{"id":42099,"date":"2026-01-15T12:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/?p=42099"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:47:16","slug":"trump-and-venezuelas-oil-an-economy-shaped-by-oil-and-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/trump-and-venezuelas-oil-an-economy-shaped-by-oil-and-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump and Venezuela\u2019s Oil. An economy shaped by oil and power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Half a century ago, Venezuela symbolised prosperity in Latin America. Today, it stands as one of the most severe cases of economic collapse not caused by war or natural disaster. The United States\u2019 decision to draw on Venezuelan oil supplies closes this trajectory with brutal consistency.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"On<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the interview broadcast on Polish Radio 24, Dr Iwo Augusty\u0144ski<\/a> of the Wroc\u0142aw University of Economics and Business points to the scale of Venezuela\u2019s regression. Between 2013 and 2023, living standards fell by approximately 74 per cent. It is one of the deepest economic crises in recent global history – without armed conflict.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roots of the collapse lie in an economic structure almost entirely dependent on oil extraction. When prices were high, the state could afford expansive policies. When prices fell, there were no buffers. As Dr Augusty\u0144ski explains, this is a textbook case of the resource curse and Dutch disease: reliance on a single sector at the expense of industry, processing capacity and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, Venezuela exported oil and imported almost everything else. Revenues were not translated into long-term development. They were consumed, partly misappropriated, and partly redirected towards short-term political objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationalisation without a strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nationalisation of the oil sector is often presented as the turning point. Dr Augusty\u0144ski cautions against such simplifications. State control over natural resources does not automatically lead to failure. The problem was not nationalisation itself, but the absence of a coherent strategy for using the revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking control of the oil industry, the state failed to invest adequately in infrastructure maintenance and technological development. Venezuelan oil is technically demanding: heavy, dense and costly to refine. Without access to advanced technologies and expertise, production declined and the sector\u2019s potential eroded. A return to previous output levels would now require billions in investment and many years of reconstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US intervention: power over rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This structural crisis was intensified by external pressures. US sanctions and embargoes hit the oil sector directly – the country\u2019s only significant source of income. They restricted not only exports, but also access to capital and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, the Trump administration\u2019s decision to draw on Venezuelan oil supplies is not an exception, but a consequence of global power politics. As Dr Augusty\u0144ski states bluntly, there is no force stronger than the United States capable of preventing such action. In situations like this, international law becomes secondary to political, military and financial dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the US perspective, this is a cold calculation: Venezuela has debt, and oil becomes a form of repayment. From the Venezuelan perspective, it is another stage in the loss of control over national wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geopolitics instead of economics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The discussion also touches on Russia and China. Russia\u2019s engagement in Venezuela was primarily political, including arms deliveries settled through oil shipments. China treated Venezuela as an element of its global influence strategy rather than as a key economic partner. What appears significant to public opinion is marginal economically for Washington or Beijing, but strategically meaningful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This highlights a broader reality. Venezuela\u2019s crisis is not only a story of economic mismanagement. It is also an example of an economy subordinated to competition between great powers, where the interests of ordinary citizens are pushed aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this means for society – and for others<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, the average Venezuelan survives on the equivalent of a few US dollars per month, while living costs reach into the hundreds. Lifting sanctions may open the country to investment and financing, but, as Dr Augusty\u0144ski notes, there is no guarantee that the benefits will reach society rather than new owners and elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venezuela\u2019s experience serves as a warning. Natural resources are neither a curse nor a blessing in themselves. Their impact depends on institutions, long-term strategy and a state\u2019s capacity to defend the public interest in a world where power still prevails over rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

badania.uew.pl \u2013 because the world needs competent voices when noise overwhelms reason.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Barbara Grzelczak<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Half a century ago, Venezuela symbolised prosperity in Latin America. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":42087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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a century ago, Venezuela symbolised prosperity in Latin America. […]","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-04 04:27:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42102,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42099\/revisions\/42102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/badania.uew.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}