Venezuela: Vivi’s Life under Socialism | Around the World

Venezuela, a country blessed with stunning snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, lakes, jungles, valleys, and sparkling beaches. Bound at the northern tip of South America, Venezuela, rich with natural resources like oil, was once one of the wealthiest countries on the continent, until the people were persuaded to vote for socialism. That's when everything changed. Meet Vivi. She lives in Caracas with her mother and grandmother. She loves to listen to music and dance, but her favorite hobby is making jewelry. She used to sell her pieces in the market, but now no one has any money for jewelry anymore. Vivi's father, Cesar, had to move to Miami, Florida, where he works hard trying to earn enough money for both himself and his family in Caracas. They rely on the valuable American dollars he sends back to help pay for food and a place to live. Lita is Vivi's grandmother, and she remembers the more prosperous days of the 1960s and 70s. Venezuela was a country of hope and opportunity, but by the time Vivi's mother, Maria, was born, a sense of unease and uncertainty had crept in with the growing divide between the rich and poor. Sadly for Vivi, Caracas is now a place of desperation. Days without electricity and running water sometimes turn into weeks. The fear of violence is always present, and having enough to eat is a challenge when the nation's currency is all but worthless. So how did the discovery of a natural resource like oil transform Vivi's country from a once profitable agricultural nation into a poor, desperate, and chaotic mess? Well, initially things went very well for the country, as privately owned international companies were invited to drill for oil. The profits were evenly split between the government and private companies like Shell and Chevron. But when the price of oil dropped in the 1980s, the country lost its primary source of wealth. In a desperate state, the people voted for socialism and to nationalize the oil industry. Socialism is a system where citizens do not own anything individually, and the government controls how things are distributed. In socialist countries, there is often plenty of money for the government to collect at first by taking over private businesses and taxing the people. Then they spend some on the basic services that they promised. And because those in the government have all the power and control over the money, the controlling elites get to decide what citizens can buy, where they can live, and how successful they can be. Very quickly, the money runs out, resources are mismanaged, and corruption escalates. And eventually, all socialist countries face serious scarcity of basic needs, such as medicine and food. The people get less and less, while the politicians keep their fancy lifestyles. Every country that has tried socialism ends up with these problems, but Venezuelans hoped their results would be different. Under socialism, the people of Venezuela were promised reforms that would fight inequality and lift them out of poverty. It sounded like a great idea, but unfortunately, the government had no idea how to run the oil business, and things got worse. Corrupt politicians also stole millions of dollars for themselves and did not share the profits or invest in the poor areas outside of the cities. Then, in 1989, when Maria was nine, there were large riots and civil unrest which led to the government sending the military into the city and surrounding towns, resulting in many civilian deaths. People were desperate, and when food becomes difficult to find, they turn to crime to try and survive. After this troubling time, private oil companies were invited back, which helped the economy and created more jobs, but the government remained corrupt. History sadly tends to repeat itself, and the socialist government under President Hugo Chavez that Maria's generation voted for made the same mistakes as the socialist government that Lida's generation voted for. Chavez was elected president in the late 1990s, and he promised to end corruption, provide free health care and food, and build free housing for the poor people living in the shabby towns that covered the hillsides around Caracas. To the majority of Venezuelans, like Maria, these promises sounded too good to be true. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true, because everything the government offered for free was actually very costly in different ways. When the price of oil crashed again, Chavez was desperate to keep spending money on his free programs, so he put the government back in control of the oil industry. The experts left Venezuela, and unqualified people took over their jobs. Anyone who questioned Chavez was fired, and soon many more experts from all industries were leaving the country too. A heavy tax was imposed on every business that was left, and Vivi's family had to shut down the coffee shop they had owned for generations. As for the corruption Chavez promised to end, it only got worse too. For example, in 2004, Chavez refused to hold a free election, and when the people tried to vote him out, he would not give up power. Now, Vivi and her family are living with the hardships of life in Caracas, trying to make the most with what they have. More than 5.4 million Venezuelans like Cesar have left the country out of desperation in just the last decade. Separated from families and enduring great hardships, it's important for us to remember the beautiful country of Venezuela and its many wonderful people in our prayers. While she is separated from her father, Vivi thankfully is able to talk with him online in between the power outages, and looks forward to one day being together again.