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CARACAS.\u2013<\/strong> The arrival of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/strong> to power in Venezuela, first as acting president after the death of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez and then elected in 2013, coincided with the end of the oil boom that for years allowed a strong state investment in sports. Since then, the sports sector has traveled a path marked by the economic crisis, the reduction of resources and the deterioration of infrastructure<\/strong>, despite some individual achievements of high international impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may be interested in:<\/a><\/strong>Dominican Republic rules out changes in its relationship with Venezuela after the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a><\/p>\n\n\nDuring the years of high oil prices, the Venezuelan State allocated significant funds to sporting events. An example was the 2007 Copa Am\u00e9rica<\/strong>, for which nearly 1.2 billion dollars<\/strong> were invested in stadiums and infrastructure, in a context of economic growth that reached 8.8% of GDP<\/strong> that same year. However, by 2013, when Maduro formally assumed the Presidency, growth had been reduced to 1.35%<\/strong>, anticipating a deep recession that would culminate in hyperinflation exceeding 130,000% in 2018<\/strong>.\n\n\n Baseball<\/strong>, the country’s most popular sport and one of its main international showcases, has been one of the most affected. Economic and logistical difficulties prevented Venezuela from hosting the Caribbean Series in 2018 and 2019<\/strong>, editions that should have been held in Mexico and Panama.<\/p>\n\n\nIt wasn’t until 2023<\/strong> that the country once again hosted the tournament, an occasion that served for the inauguration of the Monumental Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar Stadium<\/strong> in Caracas, in an attempt to regain prominence on the regional stage.\n\n\n CARACAS.\u2013 The arrival of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro to power in Venezuela, first as acting president after the death of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez and then elected in 2013, coincided with the end of the oil boom that for years allowed a strong state investment in sports. Since then, the sports sector has traveled a path marked by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[611,40231,15851,40853,110],"class_list":["post-497277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports","tag-deultimominuto","tag-dominican-republic","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-thetruthnewspaper","tag-venezuela"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-25mB","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","dum_api":{"author_name":"EFE","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1200px-EFE_logo.svg-96x96.png","categories_name":["Sports"],"featured_media_url":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Achievements in the Midst of Adversity<\/h3>\n\n\nDespite the complex environment, Venezuelan sport experienced some of its greatest recent milestones during Maduro’s term. These include Yulimar Rojas’ gold medal<\/strong> at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021) and the runner-up finish of the U-20 national soccer team<\/strong> in South Korea, under the technical direction of Rafael Dudamel.\n\nHowever, the increasing statization of sport<\/strong> and lack of resources led many athletes to seek to develop their careers outside the country, maintaining their link with Venezuela from abroad. Rojas herself, one of the most emblematic figures of Venezuelan athletics, resides in Spain and competes under the discipline of FC Barcelona<\/strong>.\n\n\n
Declining Infrastructure<\/h3>\n\n\nThe economic collapse also severely hit sports venues. The fall in GDP \u2014 which plummeted to 30% in 2020<\/strong> \u2014 and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans further reduced the capacity for public investment. As a result, emblematic facilities such as the Br\u00edgido Iriarte stadium<\/strong> in Caracas or the Guatamare Olympic pools<\/strong> in Margarita show advanced deterioration.\n\n\n
Baseball, a symbol of the crisis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
An Uncertain Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\nThe balance of Venezuelan sports in the era of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro reflects a contrasting reality: individual successes that coexist with a weakened system<\/strong>, affected by the economic crisis, the emigration of talent, and structural precariousness. Although figures like Yulimar Rojas have kept Venezuela on the world sports map, the challenge of rebuilding a solid base for national sports remains an outstanding task.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"