Venezuela’s Problems Are Political, Not Economic

American Majority Board Member Paul Bonicelli is Professor of Government at Regent University, and served as the Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United States Agency for International Development. To read his full piece on ForeignPolicy.com, click here.

By Paul Bonicelli

Scattered among the numerous commentaries on Venezuela’s spiral into chaos are suggestions for how to resolve the economic crisis. Little is said about the real cause of the economic problems, which is the politics of Venezuela — and it has been the problem for quite some time. Example: Jeff Spross at The Week wrote recently about the travails of Venezuela and how to “fix it,” but focused on the regime’s economic policy. Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic Policy Research argues similarly, writing that the regime’s currency exchange rate policy has lead to soaring inflation and a black market. That black market distorts the economy and destroys the incentive for producers to supply the basic goods for which citizens clamor.

I applaud their accurate analysis regarding the foolish and counterproductive economic policies of the regime, but these analysts and commenters fail to offer a true “fix” for Venezuela because they are not focused on what really ails the country. Venezuela is a dictatorship, and has been since Hugo Chavez took power; the policies that strangle the economy are only symptoms of the regime’s authoritarianism.

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