The Venezuela Reader

  2016: President Maduro Raised the Price of Gasoline by 6000% In Venezuela, the official price for gasoline was set at a very low rate for many years. Venezuelans viewed cheap gas as a birthright. An overnight attempt by President Carlos Andres Perez to raise gasoline prices in 1989 led to extensive rioting. The official price for premium gas was raised to 10 centavos/liter in 1996. The price remained unchanged under Hugo Chavez’s Presidency (1999-2012). Despite his popularity, Chavez viewed increasing the price of gasoline as politically risky. Gasoline sales generate revenue for the Venezuelan National Government. Gasoline is produced in domestic refineries owned by the Government and distributed to gasoline stations. About 1600 gas stations are owned by the state oil company (PDVSA). Worldwide oil prices declined by 70% between mid-2014 and 2016 which created an income shortfall for the Government since 80% of the Government’s income came from oil export sales. President ...

  2025: The Pro-Government Coalition Won Elections for 23 of 24 Regional Governors The National Electoral Council (CNE) scheduled the 24 gubernatorial elections for May 25, 2025. One opposition leader, Maria Machado, called for abstention and urged voters to boycott the gubernatorial elections. Machado did not accept the results of the 2024 election of Nicolas Maduro as President accusing the CNE of massive fraud and claiming that Edmundo Gonzalez had actually won the Presidential election. Machado maintained that voting would mean surrendering the fraud claims and would serve to “legitimize” Maduro and the CNE.[1] Other opposition leaders complained that Machado had not consulted with them before calling for a voter boycott.[2] In April, several prominent self-described opposition “moderates” announced a new political platform DECIDE to encourage voter turnout. The Decide platform was led by former Presidential candidates Henrique Capriles and Henri Falcon and Jesus “Chuo”...

  2018: President Maduro Accused the U.S. of Pressuring the United Nations to not Send Election Observers In September 2017, President Maduro and the Opposition Coalition (MUD) leaders agreed to a Dialogue process to establish agreement on the 2018 Presidential election process and rules. One demand made by the Opposition was for the Government to ask the United Nations to send a Team of Election Observers to monitor the election. Maduro agreed to ask the UN to send observers. While Maduro signed the final draft election agreement, the Opposition leaders did not. Nevertheless, Maduro said that state institutions would still comply with the electoral guarantees established in the agreement- including requesting UN electoral observers. On February 22, 2018 Electoral Board President Tibisay Lucena announced that the CNE had formally invited the UN to observe the Presidential Election. According to Lucena, the participation of the UN would demonstrate the legitimacy of the Venezuel...

  2017: President Trump’s Sanctions on Venezuela Resulted in Increased Deaths Due to AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, called HIV. HIV damages the immune system so that the body is less able to fight infection and disease.   There is no cure for HIV/AIDS. 90% of patients with the virus can expect to contract AIDS which is fatal in 8 to 10 years. Medicines (antiviral treatments [ART]) can keep the disease from getting worse. In 1991, Venezuela began to provide ART as part of a program that served the population free-of-charge.[1] The percentage of HIV-positive people receiving ART reached 60% by 2015[2]. All of the ART medicines were imported. The government provided foreign currency to the National Health Ministry for the purchase of ART which then was distributed to pharmacies and hospitals. The foreign currency came from the sale of oil by Venezuela’s state oil company (PDVSA).   Accordi...

  2018: 150 International Observers Declared the Re-Election of Maduro as “Free and Fair” President Nicolas Maduro ran in the Presidential Election on May 20, 2018. The opposition coalition (MUD) boycotted the election and urged its supporters to not vote. Nevertheless, three opposition candidates were on the ballot and received 32% of the vote. Maduro was declared the winner by the Electoral Council (CNE) with 68% of the vote. 150 international election observers were certified by the CNE to observe the election. Seven technical representatives of the Latin American Council of Electoral Experts observed the twenty audits of the electoral system in the months leading to the vote. The other certified observers spent the week before the election observing the process and meeting with the campaign managers of all four candidates. 150 International Observers Summary Report [1] ·        The Observers included representatives from countries such as Spa...

  2015: President Maduro Prepared Venezuela for an Attack from the US After President Obama declared that Venezuela was an “Extraordinary Threat” to the US On March 9, 2015 President Obama signed Executive Order 13692 declaring a National Emergency due to the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela.” He activated The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and sanctioned seven Venezuelan officials Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the US sanctions “the most aggressive, unjust and harmful step that has ever been taken by the US against Venezuela.” [3] On March 15, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved an Enabling Law which granted Maduro decree powers for nine months to defend against threats from the US. The Law required 60% approval. Maduro noted that, in contrast, Obama’s Emergency Decree required no congressional approval.   The US sanctions were ...

