This article is adapted from AQ’s special report on the Summit of the Americas. Click here for the full list of countries.
Venezuela
President: Nicolás Maduro
Term: 2013-2025
Maduro has consolidated power and repressed critics throughout his years in office, leading more than 6 million Venezuelans to flee the country’s dire humanitarian and security situation. Maduro’s party won key governorships in November 2021’s regional elections, which were widely considered neither free nor fair. Talks between the government and the fractured opposition in Mexico City last September were suspended. Inflation remains high, but a years-long run of hyper-inflation ended in early 2022. High oil prices, an increase in crude oil production, and dollarization have contributed to an economic rebound after a 35% decline in GDP in 2019, according to the IMF. The Maduro government has promoted mining in Venezuela’s Amazon, contributing to environmental degradation and violence in mining areas. Conflict is common along the Venezuela-Colombia border, where demobilized Colombian guerrillas and organized criminal groups fight to control territory.
the data is color-coded:
High performing Middle performing
Low performing
Governance
| President’s approval rating | N/A | |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity to Combat Corruption Index ranking (out of 15 Latin American countries) | 15 | |
| Share of adults who support democracy* | N/A | |
| Military expenditure as % GDP | 0.2% |
Economy
| Projected GDP growth 2022 | 5.3% | |
|---|---|---|
| Projected inflation 2022 | 606.6% | |
| Total trade as % of GDP | N/A | |
| Unemployment | N/A | |
| Share of labor force in informal economy | N/A | |
| Share of population living in extreme poverty | N/A |
Society
| Population (millions) | 28.7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Homicide rate (per 100,000 people) | 40.9 | |
| Annual carbon dioxide emissions (millions of tons) | 84.6 | |
| Share of public social spending on education | N/A | |
| Global press freedom ranking (out of 180 countries) | 148 |
Argentina | Brazil | Chile | Colombia | Dominican Republic | Ecuador | Guatemala | Mexico | Peru
*NOTE: Support for democracy reflects percentage who agree that democracy is preferable to any other form of government.
Sources: Support for democracy: Latin American Public Opinion Project (2021); Capacity to Combat Corruption Index (2022); military expenditure: Stockholm International Peace Institute (2019); GDP, inflation: Bloomberg (March); population, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (2020); Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index (2021); homicide rate: InSight Crime (2021); CO2 emissions: Global Carbon Project (2020)
