Both Venezuela’s political and economic history help to explain the current crisis and lack of a revolution.

The Historical Context of the Venezuelan Crisis

The current crisis in Venezuela affects all levels of Venezuelan society. Political problems began under Hugo Chávez and have been exacerbated by Nicolás Maduro, who has also overseen a large-scale economic crisis over the past several years.

The Crisis in Venezuela, from 1999 to Present

The current crisis afflicting Venezuela involves a swath of economic problems, a refugee crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the intersecting set of issues, there has not yet been a revolution aimed at overthrowing Chavismo.

Present-Day Crisis Under Maduro

Venezuela’s current crisis is a direct result of both the political developments of Chavismo and the country’s historical dependence on oil. Chávez—who rose to power through the Bolivarian Revolution—deteriorated Venezuelan democracy before his predecessor—current President Maduro—transformed the country into a full-blown dictatorship. Additionally, Venezuela’s historical dependence on oil has caught up with it, resulting in several years of a worsening recession amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the desperate situation, however, Venezuelans have not joined forces in a united revolution.

Wesleyan University

Both countries are undergoing political and socioeconomic collapse, but each one is having a different reaction to it. The research question will tackle the reasons behind the difference in reactions.

Political and Socioeconomic Collapse: Lebanon and Venezuela as Case Studies

An Overview of the Venezuelan Crisis

Lebanon, a country in the Middle East with only 10452 square km, faced a civil war in 1975 and lasted for 15 years. The Lebanese Civil War is generally regarded as one of the bloodiest and longest in Middle Eastern history. It has been widely described as a civil war since it split the Lebanese people along sectarian lines, including Christians and Muslims militias battling for control of Lebanon's political structure. The country has a high degree of ethnoreligious heterogeneity, which are 3 religions, and 18 recognized sects. As a result, the Lebanese civil war was an internationalized civil war After 15 years of bombings and massacres that took over 150,000 lives, the Arab League mediated a peace treaty called the Taif agreement, which enabled the various groups to come to terms. This agreement was a bad decision, leading the country to revolt in 2019 until today, and resulting in 2 explosions to date due to corruption, nepotism, government theft, interventionism, and sectarianism. Today, the Lebanese currency lost 95% of its value, the country is facing a severe economic crisis, unemployment is at 40%, people cannot afford their basic needs counting food, fuel, gas, hospitals and medicine. 


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