Wessel 1

Alan Wessel
English III
1 May 2015
Corruption in Venezuela
Throughout history, mankind has maintained order in society through some sort of
government structure or body. This body has always been expected to provide its constituents
with the ability to feel safe, both financially and emotionally. Whenever a government has not
provided its citizens this security or has become corrupt, citizens have come together and fought
both violently and nonviolently for a change, as seen with the American Revolution and also the
Civil War. Recently, this problem has extended to the Venezuelan government, which, under
President Nicols Maduro, has been unable to provide a stable financial structure and has cradled
corruption through its actions; both factors of which have given reason for protest and have led
directly to preventable violence between citizens and the government, and even other citizens.
The inability of the government to provide a stable economy, especially with the current
oil crisis, has pushed citizens to the limit and drastically lowered their living standards.
Venezuela relies heavily on oil for its economy, and the falling price of the export has hit them
harder than nearly any other nation. With the economy down, and price of imports up, other
products like food and medicine are scarce, allowing inflation to continue throughout the
country. Economic experts say a rebound for their economy is not likely to improve until after
2016 since Venezuelas exports consist of 95% oil (A real oil crisis). Although this economic
slump is not solely the fault of the Venezuelan government, it is still their duty to act to help
citizens through the crisis, and at least provide their citizens the information about their struggles
and a potential plan of action.

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The corruption of the Venezuelan government is patent in the withholding of economic
and health information to the public. It has been over five months since the health ministry has
shown to the public epidemic records, over a year since the National Statistical Institute has
shown national poverty information, and more than three months since the government-run oil
corporation has released their data as a company (Maduros muzzle). This comes also with
anonymous technical specialists from the Central Bank of Venezuela claiming that Venezuela
is trying extremely hard to destroy the national statistical system, and avoid displaying to its
country just how bad the economic crisis is (Maduros muzzle). In both these cases, it is
apparent that the current Venezuelan government would rather cover up the poor results of their
economy and health system than work to fix them, thus giving suspicious citizens the right to be
angry and protest.
Furthermore, the dishonesty of the current Venezuelan government can be seen through
the several attempts to have a monopoly over all government bodies throughout the country. For
example, the Caracas city mayor, Antonio Ledezma, was arrested by the orders of the
Venezuelan government for speaking against Maduros rule (Gupta). Additionally, President
Nicols Maduro made Ledezmas arrest dramatically violent by sending over 150 armed agents
to Ledezmas office (When agents). Then, after Ledezma was taken out of office, a supporter
of Maduro and unelected official, Ernesto Villegas, was assigned the mayors job (The
Americas). While this is not the only case of Maduro and his Venezuelan government using
their power to arrest Opposition leaders, or those opposed to Maduro, it is the most violent and
dramatic. And specifically, Venezuelan citizens lose their elected official, resulting in lost trust
in their government and a decrease in the feeling of safety.

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The abuse of power in removing anti-government leaders from their positions has caused
citizens to feel unsafe and has resulted in backlash from major world groups calling out the
potential loss of a democracy in Venezuela. According to the leader of the Venezuela Mayors'
Association, Carlos Ocariz, 33 of 78 mayors who took office post December 2012 that are
publicly against the current Maduro-led government have legal accusations against them going to
court (Tyranny looms). This has made many people feel unsafe, especially those against the
current government. For instance, Opposition Mayor David Smolansky said, they, being openly
against Maduros government, feel they have their days numbered. The question is when the
guillotine falls (Gupta). Even the Catholic Church has come out strongly against the
Venezuelan government, and the archbishop of Coro, Venezuela has used these recent arrests and
charges against Opposition mayors as an example to how Venezuela is no longer truly a
democracy (Venezuela stumbles). These accounts exhibit the good reason as to why a
Venezuelan citizen may distrust their government and seek change.
While the corruption is evident throughout Maduros Venezuelan government, the body
has also shown it is very ineffective and ignorant in the laws that it makes, which has directly led
to violence. For instance, in January the government passed a new law, Resolution 8610,
which gives police the ability to end and fight off public protests with the use of violence and
deadly weapons. This law allowed for a teenager, Kluiverth Roa, to be shot and killed by police
in February while at a protest, an event which has sparked many other demonstrations against the
government and its cradling of violence on citizens (Venezuelans protest). Additionally,
according to data from GunPolicy.org, a preceding law passed under Hugo Chavz, the
predecessor of Maduro, in 2012 that banned private gun ownership, has resulted in having only .
5 to 1.5 million out of the 3.25 million owned guns registered, most of which are of the police

