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Venezuela The Economy
![[GIF]](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/venezuela/ve03_00a.gif)
Street scene with a view of the Harbor,
Puerto Cabello
AN UPPER-MIDDLE INCOME, oil-producing country, Venezuela
enjoyed
the highest standard of living in Latin America. The
country's
gross domestic product
(
GDP--see Glossary) in 1988 was
approximately US$58 billion, or roughly US$3,100 per
capita.
Although the petroleum industry has dominated the
Venezuelan
economy since the 1920s, aluminum, steel, and
petrochemicals
diversified the economy's industrial base during the
1980s.
Agriculture activity was relatively minor and shrinking,
whereas
services were expanding.
Venezuela possessed enormous natural resources. The
country
was the world's third largest exporter of oil, its ninth
largest
producer of oil, and accounted for more oil reserves than
any
other nation in the Western Hemisphere. The national
petroleum
company, Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (Petróleos de
Venezuela, S.A.--PDVSA), was also the third largest
international
oil conglomerate. Because of its immense mineral wealth,
Venezuela in 1990 was also poised to become an
international
leader in the export of coal, iron, steel, and aluminum.
Despite bountiful natural resources and significant
advances
in some economic areas, Venezuela in 1990 continued to
suffer
from the debilitating effects of political patronage,
corruption,
and poor economic management. The country's political and
economic structures often allowed a small elite to benefit
at the
expense of the masses. As a result, Venezuela's income
distribution was uneven, and its social indicators were
lower
than the expected level for a country with Venezuela's
level of
per capita income. Many economic institutions were also
weak
relative to the country's international stature. The
efforts of
the administration of Carlos Andrés Pérez (president,
1974-79,
1989- ) to reform the economy, especially if coupled with
political and institutional reforms, would likely
determine
whether the country would reach its extraordinary
potential.
Data as of December 1990
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