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El Libertador : Throughline Venezuela is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis as extreme poverty and violence have forced many to flee the country in recent years. How did a country once wealthy with oil resources fall into such turmoil? Through the lives of two revolutionaries turned authoritarian leaders separated by two centuries, we look back at the rise and fall of Venezuela.
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El Libertador

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El Libertador

Throughline

El Libertador

El Libertador

Listen · 56:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/723260665/732393131" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
  • Graffiti depicting late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar.
    Graffiti depicting late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar.
    LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images
  • South American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar (1783 - 1830), also known as "The Liberator."
    South American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar (1783 - 1830), also known as "The Liberator."
    Hulton Archive/Getty Images
  • Venezuelan presidential candidate Hugo Chavez is greeted by supporters as he arrives at his campaign closing rally in Caracas in December, 1998. Some 400,000 people reportedly attended the rally. Chavez would go on to win four presidential terms in total.
    Venezuelan presidential candidate Hugo Chavez is greeted by supporters as he arrives at his campaign closing rally in Caracas in December, 1998. Some 400,000 people reportedly attended the rally. Chavez would go on to win four presidential terms in total.
    Bertrand Parres/AFP/Getty Images
  • Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shows a digital rendering of Simon Bolivar from genetic data on Bolivar's birthday on July 24, 2012. Chavez had Bolivar's remains exhumed in 2010.
    Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shows a digital rendering of Simon Bolivar from genetic data on Bolivar's birthday on July 24, 2012. Chavez had Bolivar's remains exhumed in 2010.
    Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images
  • People fill containers with gasoline after waiting for hours at a gas station in Caracas on December 21, 2002. This was the twentieth day of a general strike protesting the rule of President Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's struggling oil industry.
    People fill containers with gasoline after waiting for hours at a gas station in Caracas on December 21, 2002. This was the twentieth day of a general strike protesting the rule of President Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's struggling oil industry.
    Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

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Venezuela is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis as extreme poverty and violence have forced many to flee the country in recent years. How did a country once wealthy with oil resources fall into such turmoil? Through the lives of two revolutionaries turned authoritarian leaders separated by two centuries, we look back at the rise and fall of Venezuela.

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