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You understand that before Hugo Chávez was in power, Venezuela was (1) middle-income and (2) relatively safe? Maybe the gangs were a problem in 2022 but that w
by justrealist 3y ago
You understand that before Hugo Chávez was in power, Venezuela was (1) middle-income and (2) relatively safe?
Maybe the gangs were a problem in 2022 but that was a consequence of economic collapse and the government relying on armed thugs for security, not the cause.
- spamizbad 3y agoVenezuela might've been middle income in the late 70s and early 80s but it struggled in the 90s. Chávez rose to power in the wake of an economic crisis that kept getting worse throughout the 90s for Venezuela. He didn't come out of nowhere. Chávez screwed Venezuela over long-term, but per-capita GDP rose sharply in the aughts[1] (at least according to the World Bank). The lesson here is you should generally optimize your economic policy for broad economic prosperity - concentrating economic benefits to specific population cliques (be they socialist or capitalist) is a breeding ground for instability, authoritarianism and economic turmoil. [1] https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/VEN/venezuela/gdp-per-capita https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/VEN/venezuela/gdp-per-...