  2003: 10,000 Cuban Doctors Transformed Venezuela’s Health Care System In Libertador Municipality, home to about a million poor people, a survey of hillside barrio residents was conducted in 2002. Residents identified health care as their greatest concern- particularly the long time required to travel to hospitals during emergencies and the difficulty in obtaining medical treatment at night. [1] The drive to the nearest hospital took at least an hour. When there were traffic jams, many patients arrived at the hospitals already dead.[2]  In January 2003, Freddy Bernal, Mayor of Libertador, began advertising positions for physicians to live and work in poor neighborhoods. Fifty Venezuelan physicians responded, but they declined to live in barrios citing security concerns. Recalling Cuban doctors who provided emergency care after mudslides in 1999 and remained as health care providers in some neighborhoods, Bernal initiated discussions with the Cuban Embassy that led to an a...

  1998: Donald Trump’s Romantic Interest, Irene Saez, Lost the Presidential Election to Hugo Chavez Donald Trump was owner of the Miss Universe Organization from 1996 to 2015. Irene Saez won the Miss Universe title in 1981, representing Venezuela. While Saez won before Trump’s tenure, she remained a prominent figure in the pageant world, appearing with Alicia Machado, who was also from Venezuela and was named Miss Universe in 1996, the year Trump took over. In 1997 Saez was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Miss Universe Pageant. ·        “Press reports were linking her to real estate tycoon Donald Trump. Irene said they were only good friends, but some reports breathlessly spoke of a ‘steamy romance’ and predicted that marriage was imminent. ‘Friends of Irene are saying that she has captured his heart just like she has captured the hearts of the Venezuelan people,’ the Caracas daily El Nuevo Pais wrote.” [1] ·   ...

  2013: Following Maduro’s Election as President, 12 of His Supporters were killed by Opposition Rioters After Nicolas Maduro was declared winner of the Presidential election on April 14,2013, the losing candidate Henrique Capriles refused to accept the result and called for his supporters to demonstrate in the streets and to “vent their anger”. [1] Riots broke out in the country on April 15 and 16. Several government health clinics were attacked after an opposition tweet claimed that electoral materials were hidden in the clinics.[2] Opposition rioters blocked traffic, set fire to tires and threw Molotov cocktails at police stations, food markets, offices of the National Electoral Council, and the headquarters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.[3] 78 people were injured in the rioting. Eighteen buildings were damaged. [1]135 people were arrested. Thirteen people were killed during the riots: 12 Maduro supporters and one opposition rioter. The Attorney General (Luis Or...

  2016: President Maduro Established a National Food Distribution Program               The Percentage of Undernourished People Declined by 75% Prior to 2016, the distribution of processed food items was largely done by the Venezuelan private sector. The government acquired foreign currency from exports of oil and sold the currency at preferential prices to private companies. These companies imported raw food items and processed them into consumer products and distributed them in markets. 80% of the food consumed in Venezuelan was imported. Corn was imported, processed into precooked corn flour, and sold for the making of arepas which are a staple of Venezuelan diets.   In 2015, the worldwide price of oil declined by 60% reducing Venezuela’s export revenue by $63 billion. With reduced foreign currency available, food imports declined. Shelves empty of processed food appeared in stores and the prices of food items increased dramatically. A...

  2023: President Maduro Has Been an Outspoken Critic of the US and Israel for “Genocide” in Gaza   In January 2009, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez broke off all diplomatic relations with Israel and condemned the killing of more than 1,300 Palestinians as a “Holocaust.” On April 27, 2009, Venezuela officially recognized Palestine, being the first country in the Americas to do so. Venezuela was the first country in the world to allow Palestinians to enter without obtaining a visa beforehand. Venezuelan universities adopted a program granting Palestinians scholarships to study free of charge. As many as 15,000 Palestinians live in Venezuela. [2] In 2014, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signed an agreement creating a new corporation, Petro-Palestina, through which Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA would send oil to Palestine at a subsidized price. During a visit to Venezuela in May 2015, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister R...

  2021: President Maduro Welcomed a World Food Program (WFP) Project to Feed Children President Trump Cut Funding for the WFP Project   The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is the World’s largest humanitarian organization. WFP reports that it served more than 100 million people in 2024. In 2020 The WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. WFP is funded by voluntary contributions. Countries contribute the bulk of the budget, with some additional funds from the UN and foundations and other sources. Nearly half of WFP’s funding is contributed by the U.S.   In March 2018, the NGO Caritas reported that one in six Venezuelan children under age five suffered from acute malnutrition.[4] A study by the WFP in 2020 suggested that one in three Venezuelans was not able to put enough food on the table to meet minimum nutrition requirements and was “in need of assistance.” [1]   In April 2021, WFP Executive Director David Beasley and Venezuelan President Nicolas...