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(Martel). As a result, Fox News Latino estimates that just 100 days into the current year, the
number of police killed was 97 (Martel). Obviously, both acts by the Venezuelan government
have created a dangerous situation for both citizens and the police force, as many people may use
their guns for crime, and this is a situation that could have been avoided if the government better
enforced or better designed their laws.
Along with the poorly designed laws, the governments overt ignorance towards
protesters has endangered even more people and pinned citizens against their own. For instance,
there are pro-government groups of people throughout Venezuela, called colectivos, that are
directly and indirectly supported by the government in targeting protests with violence. These
groups have harmed many and have even killed a student protester, yet the government has yet to
respond to these acts (Voices of protest). One example of such citizen on citizen violence is
the experience of the family of Guillermo Snchez. He was killed by a pro-government group,
and his family has since left Venezuela after feeling highly unsafe (Venezuela: Lack of justice).
This situation could have been avoided, but according to an Amnesty International report, there
have been several instances of police ignoring pro-government, anti-protest people and
essentially allowing them to attack and harm anti-government protesters (Venezuela: Lack of
justice). Obviously, it is time for the Venezuelan government to rethink its objectives and restore
a peaceful environment for all of their citizens.
The potential change that Venezuela needs may be extremely difficult to force, as many
people believe that Opposition government leaders would be just as corrupt and inept as current
government leaders. For example, a current government worker, Nelson Barrio, claims in an
interview with NPR regarding Opposition leaders arrests that over 800 government workers
were fired when Ledezma took office based solely because they did not have the same ideology

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as Ledezma, which is part of the reason one could justify the Mayors arrest (The 33).
However, no matter the oppositions ability and morals, a change still needs to be made by the
current government. As one may say, two wrongs do not make a right, and a corrupt government
maintaining its current state simply because the next in line would be corrupt does not justify
their leadership. Therefore, it is obvious that the current government needs to change their
morals and earn the trust back from its citizens.
In order to earn the trust back from its citizens, the Venezuelan government may need a
change in leadership that will bring facts and peace to its citizens, unless current leadership
decides to do so itself. By informing citizens of their economic crisis and health data, many
Venezuelans may come to find that they, themselves, have to change their habits in order to find
the greatest stability possible in their country. Additionally, any change in leadership needs to be
able to pay attention to the needs of their citizens while protecting their rights to protest. This
would help strengthen relationships between citizens, the police force, and other citizens,
resulting in less violence and an overall feeling of safety, a feeling that every citizen deserves.
It is unlikely such a change will occur in the near future, but citizens must continue to
protect themselves and their families until an election occurs in which they can use their
democratic rights to implement a change in which their chosen leader can aptly and honestly lead
their country out of turmoil.

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Works Cited
A real oil crisis. Macleans 23 Mar. 2015: 9. Powersearch. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Gupta, Girish. Mayors Arrest on Seditioin Charges Deepens Sense of Crisis in Venezuela.
New York Times 21 Feb. 2015: A4(L). Global Issues in Context. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Maduros muzzle; Venezuela. The Economist 4 Apr. 2015: 32(US). Powersearch. Web. 14
Apr. 2015.
Martel, Frances. "More than Half of Police Killed in Venezuelan Capital Targeted for
Guns." Breitbart. N.p., 22 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
"The 33 Venezuelan Mayors Who Face Charges (And Oppose The President)." All Things
Considered 8 Apr. 2015. PowerSearch. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
"The Americas; Venezuela: Inmate Dies in State Custody." New York Times 14 Mar. 2015:
A9(L). PowerSearch. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Tyranny looms, Venezuelas Regime. The Economist 28 Feb. 2015: 29(US). Powersearch.
Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
"Venezuelans protest after teenager is killed by police." Al Jazeera America 26 Feb.
2015. PowerSearch. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
"Venezuela stumbles." America 16 Mar. 2015: 4. PowerSearch. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
"Venezuela: Lack of Justice for Protest Abuses Gives Green Light to More Violence." Amnesty
International. N.p., 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
"Voices of protest: interviews with student protesters in Ukraine, Turkey, and
Venezuela." Journal of International Affairs 68.1 (2014): 243+. Global Issues in Context.
Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

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"When agents of the Venezuelan state come, they don't come quietly." National Review 23 Mar.
2015: 11. PowerSearch. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.