Venezuela then and now: How did the Chavezian era change the Latin-American country’s economy?
Csiba, Betti (2015)
Csiba, Betti
Seinäjoen ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015102615704
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015102615704
Tiivistelmä
Venezuela has gained considerable attention in the past few years, especially since the demonstrations of early 2014. The study holds relevance for European countries that are experiencing a political shift away from traditional central forces as it points out the issues Venezuela experienced that could be sidestepped.
The aim of this work is to determine the extent to which Hugo Chávez’ economic, social and political legacy is responsible for the current struggle of the country. The main ques-tion still remains whether the poverty reduction policies were successful and the thesis aims to find an answer to the above mentioned assumption.
Most previous works focus on only a restricted topic such as the social policies of the Chávez-government – this work, however, attempts to provide readers with a chronologi-cal description of Venezuela’s past and present and outline the possibilities in the future. The author is convinced that only by knowing previous events is it possible to understand the ex-colonel’s popularity which explains his long-lasting controversial governance. Only after describing the situation does the study go on to evaluate the economic, social and foreign policies of the Chávez-government and draw consequences related to recent events.
For the sake of impartiality, the author used several sources and considered opposing opinions to ensure the trustworthiness and objectivity of the data. The conducted research is strictly theoretical based on credible sources that are free from political influences; at times, it used manipulated data in comparison with official information only to show the extent of governmental corruption in Venezuela.
Results show that the decrease in the poverty rate is neither as substantial nor as permanent as was stated by the Venezuelan government, meaning that the primary goal of the Chávez-government was not reached. Also, even though the incumbent president’s mismanagement contributed to the current problems, the legacy of the Chavez-government is one of the main causes of recent troubles, together with external negative impacts. These re-sults imply that a break from the current governing system and structural changes are much needed in Venezuela.
The aim of this work is to determine the extent to which Hugo Chávez’ economic, social and political legacy is responsible for the current struggle of the country. The main ques-tion still remains whether the poverty reduction policies were successful and the thesis aims to find an answer to the above mentioned assumption.
Most previous works focus on only a restricted topic such as the social policies of the Chávez-government – this work, however, attempts to provide readers with a chronologi-cal description of Venezuela’s past and present and outline the possibilities in the future. The author is convinced that only by knowing previous events is it possible to understand the ex-colonel’s popularity which explains his long-lasting controversial governance. Only after describing the situation does the study go on to evaluate the economic, social and foreign policies of the Chávez-government and draw consequences related to recent events.
For the sake of impartiality, the author used several sources and considered opposing opinions to ensure the trustworthiness and objectivity of the data. The conducted research is strictly theoretical based on credible sources that are free from political influences; at times, it used manipulated data in comparison with official information only to show the extent of governmental corruption in Venezuela.
Results show that the decrease in the poverty rate is neither as substantial nor as permanent as was stated by the Venezuelan government, meaning that the primary goal of the Chávez-government was not reached. Also, even though the incumbent president’s mismanagement contributed to the current problems, the legacy of the Chavez-government is one of the main causes of recent troubles, together with external negative impacts. These re-sults imply that a break from the current governing system and structural changes are much needed in Venezuela.