The 'Tragedy' of Venezuela: Film Shows How Oil-Rich Nation Was Destroyed From the Inside
*By Bridgette Webb*
Venezuela, once among the wealthiest economies in Latin America, is now in a state of crisis.
According to Brian Price, executive producer of a new documentary "Venezuela: State of Disaster'" decades of greed and corruption have created an impenetrable barrier.
"They had tremendous oil resources and still do," Price said in an interview on Cheddar Wednesday.
"Right now they are sitting on 300 million barrels of oil ー in a conservative market call it $1 trillion dollars worth ー and they have no way of extracting that wealth because the entire system of extraction has been completely decimated."
Venezuela’s drop in oil production volumes was the largest global unplanned fall in crude oil in 2017. That trend has continued. Oil production in the nation now stands at its lowest level in more than 50 years.
Of the oil that is produced, much of it is being used to pay off interest on Venezuela's massive debt load to countries like China and Russia. Venezuela has borrowed billions of dollars from the two over the years, mostly through oil-for-loan deals.
The economic crisis is also hitting Venezuela's public health system.
In addition to a shortage of doctors, nurses, and supplies, Price said even the most basic needs of patients can't be met.
"They have to ask patients to bring their own light bulb when they check in the hospital because there is no light in the room. It's a good and it has value and people will steal that from the hospital," he said.
Meanwhile, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, has been steadily shifting the country from a democratic nation into a dictatorship.
Since he was elected back in 2013 Maduro has consolidated power by jailing would-be competition and neutralizing any opposition.
Although his presidency is slated to end on Jan. 10 2019, Maduro is expected to be "re-inaugurated" that day on the basis of elections held last May, which are widely viewed as fraudulent.
There have already been rumblings that the International community is ready to act against Maduro, though Price believes it will be very challenging to remove him from power.
"He will do whatever he has to do to stay in power ー \[including\] moving up an election, that was supposed to occur in December because it fit his needs. He is a corrupt leader, like any dictator you have to be skeptical of any tactics he uses, specifically because he wants to stay in power."
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine raging on, millions have turned to TikTok to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and get a first-hand look. The social media platform has been so prominent that the war has been dubbed "the first TikTok war" by many publications — and even the White House has taken notice. The Biden administration held a virtual briefing with 30 social media creators to discuss their role in communicating to their followers by countering what it deems as being misinformation. Ellie Zeiler, an 18-year-old TikTok star who attended the briefing, joined Cheddar to talk about the conference and her responsibilities as a social media creator. "How could you not be a little nervous or scared when you're getting your information and media all from this app? But also then you think back to, I guess, when media was changing between newspapers and TV, and I'm sure people were nervous about that too," she said. "So the fact is, is that people do really look to Tiktok and social media for their news."
U.S. markets closed the day at session lows as the Dow marked its fifth straight week of losses. Investors continue to weigh inflation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and growing economic risk factors. George Seay, CEO of Annandale Capital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks ended Thursday's session lower as new CPI data show inflation continues to rise and the Russia-Ukraine war continues. Philip Palumbo, founder, CEO, & Chief Investment Officer of Palumbo Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
School nutrition experts warn that millions of children could go hungry as soon as this summer, after Congress excluded waivers that would extend universal lunch for children in school from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. Cheddar News speaks with Jessica Gould, chair of the public policy and legislation committee at the School Nutrition Association, about the issue.
The ongoing semiconductor chip shortage has been impacting everything from the purchase of cars to smartphones. Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke with Cheddar about the Biden administration's efforts to combat the issue and if the current crisis in Ukraine will have any impact on the global supply chain problems for semiconductors. "We're working very closely with all of our partners and allies around the globe, just as we have on the export controls and sanctions that we've applied to Russia to deal with that needless aggression," he said. "We're also working with them on the challenges of raw materials for a range of industries, including the semiconductor industry. We believe that we are going to be able to meet the demand for the for the near term."
Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves spoke to Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo about the ongoing semiconductor shortages and the push from the Biden administration to cover the supply chain problem as well as look ahead to future-proofing it.
President Maxx Fenning and Vice President CJ Walden of PRISM, a Florida non-profit providing resources for LGBTQ youth, joined Cheddar News to discuss the negative repercussions of a Florida bill banning discussions of sexuality and gender identity in some classrooms.
