How Did Venezuela Go From So Rich To So Poor?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2017
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Once the richest country in South America, Venezuela is now in deep economic crisis.
Children in school are fainting from hunger; patients are dying from the lack of basic medicine. As prices spiral out of control, cash is carried not in wallets, but in backpacks. Street protests over the crisis are growing in size and frequency - and the government's response becoming ever more authoritarian.
Yet in 1970, Venezuela was among the wealthiest countries in the world. It was held up as a beacon of democracy and stability - an example of a successful developing economy that turned oil resource wealth into riches. So what went wrong? How did Venezuela go from so rich to so poor?
Presenter: Linda Yueh Producer: Simon Maybin
(Photo: A father and daughter rest while someone holds their place before sunrise in a long line to buy basic foodstuffs at a supermarket in San Cristobal, Venezuela. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | This is a daily scene in Caracas. |
| 0:49.0 | Deadly protests in the capital of Venezuela. |
| 0:52.0 | Hundreds of thousands of people have... protests in the capital of Venezuela. |
| 0:53.0 | Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets. |
| 0:56.0 | Food and medicine are scarce. |
| 0:59.0 | Children in school are fainting from hunger. |
| 1:02.0 | Patients are dying in hospital. and school are fainting from hunger. |
| 1:03.8 | Patients are dying in hospital for lack of basic supplies. |
| 1:08.8 | Venezuela's cue for hours to buy goods. |
| 1:12.4 | The currency, the Bolivar, is carried in sacks, not wallets. The economy |
| 1:18.6 | is in freeful. Yet, once upon a time. |
| 1:25.0 | A time. Caracas, the swinging city of Venezuela. |
| 1:31.0 | Good climate, fine buildings, wide highways with plenty on them. |
| 1:35.6 | All in all a pretty nice place to be for many reasons. |
| 1:39.4 | In 1970, Venezuela was the richest country in Latin America, and average income was higher than its former colonial master Spain. |
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