Planet Money has good episode on this exact topic called "How Venezuela Imploded": https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/21/498867764/episode-731-how-venez

Planet Money has good episode on this exact topic called "How Venezuela Imploded": https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/21/498867764/episode-731-how-venezuela-imploded https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/21/498867764/epis... tldr: They didn't invest the oil revenues wisely and became reliant on high oil prices