THE ECONOMIC CRISIS UNDER MADURO.

By Norwegian E24- Ada Lea - Human Synthesis - January 4, 2026, 14:23 GMT

Twelve years after taking power, Venezuela is economically devastated – and millions have fled. Now Nicolás Maduro is in U.S. custody. When Nicolás Maduro became president of Venezuela in 2013, the country was already in economic trouble. Twelve years later, Venezuela is in economic ruin. On Saturday morning, the man who led the country through this collapse was captured in the capital, Caracas, by U.S. military forces.

In short

• Nicolás Maduro was captured Saturday by U.S. forces and will stand trial in New York.
• During Maduro’s 12 years as president, Venezuela’s economy collapsed.
• Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, yet accounts for only one percent of global oil production.

“This is the most astonishing story of all time, but with a profoundly negative sign,” said Pål Ringholm, Chief Investment Officer at Formue, when E24 spoke with him shortly before Christmas.

“Welcome to the country that in the 1950s was among the world’s top five richest nations. That country is Venezuela. The nation with the largest oil reserves in the world. What could possibly go wrong?”

Quite a lot.

Hyperinflation, corruption, and sanctions sent Venezuela’s economy into free fall. On Saturday, the president who led the country through the crisis was arrested.

Since 2013, Venezuela’s GDP has fallen by nearly 80 percent, to around 80 billion dollars, according to the IMF.

According to the United Nations, up to 8 million Venezuelans have left the country since the crisis began.

“A socialist regime has over the past decade dragged the Venezuelan economy down to nearly the same extent as what happened to Syria due to the Syrian civil war. But in Venezuela, there was no war—there was economic mismanagement that pulverized the economy,” Ringholm says.

Behind the economic collapse stands a president with an unusual background.

Bus Driver and Radical Leftist

Maduro was born into a working-class family in Caracas in 1962. As the son of a politically active father, he became interested in left-wing politics early, according to CNN. He dropped out of high school to spend a year receiving socialist education in Cuba. He later worked as a bus driver and became a labor union leader.

Then Maduro entered politics.

When future president Hugo Chávez was imprisoned after a failed coup attempt in 1992, Maduro and his future wife, Cilia Flores, became involved in the campaign to secure Chávez’s release, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

In 2012, when Hugo Chávez was seriously ill with cancer, he pointed to Maduro as his successor.

Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro in 2010. Chávez designated Maduro as his successor before his death.

Chávez was both loved and hated by his people. When he died in 2013, he left behind a bitterly divided nation on the brink of political and economic crisis, wrote The New York Times in 2013. Chávez had ruled since 1999. During that time, he empowered millions of poor citizens, but also deepened social divisions.

Maduro stood ready to take over power from his mentor.

Inflation and Corruption

Since Maduro took power in 2013, Venezuela has experienced extreme inflation. In 2018, inflation was estimated at more than 130,000 percent, according to Venezuela’s central bank.

Corruption flourished under Maduro, in stark contrast to his self-portrayal as a “man of the people” and an anti-imperialist left-wing leader, writes the Financial Times.

In 2015, just two years into his presidency, a video circulated showing Maduro’s son surrounded by U.S. dollar bills at a wedding—at a time when the country lacked foreign currency and had to cut food imports.

Venezuela now ranks 178th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s corruption index.

The United States and other countries also imposed sanctions on Venezuela, worsening the economic crisis. As early as 2015, the Obama administration sanctioned Venezuela over human rights abuses and corruption.

In 2019, the first Trump administration sanctioned Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, cutting off the country’s main source of income.

To Stand Trial

On Saturday afternoon, Donald Trump said that Maduro and his wife were aboard a U.S. ship en route to New York, where they will stand trial. They are charged with terrorism- and drug-related offenses.

During the press conference, Trump also spoke extensively about Venezuela’s oil reserves. He said the U.S. would invest billions of dollars in the industry and generate income for the country.

Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves—more than Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States.

It is estimated that Venezuela holds about 17 percent of the world’s known oil reserves—more than 300 billion barrels. Yet the country accounts for only one percent of global oil production.

In 1997, Venezuela produced nearly five percent of the world’s oil. After years of mismanagement, underinvestment, and U.S. sanctions, production has fallen sharply.

A few weeks ago, Maduro condemned what he claimed were U.S. plans to seize Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves by military force—something he said would threaten the balance of the international energy market.

A helicopter believed to be carrying Nicolás Maduro and his wife landed late Saturday night at the Westside Heliport in New York.

Clung to Power

In 2024, Maduro was expected to lose the election to Edmundo González. But during election night, authorities declared Maduro the winner—a result rejected by the opposition and several international observers.

Following the election, thousands took to the streets to protest, and authorities arrested more than 2,000 people.

Going forward, the United States will govern Venezuela, according to Donald Trump. Exactly how this will be implemented remains unclear. Trump said the country would be run by “a group of people,” referring to those standing behind him, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Late Saturday night Norwegian time, a video allegedly showing Maduro was posted on one of the White House’s official X accounts. In the video, Maduro can be heard saying: “Good night, and Happy New Year.”