page_title: Corruption in Venezuela
section_title: Bolivarian Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Corruption in Venezuela / Bolivarian Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Corruption score of Venezuela according to Transparency International.
context_page_description: The level of corruption in Venezuela is high by world standards and is prevalent throughout many levels of Venezuelan society. Discovery of oil in Venezuela in the early 20th century has worsened political corruption. The large amount of corruption and mismanagement in the country has resulted in severe economic difficulties, part of the crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela. Transparency International's 2019 Corruption Perception Index ranks the country in 173rd place out of 180 countries.
  A 2014 Gallup poll found that 75% of Venezuelans believed that corruption was widespread throughout the Venezuelan government. Discontent with corruption was cited by opposition-aligned groups as one of the reasons for the 2014 and 2017 Venezuelan protests.
context_section_description: The government in place following the Bolivarian Revolution that was initiated by Hugo Chávez has been frequently accused of corruption, abuse of the economy for personal gain, spreading "Bolivarian propaganda", buying the loyalty of the military, officials involved in drug trade, assisting terrorists, intimidation of the media, and human rights abuses of its citizens. According to Foreign Policy, Venezuela's corruption helped Hugo Chávez gain power and worsened under the Bolivarian government. Though the Bolivarian government states that they have implemented strict guidelines and laws to deter corruption, enforcement of such anti-corruption laws had been weak following the centralizing powers in the government, creating less accountability for corruption and making it prevalent throughout Venezuela.
  Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro was criticized for allowing corruption to remain in the government. In an article by The Washington Post, Venezuela's dire situation under Maduro was described as "a man-made disaster". The Bolivarian government was also seen as "a gangster state that doesn't know how to do anything other than sell drugs and steal money for itself" since Maduro's family members and close government officials were accused of being involved in illicit drug trade.
  The Corruption Perceptions Index, produced annually by Berlin-based NGO Transparency International (TNI) ranked Venezuela among the most corrupt countries in the world A 2013 survey by TNI in 2013 found that 68% of those believed that the government's efforts to fight corruption were ineffective; a majority of those surveyed said the government's effort against corruption were ineffective, that corruption had increased from 2007 to 2010, and perceived political parties, the judiciary, the parliament and the police to be the institutions most affected by corruption. In 2014, the World Justice Project ranked Venezuela's government in 99th place worldwide and gave it the worst ranking of countries in Latin America according to the Rule of Law Index 2014 and in 2015, the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index 2015 report placed Venezuela as having the worst rule of law in the world, with the majority of Venezuelans believing that the Venezuelan government was not held accountable under the law, was corrupt, lacked transparency and did not respect the privacy of citizens.
caption: Corruption score according to the Corruption Perceptions Index.
   Source: Transparency International
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