Long before greedy corporations dominated the oil industry, the indigenous people of Venezuela used the natural resource for medicinal and construction purposes. Around the end of the 15th century, Spanish explorers visiting the coast of Venezuela observed it and introduced its various uses to Europe. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century, however, that the first oil well was drilled in Venezuela and oil became a major export product. Before that, agricultural exports dominated the economy. As interest in fossil fuels grew, so did the involvement of international politics, leading to the formation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or simply OPEC, in the 1960s (Hellinger). Anticipating its 172nd meeting in 2017, this intergovernmental configuration continues to boast communication, cooperation and planning for a sustainable future. On the domestic front, the state company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) was born during the nationalization of oil and experienced a change of command during the renationalization of the sector wanted by former president Hugo Chávez. As of 2016, Venezuela has the largest oil reserve in the world and ranks eighth in oil exports globally (Indice Mundi). Reflecting on historical and current events, it is demonstrated that the close relationship between politics and oil has manifested itself through Venezuela's nationalization of the oil industry. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the time the first oil well was drilled, Venezuela had few resources with which to exploit the recent surge in oil, and foreign oil corporations flocked to Venezuela. Despite the unequally high percentage of revenue gobbled up by oil companies, these oil exports created a wave of economic growth and brought Venezuela onto the international political stage. Due to the oil boom, agricultural exports declined and industrialization decelerated; this almost total dependence on oil, known as the “Dutch disease”, would prove highly disadvantageous for the economy. During this period, the growing middle class was pushing for a shift towards electoral democracy. As World War II drew to a close in Europe, Venezuela was going through a reorganization of its oil industry, centered on dividing profits equally between Venezuela and the dominant oil companies. Over the next decade, it became clear that the combined supply of oil from Venezuela and the oil-rich nations of the Middle East would be severely detrimental to oil prices if immediate action was not taken. Therefore, Perez Alfonzo and other Venezuelan diplomats met with officials from Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia to draft OPEC, an international oil organization that has recruited more members since its founding in 1960 (Wilpert). The year of the oil crisis in 1973 marks the beginning of oil's involvement with politics on an international level. Instead of suffering from the oil embargo in the Middle East, Venezuela has prospered economically. This significantly strengthened the ongoing attempt to nationalize the oil industry, a process that lasted nearly 20 years in its entirety (Parra 175). Its culmination occurred in 1976, when Venezuela created the state holding company PDVSA. At that time, the president tried to turn Venezuela into aindustrial supremacy and went into heavy debt to secure future earnings. As a result of these poor fiscal decisions, the Venezuelan economy collapsed, allowing Hugo Chávez, who had no ties to a political party, to enter the political sphere. The charismatic candidate's glorification of Simón Bolívar aroused a sense of nationalism, and Chávez was admired by the lower classes. This, combined with campaign promises to end poverty and social exclusion, influenced the majority; all of which led to his election in 1998 (Hellinger). During his first years as president, Chávez rewrote the constitution; reform oil policies and strengthen the role of OPEC. Realizing that he would need the guild of other oil-producing nations, Chávez urged the leaders of OPEC and non-OPEC countries to stay within production quotas. This however posed a problem between PDVSA and Chávez, as the former continued to ignore and overshoot OPEC quotas (Wilpert). The struggle between the two entities led to a military coup that temporarily removed Chávez from office. Just three days later, Chávez was reinstated and unrest with PDVSA continued, involving a nationwide strike and attacks against opposition leaders. The chaos reached its peak when the Oil Minister was granted the power to impose executive action on the state holding company. A year after the conflict with PDVSA began, the government effectively took the reins and the managers involved in the strike were replaced with members of the government's Ministry of Energy and Mines. Despite this upheaval, Chávez managed to mend internal divisions and win a re-election. He achieved this by demonizing PDVSA's pre-government takeover motivations and exaggerating its interest in the demands of the lower classes (Wiseman 146). One of the benefits of Chávez's imposition of authoritative control over PDVSA was the strengthening of OPEC and the stability of oil. prices. Furthermore, by shifting oil revenue collection from taxation to royalty payments, PDVSA's efficiency was increased. On the other hand, with the government at the forefront of PDVSA, Venezuela became more bureaucratic than before and most of the jobs were held in the government sector. This not only limited citizens in their ability to choose from a variety of occupations, but also blocked creativity in terms of creating new businesses (Wilpert). Furthermore, by tying administration to business, corruption in both spheres has worsened. The problems resulting from dependence on oil as an export product are worsened by the nationalization of the commodity. Believing it was getting more revenue from oil exports than it actually was, the government spent frivolously over the years, leading to even more debt than ever before. Furthermore, the lack of transparency in the treasury has led to a deterioration of social programs. While oil revenues were supposed to be set aside for healthcare and educational institutions, corrupt social programs merely lined the pockets of presidents (Coronel). At one point, the Venezuelan Energy Minister even attempted to use PDVSA as a political platform to support Chávez, essentially turning the president's support into a clause for workers' jobs (BBC News). Even though Hugo Chávez is dead and a new leadership has taken over, the economic albatross continues to persist. Citizens are passionate about the state of their economy; this feeling was reflected in the last Venezuelan elections, in which the current.