Bolibourgeoisie (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBolivarian and

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

) or Bolichicos (English: Boliboys) are terms describing the new bourgeois created by the

Venezuelan government Venezuela is a federal presidential republic. The chief executive is the President of Venezuela who is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. Legislative power is vested in the National Assemb ...

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

and '' Chavismo'', made up of people who became rich under the Chávez administration. The term was coined by journalist Juan Carlos Zapata to "define the

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

that has developed under the protection of the Chávez government". Corruption among the bolibourgeoisie and Chávez-administration sympathizers has moved billions of dollars with the complicity of public officials, with some becoming rich under the guise of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

. Henry Ramos Allup, a leader of the opposition party Democratic Action, has said corruption in the financial industry and other sectors of Venezuela is tied to government officials of the Chávez administration. Following the death of Chávez, the bolibourgeoisie became more powerful and held more influence over Venezuela during the presidency of

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019. Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...

. Many figures of the bolibourgeoisie were included in the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...

scandal.

Background

When President Chávez attained power in Venezuela, he faced opposition from the traditional elite within the country. Chávez created a new elite with access to dollars, which led to the establishment of a new wealthy class. During Chávez's tenure, he seized thousands of properties and businesses while also reducing the footprint of foreign companies. Venezuela's economy was then largely state-run and was operated by military officers that had their business and government affairs connected. Senior fellow at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

, Harold Trinkunas, stated that involving the military in business was "a danger", with Trinkunas explaining that the Venezuelan military "has the greatest ability to coerce people, into business like they have". According to ''

Bloomberg Business ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'', " showering contracts on former military officials and pro-government business executives, Chávez put a new face on the system of patronage".

Government officials

Alejandro Andrade, who was appointed Minister of Finance by President Chávez, owned a private Learjet 45 worth $10 million that was registered in Delaware. He had invested in horses for

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

, having a horse farm attributed to Andrade's firm in South Carolina. Alejandro's son,

Emanuel Andrade Emanuel Alejandro Andrade Colmenares (born 11 September 1996) is a Venezuelan Olympic show jumping rider. Career He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where he finished 61st in the individual competition, collecting 13 pe ...

, was also sponsored by his father and is a decorated show jumping jockey and owned multiple horses that are worth up to millions of dollars and studs that can earn profits from breeding. Andrade also hired a public relations firm, Starting Gate Communications, an organization that specializes in equestrian activities for his son. The brother of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) politician

Jesse Chacón Jesse Alonso Chacón Escamillo (born 9 November 1965) is a Venezuelan politician, engineer, and former military officer. Chacón participated in the November 1992 coup attempt the second attempted coup of that year, when he took part in the occup ...

, Arné Chacón, established a stable in Florida called Gadu Racing Stable Corp. and had horses compete in races in the United States until he was arrested in 2009. Brother of Ronald Sanchez the National Superintendent of Securities of Venezuela, Tomás Sánchez had a second stable, Rontos Racing Stable Corp., created that was signed by the same Gadu agent two months later. Ronald Sanchez was also accused of being involved in an extortion scandal in Miami by Venezuelan banker Thomas Vasquez in a testimony involving the case. The Rontos Racing Stable Corp. also own an apartment in the Trump Towers Miami building that was quoted at $625,000 in 2011.

Business executives

Ricardo Fernández Barrueco was a "modest business entrepreneur" in Caracas until he helped Chávez circumvent oil strikes initiated in 2002. In less than ten years, he had gained a net worth of $1.6 billion and created a combination of about 70 companies. He owned businesses in Panama, Ecuador and the United States and bought multiple financial institutions in 2008. In Miami, Fernandez bought a luxury apartment in the

Jade at Brickell Bay The United States, U.S. city of Miami, Florida has the List of tallest buildings in the United States, country's third-tallest skyline (after New York City and List of tallest buildings in Chicago, Chicago) with 439 high-rises, over 100 of ...

, a home to many celebrities. In late 2009, Fernandez was arrested in Venezuela for unknown reasons and his companies were nationalized by President Chávez. He was released from prison in May 2014. Víctor Vargas Irausquín is a Venezuelan banker who helped the Chávez administration raise funds to finance Venezuela's budget. According to the United States Department of State, Vargas was "said to have made a profit off those negotiations" and was described as "a banker whose star has risen greatly during the Chávez presidency". Vargas was also assisted by the Venezuelan government for abiding by their policies during the Venezuelan banking crisis of 2009–2010, when more than a half-dozen private banking institutions were closed.

