Venezuela: 58 years in 58 news stories, 1979-1989

Feb 3, 2026, 10:47 AM

This article is part 2 in a 4 part series uncovering U.S. national news coverage of Venezuela from 1968 to 2025.

Oil, revolution, and connections to the Middle East

As the energy crisis continued, the news networks reported on newsworthy events in Venezuela, South America, and beyond [10]. The summer of 1979 included a sensational story of the release of William Niehous, an American held for three years by the Venezuelan Marxist group Argimiro Gabaldon Revolutionary Command [11]. In addition to reports focused on Latin America, Venezuela's membership in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ties the country to news reports on oil production, prices, embargoes, and geo-politics of the Middle East, where OPEC was most prominent [12, 13]. This connection is most evident with Iran's Revolution and Hostage Crisis, which is often reported adjacent to revolutions in South America [14].

Another example came in a 1981 CBS report by Dan Rather and Richard Roth on airplane hijackings in Libya and Venezuela in separate but similar incidents [15]. The South American country also occasionally appeared in reports of the Iran-Contra affair as one of several countries used by the CIA to fund and arm pro-U.S. revolutionaries [16].

Throughout the 1980s, reports on hijackings and terrorist activities connected to Venezuela continued to emerge but reports on oil exports slowly gave way to stories about drugs. The first spike in illicit narcotics news from Venezuela happened in 1983 in an unexpected form: sports. The 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas was scandalized when Venezuelan authorities exposed U.S. competitors use of steroids [17]. In 1984, Peter Jennings and ABC correspondents reported on special assignment from Colombia about a drug war that involved Venezuela as a conduit for drug trafficking [18]. Venezuela is rarely profiled directly for its role in the “War on Drugs”, but it is often listed as one of the sources for cocaine and marijuana [19]. Meanwhile, Venezuela was identified as one of the key players in Latin American revolutions during this period.

Riots in Caracas grabbed U.S. TV news headlines beginning in February 1989, continuing a narrative of revolution most immediately preceded by the civil war in Nicaragua [20, 21]. This event was tied to the larger problems facing Latin America, including foreign debt, threats to democracy and freedom by communism, and drug trafficking [22].