Political and Economic Situation in Venezuela
Political and Economic Situation in Venezuela
The current situation in Venezuela dates back to 2013 after the current president, Nicholas Maduro assumed office. There are allegations that Maduro’s government is marred with corruption and political oppression (Ishanaan, 2018). This has prompted a lot of his critic’s within and outside the government demand for his removal from power(Edward & Nicholas, 2019). The country mainly depends on the export of oil, and with the current reduction in the amount of oil exported, it is experiencing high inflation. Moreover, the country has defaulted its loan payments making countries that such as the U.S., and other countries which are in the same economic bloc with Venezuela to review their economic policies with the country. The escalating political tensions and economic deterioration in Venezuela have made Russian and the U.S. to adopt, and the U.S. has imposed sanctions
The U.S and Russia are actively involved in the situation in Venezuela, supporting the opposition and the government respectively. The U.S. has been posing sanctions on the country such as stopping crudes exports to the U.S., a significant market for the countries product (Edward & Nicholas, 2019). They have also issued warnings to organizations and countries from buying products that are from the country. Russia, on the other hand, has continued to support the ruling government and has vowed to do everything it takes to stop the efforts by the U.S. to oust the sitting president (Ishanaan, 2018). The country’s government has resorted into means to prevent the opposition from organizing rallies aimed at informing the public of evils propagated by Maduro’s government.
The United States has recognized the opposition leader as the rightfully elected president. Trump’s government has put Venezuela’s property in the U.S. under the watch of the opposition leader (John, 2019). Although the government is accusing the U.S. of being interested in the country’s oil, the decision to support the opposition is what has further widened the rift between the ruling party and the opposition. The reviewed foreign trade policies by the U.S. and other Latin countries such as the reduction of grants and loans given to the nation has made the country to land in economic limbo, the existing business affected and foreign investors scared. The tariffs imposed on the countries products have also caused the value of its currency to drastically deteriorate making the country to experience the worst inflation ever
The fleeing migrants from Venezuela are mainly settling in Colombia and other Latin America countries. Although the government has refused to accept humanitarian assistance from the U.S., Congress passed a bill to help offer humanitarian aid to Venezuelans and consequently assist countries hosting Venezuelans(Edward & Nicholas, 2019). This U.S. foreign policy on Venezuela is a bid to help the state restore its democracy and end violations of human rights by the ruling government. Moreover, the United States is coordinating regional efforts to help offer assistance to Venezuelans. All the sanctions and humanitarian aid provided by the United States are usually to help bring affected countries to normalcy, and this occurs alongside funding of political figures in the affected countries advocating for the United States agenda
In conclusion, the political and economic conditions in Venezuela are a result of the foreign policies adopted by different countries. Trump’s government has effected sanctions, as well as, offering assistance to the victims of human rights violation to help Venezuela maintain its democracy. Although the efforts usually are to help the affected country, conflicting steps taken by different countries as in the case of the U.S. and Russia ends up worsening the situations. The current condition in the country has made most citizens to flee the country in such ofsafer places, and this has left countries such as the U.S. and Colombia to adopt specific policies to help the immigrants
References
Edward, Wong &Nicholas, Casey (January 2019) U.S. Targets Venezuela with Tough Oil Sanctions during Crisis of Power, The New York Times retrieved fromhttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/us/politics/venezuela-sanctions-trump-oil.html
John, Hudson (January 2019), U.S. diplomats hunker down in Venezuela amid the standoff with Maduro, the Washington post retrieved from
Ishaan, Tharoor (January 2018), Venezuela’s crisis and the limits of Cold War thinking, The Washington Post retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/01/30/venezuelas-crisis-limits-cold-war-thinking/
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