Venezuela

Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America bordered by Colombia, Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean Sea, with its capital Caracas. The territory was colonized by Spain in 1522, and in 1811 it became one of the first Spanish American territories to declare independence, forming part of the first federal Republic of Colombia known as Gran Colombia, before separating as a fully sovereign country in 1830. Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1998, launching the Bolivarian Revolution, and his government's populist and social welfare policies were temporarily bolstered by soaring oil prices before poverty began rapidly increasing from 2014; the 2013, 2018 and 2024 presidential elections were all widely disputed, with opposition candidates arrested or exiled, triggering nationwide protest and international condemnation. In 2026, United States forces captured President Nicolas Maduro and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president; since this intervention, the country has been described as a puppet state of the United States in terms of its finances and domestic policy.