An op-ed by Mark Zupan, Alfred University president, was published over the weekend in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. In the piece, written just more than two weeks after the U.S. military captured Nicholas Maduro, president of Venezuela, Zupan discusses how the once-prosperous South American nation was led into economic ruin by its elected government.
The op-ed, titled “The decline of Venezuela was an inside job,” appeared in the Sunday, Jan. 18, issue of the Democrat and Chronicle.
“From the 1950s to 1980s, Venezuela was, per capita, one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Its vast oil reserves earned it the nickname ‘Saudi Venezuela’ and were the largest of any nation, including Saudi Arabia,” Zupan wrote. “Given the sunny economic outlook, Venezuela’s precipitous socioeconomic decline has been shocking.”
The piece outlines how Venezuela’s authoritarian government—led first by Hugo Chavez, who served as president from 1998-2013, and Maduro, Chavez’ hand-picked successor who became president in 2013—impoverished the country, leading to a near 90-percent decrease in gross domestic product, a devaluation of its currency, and a loss of a quarter of its population
“The lessons from Venezuela’s decline are clear. An abundance of resources and the presence of democratic institutions do not guarantee ongoing national prosperity and civil liberties,” Zupan writes. “If important government checks and balances are eroded, the risk of insiders co-opting political power for individual gain at the expense of the public good skyrockets.”
