In the early hours of the morning, the sound of explosions shattered the silence over Caracas. Windows shook. Car alarms screamed. Fighter jets roared across the sky. People woke in terror, grabbing their phones and calling loved ones. No one knew what was happening, only that something historic was unfolding.

Within hours, the unthinkable was announced: Nicolás Maduro, the man who had ruled Venezuela with an iron grip for more than a decade, had been captured in a military operation. For millions of Venezuelans, it felt like the end of an era. For others, it was the beginning of something far more uncertain.

But Venezuela’s story did not begin with explosions.

It began with oil.

For decades, Venezuela possessed the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once the richest country in Latin America, a place where wealth flowed from beneath the earth in endless rivers of black gold. Cities expanded, highways stretched across the country, and modern skyscrapers rose in Caracas. Venezuela was not just prosperous—it was envied.

Then everything fell apart.