Venezuelan protest
By: Gwen Friedman
Background information
~The oil industry in Venezuela makes over one half of the governments income
~The price of crude oil has dropped more than 50% and that is leaving the Venezuelan government broke
~To attempt to keep the oil production going the workers on strike were fired and replaced with foreign workers
~ Venezuela has government-imposed price controls ,this later caused economic trouble and people started to protest the situation
~Due to economic trouble the government could not afford basic goods to in stores often leaving the shelves empty
About the Protest
~The protests have been happening from 2002 to now
~ In some cases there have been bombings and death during the protests ( more than 15 killed 150 injured so far before Feb 25, 2014)
~Citizens were upset that they were in poverty (65%of the population lives below the poverty line)
~President Chavez blames the us for the problems going on
Smith, Patricia. "The Crisis in Venezuela."New York Times Upfront. 20 Apr. 2015: 16+.SIRS Discoverer. Web. 09 May 2016.
Effects of the protest
~President Nicolas Maduro solved anti-government protests by placing the protesters in jail and shut down news stations that do not follow his polices
~Worker strikes are costing the government 70 million dollars per day
~Banks and schools in rich neighborhoods are closed
~People have gone into poverty
~Basic goods like milk and potatoes have gone up in price drastically