Venezuela: New Realities, New Lessons
By Egberto Fernandez, Venezuela Career Advisor

Venezuela is one of the richest countries in the world, and it has been growing steadily for the last 40 years. Because of its natural resources and its democratic political system, Venezuela is known as a land of opportunities. Many immigrants from other cultures, including professionals, farmers, and technicians from such countries as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, and others, made this land their second home. A mixture of factors contributed to this. Venezuela is a country where there is to much to be done, and its people are distinctly friendly and open. Industries from all sectors growed and flourished based on the country's booming oil explorations. In the 1990s, Venezuela was comparable to Singapore, Korea, and Brazil in development and industry.

Today this situation has changed. As a result of a severe political and economic crisis, many of the small and medium-sized companies have closed. Venezuela's government-owned oil holding company PDVSA, formerly a model of a state-owned corporation, recently laid off 20,000 employees. Unemployment has been as high as 25 percent, and many young professionals, who are well qualified, have been leaving the country for Canada, the U.S., and Spain.

However, even with this dismal situation, it is still possible to envision opportunities and hope for a better future.

Lessons from Experience
A new political and economic leadership has emerged. There is more individual participation in political matters. Many middle-class professionals, now unemployed, are exploring self-employment or other creative ways to survive financially. Many company leaders are looking for new markets-especially in the lower economic sectors-in which to sell their products and services. In crisis there is opportunity. Venezuelans will adapt to this new situation and learn from the experience.

About Author
Egberto Fernandez is a human development specialist who has more than 20 years of experience with organizations and individuals. He combines his private career-coaching practice with other areas of human development, including facilitating group workshops in management, leadership, team building, and change management. For more information, e-mail Egberto.