Скачать или смотреть Venezuela: Sanctions, Oil Collapse, and the Enduring Failure of US Policy

This video analyzes the turbulent history and contemporary state of United States–Venezuela relations, focusing specifically on the deployment and efficacy of economic pressure and sanctions.
The central US policy objectives towards Venezuela have historically included assuring an adequate supply of petroleum, promoting democratic institutions, and supporting hemispheric security. However, under Presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, US policy consistently moved towards containment and regime change, viewing the Venezuelan government as a threat to American "imperial interests" and regional dominance. This strategy intensified in 2015 when the Obama administration declared Venezuela an “extraordinary threat” to US national security,. The subsequent Trump administration escalated this with a "maximum pressure" policy, applying expanded sanctions, including those against President Maduro himself,.
Despite these punitive measures, the US efforts to achieve political change or a return to a democratic trajectory have been largely frustrated, continuing a pattern of failed policy objectives,. Research suggests that unilateral sanctions targeting autocratic regimes, such as Maduro's, often have a high failure rate in promoting democracy or regime change. Instead, these actions can lead autocrats to consolidate power by seizing economic assets and transferring licenses to loyal domestic and international allies. This dynamic is demonstrated by Venezuela’s turn to partners like China, which has stepped in to buy Venezuelan oil, offsetting the impact of US sanctions,.
The collapse of Venezuela's oil sector—which possesses the world's largest proven oil reserves—predates the main sanctions, driven primarily by corruption, mismanagement, and the replacement of trained experts with political loyalists,. This massive decline in oil output, coupled with the exacerbating effects of broad economic sanctions, has led to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis characterized by acute shortages of food and medicine and a staggering rise in extreme poverty,,. Ultimately, the analysis suggests that meaningful change in Venezuela will likely need to originate from within the country itself, rather than from external diplomatic or economic leverage,.