Venezuela

Country Background Information

The territory of Venezuela was originally inhabited by Carib, Arawak, and Chibcha peoples. Spanish colonial rule was typical of the region and included the introduction of about 100,000 African slaves. In 1810, Venezuelan nationalists seized upon Napoleon's invasion of Spain to declare independence and wage a revolutionary war of independence. The dominant historical figure in this struggle for independence was Simón Bolívar, a native of Caracas, whose is also credited with the liberation of Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. His vision was of a united republic of all the former Spanish colonies, and this was partially realized for a short period with the formation of the new state of Gran Colombia, consisting of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador. Gran Colombia existed for only a decade before factionalization saw it split into separate states shortly before Bolívar's death. Bolívar is to this day revered in South America and nowhere more so than in his native Venezuela.

After the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830 until 1947, Venezuela vacillated between periods of dictatorial rule and civil wars. The discovery of oil, which led to Venezuela becoming the world's largest exporter of oil in the early 20th century, saw little benefit for the poor majority of the population. Eventually a more populist political movement gained momentum, and in 1945 the left wing Acción Democrática party seized power. They adopted a new constitution and in 1947 Venezuela had its first democratically elected president, leftist novelist Rómulo Gallegos. He was promptly overthrown by a U.S.-backed coup eight months later and replaced by authoritarian dictator Colonel Marcos Pérez Jiménez. Jiménez poured oil revenues into expensive public works projects and the modernization of Caracas with high rise buildings. However, the standard of living for the average Venezuelan saw little improvement and after ten years in power, rioting forced Jiménez to flee to the United States. He was later extradited to Venezuela and convicted of embezzling $200 million during his rule.

Venezuela then returned to democratic rule and a patronistic two-party system known as "puntofijismo" was established. High oil prices in the early seventies brought a period of relative prosperity, during which the oil and steel industries were nationalized. The wealthy and the new middle class benefited, but Venezuela's poor were still left to fend for themselves. The oil boom was short lived, and when oil prices fell in the early eighties, the economy declined.

By 1989, Venezuela was in full depression and President Carlos Andres Pérez introduced extreme austerity measures and signed a deal with the IMF for a 4.5 billion dollar loan. Riots and a general strike ensued, and in what became known as the "caracazo," martial law was declared and an estimated 2000 people were killed in the ensuing clashes with security forces, mainly in the streets of Caracas. Pérez retained power and the unrest continued, including two failed coup attempts in 1992 led by Colonel Hugo Chávez and his supporters. Chávez was arrested and jailed. Pérez was subsequently ousted from office in 1993 on corruption charges and was later found guilty and imprisoned for embezzlement and corruption.

Chávez was pardoned and released two years later and began a grassroots political campaign that eventually resulted in his being democratically elected to the presidency of Venezuela in 1998. His election signaled a major shift in the government’s approach toward poverty alleviation; at the same time, the new administration has sought to implement major democratic reforms, including a redraft of the nation’s constitution.

As Chávez sought to implement the social programs enshrined in the new constitution during his first three years in office, he was hampered both by a fall in the price of oil and by opposition from those who had previously been the beneficiaries of the oil revenues, some of whom had been removed from their management jobs in the state oil company, PDVSA, in a bid to weed out inefficiency and corruption. This resulted in a severe polarization of Venezuelan society between the middle class and elite who formed the opposition, and the poor who were mobilizing in support of Chávez and his programs for social and economic justice.

By late 2001, the economy had begun to stabilize, but opposition leaders mounted a general strike in April of 2002, which led to large demonstrations in Caracas by both sides. Violence erupted in which ten people were killed and 110 injured. Both sides blamed the other for the violence and in the resulting chaos; a coup attempt was staged, widely believed to have covert backing from the U.S. The scheme was short-lived, however, as the rank and file of the military and masses of civilian Chávez supporters launched a counter coup. They flooded the streets, retook the presidential palace, and brought Chávez back into office within two days. The polarization of and periodic violent clashes within Venezuelan society did not end there however, as the opposition mounted yet another general strike of PDVSA management and, when that failed, organized recall vote. Chavez won the 2003 referendum with 59% of the vote.

With his popular mandate clearly confirmed, opposition elements crumbling, his ranks of supporters among the populace steadily growing, and the country's treasury bulging from record oil revenues, Chávez has in the last two years moved to expand his programs of reform and social justice known as the "Bolivarian Revolution" both within the borders of Venezuela and to the rest of Latin America. As he has sought to realize greater autonomy for Latin American nations, Chávez has emerged as a key figure in opposing U.S. political and economic dominance in Latin America and the world.

Today Venezuela is vibrant with optimism for the advancements in social justice that are slowly being realized, and highly motivated and organized because of the new political empowerment of the common people. The goal of the Bolivarian Revolution is a new model of a humanistic and democratic socialism that can achieve greater equality in a country and a region that has traditionally been characterized by the huge gap between a wealthy minority and a the poor majority. In 1999, the government initiated a series of programs known as the “Bolivarian Missions” that have been greatly expanded since the failure of opposition attempts to oust Chávez, and the increase in oil revenues. The missions utilize a combination of military personnel and resources, government funding, and civilian volunteers. While opponents of Chávez have criticized the missions, alleging that they are corrupt and inefficient, the UN, UNICEF, and the WHO have all praised them as positive models of social development.

Chávez's government has also taken initiatives to promote grassroots participation in the political system. This began early on in his administration with the formation of what are known as “Bolivarian Circles.” These are neighborhood associations that promote and facilitate literacy classes, help run community health clinics and other community projects, and also promote the ideals of the constitution on a community level. They are autonomous and do not receive government funding, but are for obvious reasons comprised mostly of supporters of Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution. They were thus instrumental in spontaneously organizing the counter-coup in 2002 and in organizing the "NO" vote against the recall referendum.

While the Bolivarian Revolution is slowly progressing towards it goals, Venezuela today is by no means a utopian society. Where the revolution has succeeded in instilling hope and high ideals, chipping away at poverty levels and corruption, and making strong advances in providing for basic economic and social rights in areas of health, education, land, and nutrition, it will obviously be some time before all the ills that typically face developing countries with a tradition of corruption, violence, and inequity can hope to be eradicated.

Human rights violations perpetrated by police and security forces are not uncommon, criminal violence is prevalent in many urban areas, as well as corruption in local and state governments and within the ranks of the federal government. Extrajudicial killings by police forces of those viewed as criminal or unwanted elements of society do occur, as do incidents of abuse and torture under police custody. The "Defensora Publica," or public defender, created by the new constitution, is the government body charged with holding those responsible for these violations accountable, but it has been often criticized as very slow to react.

There is a network of independent and autonomous human rights watchdog organizations in Venezuela that track these violations and attempt to hold the government accountable. The members of these organizations themselves are sometimes harassed and threatened by police or local authorities. Though such violations are on the decline as the opposition threats to the government have diminished, these human rights organizations remain active and vigilant. This is a reflection of a remarkable general trend in Venezuelan grassroots political activism and that of the region as a whole. The more that people are politically empowered, and the more their civil and human rights are respected and upheld by their governments, the more politically active they become. They do not, as one might expect, become complacent. They become more watchful and determined to hold their governments accountable, and will take to the streets whenever they spot a weakness that threatens their rights.