the horrible story of sanctions And they dont even get well what exactly is sanction (countries that agree to not buy/not sell/not commerce and isolate a specific country so that it becomes poor with high inflation due to lack of products and ressources)

[@kayzeaza]

@@mathewvanostin7118nah the sanctions don’t matter that much!

[@mathewvanostin7118]

@@kayzeaza you know what sanctions is 😆 Its usa & their 82 allies ageeeing to not buy/not sell/not do commerce with venuzuela under any circumstances And they agree to isolate them like kick them out from banking systems. Etc So you end up having trouble making money cause those countries wont buy or do commerce with you. Inflation rise cause you have difficulty buying stuff you need. And youre isolated from lot of things those 83 countries control like banking system, banking transmission etc

[@kayzeaza]

@@mathewvanostin7118 nah man that’s all lies. Look at Russia. They’re doing fine with sanction, as is Iran and China, stop buying that BS propaganda and think for yourself for once 🤭

[@cmujimmy211]

Why no Paraguay as a destination? Legal reason?

[@rodolphodecastrorodrigues7457]

Sanctions on Venezuela are not a cause for its inflation.

[@AZ-bl5qs]

Poor video. The oil industry was sanctioned which is hardly mentioned, this is the main driver of poverty. A quick Google search provides some insight.

[@theofficialclownhq]

oh well... sad for the Venezuelans... yikes...

[@justingarfield8076]

Somewhere in the pipeline America had something to do with venezuelas downfall whether directly or indirectly.

[@mauriciogrego1809]

they can not sell oil to other nation because of the US embargo and restrictions

[@jacograterol]

Great video, I just want to comment that it's not the sanctions, or the oil prices dropping that has damaged Venezuela so much, it's the communism that expropiated and destroyed both private companies and property, as well as the hopes for businesses to prosper.

[@howardcitizen2471]

Quick answer: socialism.

[@lucmarchand617]

My baker here calgary alberta canada was from venezuela and left with wife and kids due chavez.he work in heavy oil so he finish education here calgary learn more heavy oil.he told me that calgary oil company was there they refuse leave they lost everything near close door calgary because they have oilfield canada.just before covid-19 he visist the pollution and rundown equipment was mess i saw picture just terrible.venezuela now are piss because guyana find huge oilfield well too bad.he told very lucky chevron still there and must return all asset to company if not there toast that it he said.thank you expose this mess.😊

[@fhussain44]

I'm guessing the immigration increasing percentages are a bit misleading. Basically two times zero is still zero.

[@history_leisure]

Shouldn't the other OPEC countries help each other in cases like this or have the other OPEC countries simply been reactive using their money in tourism and other ventures in an attempt to diversify their economies to prevent what happened to Venezuela?

[@danharold3087]

Why should they. Venezuela had the same opportunity and squandered it.

[@ricflairdrip5235]

didn't the video mention that venezuela initially invested in that?

[@dinonazamodeen5694]

How about them buying Bombs from the USA!

[@JPJ432]

Gran Colombia will rise again!