September 5th will mark 18 months since the passing of revolutionary icon Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. A torrid aftermath has gripped the nation under the guidance of Nicolas Maduro. An upheaval of values in Venezuela during Chavez’s 15 year tenure looks to have alienated a huge proportion of the electorate.

Hugo Chavez championed the redistribution of wealth and started at the heart of the oil industry. The oil companies were nationalised and in turn, Chavez used those profits to re-invest in the poorest communities of Venezuela.

Ciudad Caribia is a perfect example. A planned community with a potential population of 100,000 is still undergoing construction. After serious floods in 2010, Chavez allocated these homes to those made homeless. There are currently 10,000 inhabitants as of June.

This is just one example of why so many of the poorest citizens of Venezuela are so grateful to the Partido Socialista de Venezuela.

However, Maduro’s governing party is now facing an unprecedented crisis. For the first time, they now have to import crude oil. Venezuela and the surrounding Andean Region have some of the most valuable oil reserves on Earth. Now, due to the weakness of their national oil company PDVSA, they now need foreign materials to revitalise their own crude oil production.

PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela) has struggled to meet the increasing demand of a nation gripped by economic crisis.

In 2001, Hugo Chavez fired almost 10,000 PDVSA workers who took part in a protest against the politicisation of the state run oil company. At the heart of those dismissals were the managers and technicians, those that made their oil industry tick.

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PDVSA has lacked the technical investment to prosper in a high profit oil market.

Venezuela has subsequently failed to fully capitalise on soaring oil prices in the last decade. The decision to import crude oil serves as an admission of the disorder Venezuela faces.

To lose profit on their wealthiest export will only pile more misery onto a stagnating economy. Figures released by the United Nations this week showed that whilst Latin America enjoyed a tremendous transformation in their goal to decrease poverty – halving that figure in a decade – the middle class is more squeezed than ever.

Citizens are neither classified in poverty, nor able to reach a stable middle class wage. The number of ‘vulnerable’ individuals in Venezuela – as categorised by the United Nations – has risen by 10.6%.

It is never any wonder why Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez connected so well. Together, the two enigmas tied Venezuela and Cuba in an unprecedented alliance in Latin America. Almost instantaneously, attention was drawn to the democratic principles of their radically modified nations.

The national elections in October 2012 sparked many claims that the vote was corrupted under a new fully automated process. The most high profile response to the case was from former US President Jimmy Carter, who argued Venezuela’s electoral process is one of the ‘best in the world’.

However, President Carter may be less complimentary about other measures taken this year.

Much has been made of the state control that the media has. Nicolas Maduro has his own talk show, where he outlines his proposals to Congress. He used ‘En Contacto Con Maduro’ to explain his reasons for believing opposition figure Maria Corina Machado has plotted an assassination attempt against him.

The statistics do tell a different story, as government officials argue only 5% of media is state owned. However, this past year it is impossible to ignore the attempted censorship over the student movement attempting to oust Nicolas Maduro from power. February 12th saw thousands of students take to the streets on National Youth Day to protest high levels of insecurity and soaring inflation rates.

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The momentum of the opposition movement has stuttered in recent months.

Immediately, Twitter was disabled to users to prevent information being spread. Though it was restored shortly after, images were not able to shared.

Colombian news channel NTN24 was one of a rare number of stations broadcasting coverage of protests and interviews with opposition figures. Leopoldo Lopez used the network as a platform to express his views on the unfolding demonstrations. The channel consequently had their signal disconnected to Venezuelan citizens.

In July 2010, the Venezuelan government acquired a 25.8% stake in Globovision. A once staunch critic of the government has now changed its editorial line, leading to many reporters quitting the station. Editors removed segments from a recording with Mario Vargas Llosa referring to the late Hugo Chávez, prompting talk show host Shirley Varnagy to resign. She tweeted, “I will not be silenced on my program. Today was my last day at Globovisión”.

Venezuela ranked alongside Honduras and Cuba as countries with the lowest freedom of expression. The Freedom House Rankings 2014 shows Venezuela to have the second lowest freedom of expression with a score of 78/100. Furthermore, there is no longer a cohesive opposition to challenge the state.

Leopoldo Lopez - leader of the Voluntad Popular - was jailed in February for his role in encouraging protests against the administration. He is currently being held in a military prison.

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Leopoldo Lopez has become a figurehead of oppresion in Venezuela.

Several mayors have been prosecuted and sentenced to jail terms for their failure to curb violent protests.

What remains is a nation in gridlock. Whilst many social programs survive from the Chavez investment, the extensive queues for basic commodities and soaring inflation – making Caracas the sixth most expensive city in the world – creates a pressed middle class and poor infrastructure to deal with high insecurity levels.

The lack of effective oversight may ultimately prove costly for Venezuela as a nation.

The prospects of recovery look distant without bi-partisan measures. With the opposition movement dwindling after vast oppression, Venezuelans face little alternative at the ballot boxes. The lack of oil revenues look set to plunge the Andean nation further into crisis without any short term fix.