Newsweek

Is Venezuela Repeating Mistakes With Focus on Mining?

The country’s reliance on oil has destroyed its economy, and analysts say the same may happen with mining.
Ender Moreno looks for gold at La Culebra illegal gold mine in El Callao, Bolivar state, southeastern Venezuela on March 1. Although life in the mines of eastern Venezuela is hard and dangerous, as many as 70,000 people from all over the country head for the mines daily in overcrowded trucks, pushed by the rise in gold prices and by the country's severe economic crisis further aggravated by the recent drop in oil prices.
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Across the globe, countries with massive oil reserves are often poor, corrupt and inefficient, relying almost exclusively on petroleum, instead of investing in other industries. When prices are high, money abounds, but when prices fall, the economy often spirals into disaster.

Such a that might hit , according to International Monetary Fund estimates. Every night, people line up in front of bakeries, pharmacies and supermarkets, hoping to buy what they need in the morning before there’s nothing left. In mid- to late April, demonstrators filled the streets of Caracas and other major cities to protest the government, where the police used tear gas and clashes left more than a dead and many more wounded.

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