ABSTRACT
A distinctive characteristic of the Venezuelan state is the relative abundance of its resources, derived largely from taxes on petroleum exports. The continual increase in the level of taxation on the companies allowed the Venezuelan state to appropriate a significant portion of petroleum profits, which it subsequently distributed for domestic development purposes. The principal weakness of social policy is the absence of an integrated view of the social and the economic spheres that takes into account. The program of aid to the informal economy was supported by nongovernmental organizations in the areas of credit, training, and technical assistance. One of the most significant changes in social policies in the 1990s has been the move to decentralize some services as part of a more general process of decentralization impelled by the Comision Presidencial para la Reforma del Estado and endorsed by political actors at the regional level.