Chávez family

While Chávez was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, he stayed in the most expensive locations, with hundreds of individuals composing his entourage that included masseuses, chefs, tailors and Cuban doctors. Chávez and his family also wore designer clothes along with high-end fashion accessories and jewelry, with brand names including

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmetic ...

and Patek Philippe & Co. among others. The daughters of Chávez have been seen with celebrities such as

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, traveling internationally visiting places such as Disneyland Paris,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Patagonia while also attending concerts of

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

. Members of the Chávez family live in a suburb of Barinas, Chávez's birthplace, occupying a mansion that is enclosed off from the public by walls topped with

razor wire Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products. Razor wire is much sharper th ...

. Asdrubal Chávez, Chávez's cousin, is vice president of production and trade of

PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, ) (English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production ...

and is in charge of the majority of oil contracts. Chávez's brothers also hold positions in the Venezuelan government. Argenisis is the president of the state-run energy company CORPOELEC and Hannibal is the mayor of Sabaneta. In 2004, the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...

estimates showed that the family was possibly worth $140 million. In 2013, it was estimated that the Chávez family had liquid assets of about $550 million in multiple international bank accounts. Though Chávez denounced hypocritical socialists and criticized those who bought luxury vehicles such as

Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...

s, he and his family acquired multiple vehicles during his presidency, including aircraft such as the

Bombardier Challenger 605 The Bombardier Challenger 600 series is a family of business jets developed by Canadair after a Bill Lear concept, and then produced from 1986 by its new owner, Bombardier Aerospace. At the end of 1975, Canadair began funding the developmen ...

and

Gulfstream G550 The Gulfstream G550 is a business jet aircraft produced by General Dynamics' Gulfstream Aerospace unit in Savannah, Georgia, US. The certification designation is GV-SP. A version with reduced fuel capacity was marketed as the G500. Gulfstream ...

and automobiles like the Bentley Mulsanne and Chevrolet LUV D-Max as well as multiple Hummers and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

vehicles. It is estimated that the Chávez family owns 17 estates totaling more than 100,000 acres. Each estate cost between $400,000 and $700,000, with the estates having their own roads. According to state legislator and Chávez critic Wilmer Azuaje, members of Chávez's family live in mansions in Alto Barinas and children of the family have their own waiting staff in their school's dining hall.

Maduro and Flores families

The families of President

and his wife

Cilia Flores Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro (born 15 October 1956) is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician. She is married to the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, making her the First Lady. Since 2015, she has also been a deputy in the National Assembly of ...

have benefitted from supporting the Bolivarian government. Flores has been accused of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

with individuals claiming that several of her close relatives became employees of the National Assembly while she was in office. Two nephews of Cilia Flores, Efraín Antonio Campos Flores and Francisco Flores de Freites, have also been involved in illicit activities such as drug trafficking, with some of their funds possibly assisting President Maduro's presidential campaign in the

2013 Venezuelan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 14 April 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013. Nicolás Maduro—who had assumed the role of acting president since Chávez's death—was declared winner with a narrow ...

and potentially for the

2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution, ...

s. One informant stated that the two would often fly out of Terminal 4 of Simon Bolivar Airport, a terminal reserved for the President. Walter Jacobo Gavidia Flores, Flores' son who is a Caracas judge, is being investigated for relations to drug trafficking as well. Flores' son, whose last salary through 2015 was less than $1,000, made multiple international trips in 2015 and 2016 on private flights costing approximately $20,000 per trip. Gavidia Flores spent most of his time in the United States, though he also took chartered flights to France, Germany, Malta and Spain. Carlos Aem Flores, a relative of Flores, has also been linked to her two nephews involved in drug trafficking. Carlos Aem Flores, a self-described "producer", has been seen at various government facilities "working" close to Bolivarian officials such as President Maduro and the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. He has been seen sporting luxury brands of

, Hublot,

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

and Rolex and driving a special Transformers edition Chevrolet Camaro, a Ferrari F430, a Mercedes-AMG and a Porsche 911 GT2. On 14 March 2015 at the wedding of Jose Zalt, a Syrian-Venezuelan businessman that owns the clothing brand Wintex, Maduro's son Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra was seen being showered with American dollars at the gathering in the luxurious Gran Melia Hotel in Caracas. The incident caused outrage among Venezuelans who believed this to be hypocritical of President Maduro, especially since many Venezuelans were experiencing hardships due to the poor state of the economy and due to the President's public denouncements of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

. In March 2017, ''

Runrunes Runrunes is a news, opinion and analysis website dedicated to Venezuelan topics. The website was founded by Venezuelan investigative journalist Nelson Bocaranda. History Bocaranda has worked for several Venezuelan media organizations since his ...

