Venezuella
Democracy
Dictatorship
Dictator(s)
Nicolas Maduro
President of Venezuela
Is scrambling to keep control of power as his country falls into an economic crisis deeper and deeper.
Works Cited
Corruption of Democracy
From 1958 to 1999, Venezuela was a democracy
Democratic Action
Was a democratic party creatine in 1941 during the early of years of Venezuela's democratic establishment
It led the government during 1945 - 1948
Created essentially venezuela's first democratic period.
4 Venezuellan presidents came from the Democratic Action from the 1960s to 1990s
By the end of the 1990s though, democratic influence began to dwindle as corruption and poverty began with oil wealth that poured in during the 1970's.
Soon though, at the end of 90's, this wealth developed into a debt crisis putting Venezuela into a general state of poverty allowing corruption to flourish in this stagnant economic environment.
Democratic Actions Last President
Carlos Andrés Pérez was impeached for corruption in 1993 and spent several years in prison as a result.
COPEI
Social Christian Party in Venezuela
COPEI provided two Venezuelan presidents, Rafael Caldera, 1969-1974, and Luis Herrera Campins, 1979-1983.
Collapse of Confidence in Traditional Venezuelan political parties.
Confidence in the traditional parties collapsed enough that Rafael Caldera won the 1933 presidential election with about 30% of the vote, representing a new electoral coalition National Convergence.
By 1998, support for Democratic Action and COPEI had fallen still further, and Hugo Chavez, a political outsider, won the 1998 election.
Part 1
Hugo Chavez
Part 2
Succeeded Hugo Chavez in 2013 as dictator after election by a narrow win.
Launched Bolivarian Revolution
Opposition attempts to unseat Chávez included the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003, the Venezuelan recall referendum in 2004 and a last-minute boycott of the 2005 parliamentary elections.
Chávez was re-elected in 2006, but narrowly failed to convince the electorate to approve a package of constitutional amendments aimed at deepening the Bolivarian Revolution. This resulted in losing the 2007 constitutional referendum.
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) was created in 2007, uniting a number of smaller parties supporting Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution with Chávez's Fifth Republic Movement. The Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, MUD), created in 2008, unites much of the opposition
Hugo Chávez, the central figure of the Venezuelan political landscape since his election to the presidency in 1998 as a political outsider, died in office in early 2013. Chavez was succeeded by Nicolás Maduro, initially as interim President, before narrowly winning the Venezuelan presidential election, 2013.
He is cracking down on growing street protests with lethal force, with government security forces killing at least 46 demonstrators in recent months.
“It’s not even that Maduro lacks Chávez’s incredibly charming ability to disarm and bring you into his fold — it’s that he tries to emulate it and it comes out as farcical,” Alejandro Velasco, a historian of Latin America at New York University, told me. “The way that he speaks, the way he gesticulates, he tries to embody Chávez, and it’s just so transparently not.”
As president, Chávez encountered challenges both at home and abroad. His efforts to tighten his hold on the state-run oil company in 2002 stirred up controversy and led to numerous protests, and he found himself removed from power briefly in April 2002 by military leaders. The protests continued after his return to power, leading to a referendum on whether Chávez should remain president.
Chávez was known for being outspoken and dogmatic throughout his presidency, refusing to hold back any of his opinions or criticisms. He insulted oil executives, church officials and other world leaders, and was particularly hostile with the United States government, which, he believed, was responsible for the failed 2002 coup against him. Chávez also objected to the war in Iraq, stating his belief that the United States had abused its powers by initiating the military effort. He also called President George W. Bush an evil imperialist.
Relations between the United States and Venezuela have been strained for some time. After taking office, Chávez sold oil to Cuba—a longtime adversary of the United States—and resisted U.S. plans to stop narcotics trafficking in nearby Colombia. He also helped guerrilla forces in neighboring countries. Additionally, during his presidency, Chávez threatened to stop supplying oil to the United States if there was another attempt to remove him from power. He did, however, donate heating oil to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, which destroyed numerous fuel-processing facilities.
Chávez is a legendary figure in Venezuela who transformed the country’s political and economic landscape by nationalizing industries and funneling enormous amounts of government money into social programs. Under his rule, Venezuela’s unemployment rate halved, income per capita more than doubled, the poverty rate fell by more than half, education improved, and infant mortality rates declined.
But in addition to being a poor politician, Maduro has lacked Chávez’s other exceptional asset for most of his time in office: oil money. After oil prices crashed in late 2014, Venezuela’s economy crashed with it.
Chávez launched what he called the "Bolivarian Revolution" and fulfilled an election promise by calling a Constituent Assembly in 1999, which drafted the new Constitution of Venezuela.