summary from the throughline website
Venezuela is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis as extreme poverty and violence have forced many to flee the country in recent years. How did a country once wealthy with oil resources fall into such turmoil? Through the lives of two revolutionaries turned authoritarian leaders separated by two centuries, we look back at the rise and fall of Venezuela.
essential question of the podcast
How did a country that was once the richest in South America end up here?
Timeline outline
- 1803 young Simon Bolivar stands at his wife's deathbed, changing Bolivar's life forever
- In 1810 Bolivar and Francisco de Miranda stage an uprising against the Spanish and take Caracas
- Venezuela declares independence in 1811
- In 1812, a massive earthquake hit Venezuela and Spanish priests convince a superstitious population that the earthquake was divine retribution. Gathering the Spanish to recapture important ports and take back control of the country
- In 1819, Bolivar's army marched towards Colombia. And Bolivar knew if they followed a typical route, the Spanish would defeat them again. through a less predictable but ridiculously dangerous route through the Andes Mountains
- For weeks, this caravan of soldiers, women, and children trudged through the mountains. Some people got sick. Others died.
- And Bolivar's army won - their first major victory.
- Within a couple of years, Gran Colombia was declared a reality as Bolivar set his sights on liberating the rest of Spanish South America. And Bolivar became the first president of Gran Colombia
- After Bolivar was named the president of Gran Colombia, he and his armies set out fighting battle after battle across South America. Liberating Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia
- While Bolivar was busy liberating all those countries. the Criollo elite, the group he was a part of - had grown more and more angry with him, not only in Venezuela but throughout South America - resentful of what the independence movement had become
- After facing years of opposition and stalled progress, Bolivar's vision of a united South America was fading. The cost of the revolution had been high.
- December 10, 1830, Bolivar gave his final speech in Santa Marta, Colombia. From there, he planned to take a ship to an island and live out the rest of his life in exile.
- One week later, on December 17, 1830, Bolivar died, unceremoniously and alone.
- After Bolivar's death in 1830 in Colombia, his name was banned. Bolivar was remembered as a disgraced leader, a revolutionary turned tyrant. He left much of South America in disarray
- In the 1920s, Venezuela became a major oil producer.
- Through the '50s, '60s, '70s. Problem was, most of that wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few at the top.
- Chavez was born in 1954 in Los Llanos
- In his early 20s, Chavez joined the Venezuelan army and got inspired by some leftist Latin American generals who took a more reform approach to their societies
- In the 1980s, oil prices began to drop, and the economy began to decline. The gap between rich and poor got bigger. And corruption in the government was rampant
- Through the course of the 1990s The poverty rate increased from about 25% to about 65%, oil prices were dropping
- On the morning of February 4, 1992, five military units were dispersed across the country. Their mission - to take over key government posts - the defense ministry, the military airport, the military museum, the presidential palace, and the national TV station
- Chavez, who failed in his mission, is then chosen by the president to make a speech on national television,
- February 4, 1992, Venezuelan TV was interrupted by an unfolding story with the president and Hugo Chavez
- That this new president, that was elected in 1993 - one of his first acts was to pardon Chavez. So Chavez was freed after two years in jail.
- So Chavez decided to leave Venezuela. He traveled all around Latin America.
- In the next couple of years, Chavez campaigned on that grand vision. And he appealed especially to the lower and middle classes for support
- By 1998, on the eve of the election, the country had two very different options for president.
- During Chavez's presidency, he renamed the country, gets rid of the old constitution, eliminates the bicameral congress
- In April of 2002, he faced a dramatic coup attempt. Violence broke out, the military tried to get rid of him, and another guy was installed as president.
- But then, Chavez supporters took to the streets. And within two days, Chavez was back in power.
- August 2007 - Sunday - And Hugo Chavez is getting ready to host his weekly talk show. Alo Presidente. Interviewing Rory Carroll, being asked -why was he preparing to have a referendum to get rid of limits on presidential terms? - which would open the door to him being - potentially ruling for life. Chavez goes on a tirade. For 8 hours
- By this time, 2007, Chavez had managed to consolidate power in almost every sector of society - the military, the government, and oil.
- The price per barrel of oil when Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998 was $8. At the height of his presidency, the price per barrel of oil was $150.
- From 2005 to 2012, Venezuela was in a golden age. People had more to eat, more money in their pockets, better health care
- For the past 14 years, the Venezuelan president has been arguably the most charismatic and controversial leader in the world. But this may be his last campaign.
- In 2012, Chavez was on the campaign trail running for a third term in office. He's diagnosed with cancer in 2011.
- Chavez went on to win reelection in October of 2012. But by December of that year, his health had gotten worse, so he decided to leave to go get treatment
- But a few months later, Chavez died.