The arrest of Nicolás Maduro by US special forces in January 2025 marked not an ending but the violent acceleration of Venezuela's two-decade spiral into state failure. As the dictator was extracted from Caracas amid international condemnation and domestic chaos, the fundamental question remained unanswered: how did a nation sitting atop the world's largest proven oil reserves—larger than those of Saudi Arabia—become synonymous with hyperinflation, mass starvation, and the largest refugee crisis in the Western Hemisphere's modern history?
The answer lies not in a single catastrophic failure but in the systematic construction of a collapse. From Hugo Chávez's charismatic revolution through Maduro's brutal consolidation, Venezuela exemplifies the resource curse at its most devastating—a case study in how oil wealth, coupled with authoritarian governance and criminal state capture, can transform promise into humanitarian catastrophe. The exodus of over 7.7 million Venezuelans represents more than one-fifth of the nation's population, a migration wave that has reshaped the demographic landscape from Colombia to the United States.