Venezuela Research

Larry Cermak

March 27, 2012

History 11

Mr. Fulmer

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Venezuela

History Overview

Venezuela wasn’t always economically balanced country, but in 1900s, everything has changed. Venezuela finally got on their own feet with discovery of oil and in 1920s Venezuela finally started to make money on oil distribution and trade. However, the most of the money went to the ruling class and the money was mostly distributed in the upper class. The poverty was still high and country was keep facing economic problems. The domination of the upper class remained until 1947, when Romulo Betancourt led a popular revolt and afterwards rewrote the constitution. The first president-elect and also the first president who was the member of Democratic Party was Romulo Gallegos. Soon afterwards, he was forced out of the presidency and Venezuela fell under the dictatorship. Marcos Perez Jimenez becomes a dictator of Venezuela in 1950. In 1958, Jimenez was forced into exile leading to the Venezuelan democracy. Sadly, the country did not experience a non-violent presidential succession until 1963. There was another oil boom in 1970s and Venezuela experienced extreme wealth pouring into the country, but same as before, the middle class and lower class didn’t experience anything of the wealth. As a consequence of the oil boom, oil prices dropped significantly. The country fell into the crisis once again. The riots took place, but were violently repressed. In 1999, Venezuela adopted its current constitution. Right now, the stability of Venezuela is still uncertain.

Sources: http://www.geographia.com/venezuela/history.htm

http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/places-timelines/42-venezuela-timeline.htm

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0108140.html

Economy

About 15% of Venezuelans are engaged in farming, which is surprisingly high number compared to other countries. Today’s economy of Venezuela is mostly based on the petroleum and manufacturing. The country makes about one fifth...