The Trump administration’s apparent planning for a potential regime change in Venezuela is inseparable from that country’s economy. The U.S. government claims that Nicolás Maduro’s regime has become a narcostate, relying on the production and export of drugs to stay afloat. What’s clear is that Venezuela’s traditional reliance on oil revenue has come undone—and that the United States has itself played a role in that development. Has oil always defined the Venezuelan economy? What accounts for