The following article pretends to analyze the intervention of the Venezuelan State in the field of economy and its eff ects on economic growth. The study covers the time span from the approval of the constitution in 1811 until the present day. The main conclusion is that oil exploitation in Venezuela provided resources that facilitated the intervention of the State in order to motivate economic growth. However, from 1974 onwards, the abundance of oil resources was used to forge a predatory State, it shunned away private sectors and lead the country towards an economic social crisis that was never seen before.