This book examines the impact of the Venezuelan oil industry on the social and political development of the country. Although the book spans the oil industry’s development from its beginning in the nineteenth century to the arrival of the current administration of Hugo Chávez Frias in 1999, the author concentrates mainly on events that took place during the Juan Vicente Gómez dictatorship (1908 – 35), when the country became the second largest crude oil producer in the world. The book tries to prove that the oil industry was the modernizing conduit for the country, but there is no adequate definition of what is meant by modernization. The few examples given refer to the haphazard development of townships that became cities. Possible indicators of modernity, such as the introduction of electricity, banking facilities, or sports played by the oil community do not help. The first bank in Maracaibo was opened in...

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