Venezuela Government and Politics
President Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974-79; 1989- )
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A stable, democratic political system
in
Venezuela after 1958 represents a remarkable
accomplishment. Few
political scientists and historians in the late 1950s
would have
predicted that Venezuela would become a democratic model.
The
nation's turbulent past, which saw numerous regime
changes, some
of them violent, and its tradition of instability and
penchant
for repeatedly revamping its constitutions gave few hints
of its
impending transformation.
At the core of this transformation has been the
emergence and
the strengthening of a diverse party system that has
progressively converged toward the center-left in its
ideology
and its policy orientation without abandoning pluralism.
Elections since 1958 have been vigorously contested on a
regular
and predictable timetable. Political freedoms have been
enjoyed
by those in and out of power; presidents have been blessed
with
the sense that their mandate was legitimate. Perhaps even
more
extraordinary in the context of Latin American politics,
outgoing
presidents have peacefully handed over power to incoming
presidents from another party of somewhat divergent
political
orientation.
This transformation from an authoritarian past to a
healthy
and long-surviving democratic regime cannot be understood
in a
vacuum, however. The political system evolved from a past
fraught
with instability and authoritarianism. After the heroic
years of
independence, Venezuelans suffered under the corruption
and
brutality of caudillismo (rule by local strongmen, or
caudillos);
fought a major civil war; and saw the constant redrafting
of the
constitution and changes in the rules of the political
game.
Venezuela's independence began with its liberation by
Simón
Bolívar Palacios, who freed not only his own homeland but
much of
the rest of South America. In 1830, with the collapse of
Bolívar's dream of a larger
Gran Colombia (see Glossary),
Venezuela was ruled by a patriot caudillo from the
llanos (see Glossary), or plains, General José Antonio Páez
(see A Century of Caudillismo
, ch. 1). This first postindependence period
lasted
until about 1858 and was characterized by economic
recovery and
political stability as the young nation functioned under
the
reign of a conservative oligarchy. Páez established the
model of
strongman rule under which an undisputed caudillo governed
for a
long period, either on his own or through the selection of
handpicked loyal subordinates, thus preserving the
appearance of
constitutional presidential succession. These traditional
caudillos, who preserved constitutional appearances while
subverting the constitution's spirit, also elevated the
role of
Caracas as the political and economic center of the
country.
Throughout the nineteenth century and to this day, the
principal
goal of traditional and modern caudillos has been to take
hold of
and control the capital and, from the center, dominate and
overwhelm the periphery.
The discovery and exploration of large oil reserves
early in
the twentieth century accelerated the demise of old-style
caudillo rule. Although change took place, there were
important
continuities as well, as constitutional ideals constantly
competed with political realities. By the time the
long-lived
dictator Juan Vicente Gómez died in his sleep in 1935, the
seeds
of democratic transformation were already planted. The
short-lived student protest of 1928 was the first
manifestation
of democratic stirrings that were to flourish decades
later.
The Generation of 1928 that sprang from that experience
included future Venezuelan presidents and eminent
political
leaders of diverse political views, such as Rómulo
Betancourt,
Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, Jóvito Villalba, Gustavo
Machado, and
Raúl Leoni. For a brief three years, between 1945 and
1948, many
of these leaders experienced their first taste of
democratic
rule; but they were then perhaps too young and too
impatient, and
their democratic experiment was short-lived. Exile gave
these
leaders broader perspectives and provided essential links
to
other democratic forces. The last decade of dictatorship
ended in
1958; by then the Generation of 1928 was prepared to
implement
democratic reforms without being overthrown in the
process.
Since 1958 democracy has survived, although its record
has
not been uncheckered. Coup attempts, especially in the
early
years, were fomented by extremists of both the right and
the
left, sometimes in the pay of or under the inspiration of
extremists from outside the country. But the constitution
of 1961
has not been rewritten or abolished, even if the spirit of
the
charter has not always been observed. Corruption has
existed as
well. At times the oil bonanza has led to a disregard for
fiscal
responsibility and has also enhanced the notion that the
government can always afford the luxury of one more
panacea.
An oil-rich nation, by 1990 Venezuela enjoyed the
highest
annual per capita income in Latin America and a
politically
moderate labor movement
(see Labor
, ch. 3). After more
than three
decades of democracy and a spirited presidential campaign,
however, food riots in Caracas and elsewhere in the spring
of
1989 shocked Venezuelans and forced them to contemplate
the
apparent fragility of their socio-political system. The
food
riots and looting of 1989, in which hundreds of people
died
violently, presented a stark reminder that Venezuelan
democracy,
although enviable by Latin American standards, was not
without
its flaws and its vulnerabilities.
Data as of December 1990
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