Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela
Source: Cato Institute

Corruption has existed in Venezuela since at least 1821, when it gained independence. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the level of corruption fluctuated, depending on the government in power. During the government of President Hugo Chávez, however, corruption has exploded to unprecedented levels. Billions of dollars are being stolen or are otherwise unaccounted for, squandering Venezuelan resources and enriching high-level officials and their cronies.

The windfall of oil revenues has encouraged the rise in corruption. In the approximately eight years Chávez has been in power, his government has received between $175 billion and $225 billion from oil and new debt. Along with the increase in revenues has come a simultaneous reduction in transparency. For example, the state-owned oil company ceased publishing its consolidated annual financial statements in 2003, and Chávez has created new state-run financial institutions, whose operations are also opaque, that spend funds at the discretion of the executive.

+ Full Paper (PDF; 294 KB)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 11:36 am and is filed under Government and politics, Latin America and the Caribbean. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.