Towards the end of 2002, there was a general strike in Venezuela, where, most importantly, a large percentage of PDVSA's workforce was on strike and oil product

Towards the end of 2002, there was a general strike in Venezuela, where, most importantly, a large percentage of PDVSA's workforce was on strike and oil production basically halted. Chavez went ahead and fired 18,000 people (skilled oil industry workers) after the strike in one fell swoop. Those workers were replaced with workers loyal to the regime. Basically, everyone who opposed the government was fired from PDVSA. Many of those skilled fired employees found themselves unable to work and left Venezuela to other countries, notably Colombia, which later experience a surge in its oil industry. Source: I'm Venezuelan... But here's an article that talks about this: http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21607824-venezuelas-loss-thousands-oil-workers-has-been-other-countries-gain-brain-haemorrhage http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21607824-venezuelas-l...