Venezuela III

Related Reading:
Venezuela
Venezuela II

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As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

"Historically, Venezuela is a country that imports over 50 percent of its goods, partially due to the historic strength of its currency as well as it becoming an oil-based rather than agricultural economy." (McCarthy, 2017)

     As I began to further think about the situation in Venezuela, I wanted to move past the images of poverty, violence and political turmoil - to think deeper about possible sources and causes. Whilst of course these situations cannot be ignored, there are underlying issues that are stirring / driving the events, that we are viewed as a result. We could say that Venezuela has had cycles, such as these that are caused due to a change in political leadership. Which in turn is linked to political strife, but this time around, to think what is different. Such as the international sanctions that have been placed upon Venezuela, which are part and parcel of the creation of poverty. As well as oil production decline, with the rising and falling of oil prices. I realized that oil has historically, and to the present day been of particular importance to the nation (McCarthy, 2017). Oil is Venezuela's precious resource. A resource for the nations survival and growth. We could think about the resources of neighbouring nations, other nations, such as: agriculture, mining, minerals, natural fibers, technology. Where nations capitalize upon their natural resources for the success, and financial prosperity of a nation. So we could say: Why can't Venezuela capitalize on its resources? 

"Venezuela tops the list with 300.9 billion barrels of oil in reserve – but even this vast wealth in natural resources has not been enough to save the country from its recent economic and humanitarian crisis."(DesJardins, 2019) 

   First we have to acknowledge that the political strife is a contributor. But we have to also compare to other nations, who are viewed as oil producing nations, such as Saudi Arabia / Arab nations, who are viewed as rich oil producers, and analyze thier political, socio-economic prosperity, as compared to that of Venezuela, who possesses the largest oil reserve. We could say that sanction and limits could be to control the growth of the nation. But we could also make some assumptions, where religious politics are at play. As the Arab nations are majority Muslim, whereas Venezuela is majority Catholic Christian. So any growth and prosperity would also contribute to the growth of Venezuela's majority Catholic nation. The potential growth might pose a threat to those nations, who are already taking advantage of oil booms. 

    Here we must turn back to nature and natural. The world is full of precious resources. The variety of resources are more or less in various regions. Which is why humans have constructed the system of importing / exporting throughout the world. But again we have to look towards nature, and recognize why there are more precious, valuable resources in "third world countries"? The reason would not only be to create trading relations and partnerships, but also for the survival of ones nation and its populations. Rather than placing an emphasis upon control, we could think how the resources could be utilized for the creation of a flourishing society, and as an aid to assist with the humanitarian and political crisis. However, we could also say that there is an argument for climate change. But the potential of Venezuela could and should be viewed as an opportunity for local, national and International companies / businesses to figure out how they can invest in the country, as well as develop clean energy sources, and give back to nature with conservation efforts. But here again I wonder about poverty, and economic losses. It just seems like there is so much potential, that the country has to be helped to help itself, from the cyclical political strife. Which creates downturns, hurting once again societies most vulnerable, who just want to survive. 

References:

*DesJardins, J. (2019, March 25). Map: The Countries with the Most Oil Reserves. Retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/map-countries-most-oil-reserves/

*McCarthy, M. (2017). Venezuela's crisis: Beyond economic explanations. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 18(2), 129-136.

My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand-written on June 1st, 2019.
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