The Role of Sanctions in Venezuela’s Collapse: A Critical Comment on Santos et al. (2026)

Santos, Morales and Partipilo Cornielles claim that the bulk of the decline in Venezuela’s income preceded the imposition of economic sanctions and that the rate at which the economy contracted did not accelerate after sanctions. Both claims are false. Even if they were true, they would support the authors’ conclusions only if one were to disregard the effect of oil prices on the Venezuelan economy.