Institutional collapse and moral abandonment of the child protection system in Venezuela (2015-2025): a structural regression of social rights

Abstract

This article examines the systematic violation of the fundamental rights of children and adolescents in Venezuela, in the context of a prolonged institutional collapse and a profound humanitarian crisis, aggravated by the deliberate inoperativeness of the State under the regime of Nicolás Maduro. From a legal and philosophical perspective, it analyzes state omissions in the fulfillment of the rights to food, health, education and family protection, configuring these failures not as punctual dysfunctions, but as manifestations of structural violence and normative regressivity. The study, qualitative and documentary in nature, is based on reports from international organizations, normative sources and empirical data from the medical, journalistic, humanitarian and legal fields.  The differentiated impact of this crisis on children, as subjects of special protection, is interpreted through categories such as distributive justice, recognition and public responsibility. It is concluded that the Venezuelan State has structurally failed to comply with its duties of upholding rights, protection and non-discrimination, incurring in international responsibility. Finally, it proposes lines of action oriented towards mechanisms of international enforceability and a comprehensive reparation policy focused on children's rights.