'' reported that

Citgo Citgo Petroleum Corporation (or Citgo, stylized as CITGO) is a United States–based refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. Headquartered in the Energy Corridor area o ...

, a subsidiary of Venezuela's PDVSA, was loaned money to purchase two private aircraft for a total of $119 million. This occurred days after President Maduro called for assistance from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, asking for help to combat medicine shortages. The first aircraft, a

Bombardier Global 6000 The Bombardier Global Express is a large cabin, 6,000 nmi / 11,100 km range business jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aviation (formerly Bombardier Aerospace). Announced in October 1991, it first flew on 13 October 1996, recei ...

costing $54 million, would be used by Venezuela's Minister of Energy and Mines Nelson Martínez while the second aircraft, a

Bombardier Global 8000 The Bombardier Global 7500 and Global 8000 are ultra long-range business jets developed by Bombardier Aviation (formerly Bombardier Aerospace). Announced in October 2010, the program was delayed by two years by a wing redesign. The 7500, origi ...

costing $65 million, would be used by President Maduro after its development was finalized. CITGO would then deliver its

Dassault Falcon 2000 The Dassault Falcon 2000 is a business jet produced by French Dassault Aviation, a member of its Falcon business jet line. Developed from the Falcon 900 trijet, the smaller twinjet has less range. Development The Falcon 900 fuselage was s ...

to be used by Maduro as well after receiving the Global 6000.

International lifestyle

The bolibourgeoisie have enjoyed financial and entertainment benefits in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Following investigations surrounding their acts of corruption, they have begun to move their assets to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. In Florida, bolibourgeois are favored clients of real estate businesses, private jet companies, luxury car dealers, fine horse breeders and luxury stores. According to a business owner of an electronics store at the

Bal Harbour Shops Bal Harbour Shops is an open-air shopping mall in Bal Harbour, a suburb of Miami Beach, Florida. With sales of $3,400 per square foot in 2022, it is one of the highest grossing shopping centers in the world. Notable retailers and restaurants incl ...

of Miami Beach, the success of selling luxury electronics made of valuable metals and gems is attributed to bolibourgeois, with some buying gold iPads and gold cellular phones priced between $8,000 and $45,000. Bolibourgeois had also bought luxury automobiles from foreign countries, including luxury Hummer SUVs and Rolls-Royce cars.

Investigations

The United States and the Lima Group have led efforts to discover assets illegally acquired and held by the bolibourgeoisie. Alejandro Andrade, who was appointed Minister of Finance by President Chávez, was accused of using public funds by opposition deputy

Ismael García Ismael García (born in 1954) is a Venezuelan politician. He was the leader of PODEMOS, a socialist party which won the second most seats in the National Assembly of Venezuela in the 2005 election. Although the party formerly supported the prog ...

and was described as participating in a "network of corruption" by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

. In March 2018, it was reported that United States authorities were investigating Andrade for money laundering and funneling Venezuelan state funds into his own interests. In November 2018, Andrade was sentenced to ten years in prison by the United States for accepting at least $1 billion in bribes and money laundering, resulting in having his assets seized. These assets included a mansion in Florida, a group of classic cars and over a dozen race horses. Husband and wife Adrían Velásquez and Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén were arrested in Spain in 2018 for allegedly holding over $4 billion of Venezuelan state funds in

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

and

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

. Velásquez had served as a bodyguard for President Chávez while Diaz Guillén was the successor of Andrade serving as Minister of Finance. Raúl Gorrín, who acquired Venezuelan media company Globovisión and turned it into a pro-Maduro network, was indicted for money laundering and bribery in November 2018. The scandal known as the '' Maletinazo'' also generated criticism in which the government of Chávez was alleged to be sending state oil money from PDVSA to finance the political campaign of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina. On 12 May 2022, Claudia Patricia Díaz Guillén was extradited from Spain to South Florida to face charges of accepting millions in bribes from a billionaire businessman.

References

External links

Website showing luxury watches owned by Bolivarian officials
{{Chávez presidency Bolivarian Revolution Corruption in Venezuela Hugo Chávez Society of Venezuela Bourgeoisie