Between 2007 and 2016, Venezuela’s fiscal deficit amounts to at least 10 percent of GDP according to economist Luis Oliveros. The central government, which in 1998 had 800 thousand employees, now employs 3 million bureaucrats (10 percent of the population). There are 36 ministries in 2016 compared to 12 in 1998.
Also in 2009, Venezuela suffers an energy crisis for the first time. Chávez announces that he will import power plants from Cuba as an emergency measure. It is estimated that this scheme electrical costs US $40 billion, which could have been used to purchase a completely new electrical system in Venezuela. This results in abundant corruption that has never been investigated. The money, however, ended up in Andorra and Switzerland.
Looting last week was contained but the Governor of Lara, Henri Falcón, a former Chavista, noted that “this is a thousand times worse than the reasons that led to the ‘Caracazo.’” He added that, at any moment, the political, social and economic crisis may lead to a conflict of incalculable consequences .... https://panampost.com
