Oil Rent Appropriation, Capital Accumulation, and Social Expenditure in Venezuela during Chavism

Abstract

Differential and absolute ground rent as extraordinary profit that remains permanent due to private ownership of non-reproducible conditions of production (Marx 2000) may be disputed by different classes and fractions of classes. The history of Venezuela can be analyzed as the history of this dispute over oil rent, mediated by the State. In this article, we will first study the amount of oil rent and the different ways by which it is appropriated, and second, its impact on capital accumulation of the industrial and non-oil sector as a whole. Last, we will analyze the particularities of oil rent distribution under the Chavist government compared to this distribution under former governments and its impact on the working class's standard of living.