ABC News Venezuela 1989 - Mafia

They say Nicolas Maduro's government mismanaged the economy and has corrupt politicians, but look at what Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro were up against? They managed to bring corruption and crime down, and improve the economy, but no credit is given for that.

It's very difficult for good to win against evil, as evil will murder, torture, bribe, kidnap, kidnap family members, double cross, cheat, and lie, etc. Good people are very brave to take on evil. It's amazing that the Venezuelan military has not been corrupted yet, although Washington has tried.

Italian Mafia activity was very big in Venezuela, before Chavez took over in 1998

From Aangirfan

1. Venezuela's economic problems did not start with the election of Chavez in 1998.

2. In Venezuela, from 1983 to 1998, real income fell by 14%.

In 1998, before Chavez took over, 68% of Venezuelans lived below the poverty line. 

In 1998, before Chavez took over, the inflation rate was 35.8%.

3. In 1998, before Chavez took over, Venezuela was extremely corrupt.

4. After Chavez was elected president the economy strengthened considerably for three years.

The inflation rate fell to 12.5% in 2001.

The poverty rate was successfully lowered to 39%.

5. What did cause the first downturn of Venezuela’s economy was a CIA coup  in 2002 and a  violent shutdown, by enemies of Chavez, of the country's oil industry. 

(The Venezuelan coup d'état attempt of 2002 was a failed coup d'état on 11 April 2002 that saw President Hugo Chávez ousted from office for 47 hours before being restored to power.)

6. Venezuela bounced back and in 2005, the Venezuelan economy grew by 9.4%, the highest in Latin America. 

In 2011, equality in Venezuela was better than in the US and only behind Canada in the Western Hemisphere. 

The Chavéz government managed to put into place policies that aided the poor and, at the same time, strengthened the economy.

7. A factor in Venezuela’s 'economic crash' is the apparently intentional meddling of oil prices by Saudi Arabia and its allies that apparently aimed at hurting Iran, Venezuela and Russia. 

8. Economic sanctions, organised by the USA, can cripple any economy. 

The imposition of economic sanctions can decrease a country's per capita GDP growth rate by 25 to 30 percentage points on average with effects lasting for at least 10 years. 

9. In 1993, sanctions on Serbia made more than half the population of the country poor, unemployed, or displaced as refugees.

In Iraq, the economic sanctions led to a decrease in GDP from $38 billion in 1989 to $10.8 billion in 1996. 

Iraq experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty.

In 2006, the first economic sanctions against Venezuela were put in place by the USA.

The Trump Administration greatly escalated the economic pressures.