Bolivarian Revolution

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Bolivarian Revolution

Ari Marshall

LIU Global College

Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Dr. Chipembere

December 1, 2020

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Bolivarian Revolution

Recently, the United States has been pointing to the terrible situation Venezuela as proof that

socialism is the epitome of evil. However, Venezuela used to be one of Latin America’s best

functioning democracies and citizens led good quality lives. Before its economic downfall,

Venezuela was led by a charismatic leader named Hugo Chavez who began to transform the

Venezuelan government away from favoring the elite class and towards giving the poor and

working class more help. This time period is referred to as the Bolivarian Revolution.

The term Bolivarian Revolution is titled in honor of Simón Bolivar, a prominent Latin

American revolutionary leader in the early 19th century who fought for Latin American

independence against the Spanish (“Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution,” para.6). The

Bolivarian Revolution took place over a fourteen year time period in Venezuela that saw huge

transformations in international policy, governmental policies, and an overall change in the

Venezuelan society. The Revolution began in 1992 when a section of the Venezuelan Armed

Revolutionary forces attempted to overthrow the democratic government of Venezuela which

was run by President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Twice the Revolutionary Force attempted to

overthrow the government but failed, and from this point on the Venezuelan Armed

Revolutionary Forces used political offices to slowly build their movement and gain power

(Buttó, 2013, p. 1-2). In October 1997 the military rebels grouped together and formed an official

political party called Partido Socialista Unida de Venezuela (PSUV). In November of 1998,

Partido Socialista Unida de Venezuela did very well in the elections, garnering 30% of

governmental seats and later, Hugo Chavez, the face of the Bolivarian revolution was elected as

the Venezuelan president (Buttó, 2013, p. 164).

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In order to understand Chavez’s success in implementing reforms to the Venezuelan

government, it is crucial to understand that his popularity and the success of the Venezuelan

economy largely relied on oil. During Chavez’s presidency oil prices were high; it is estimated

that high oil prices from 2004 to 2008 brought $300 billion dollars of revenue to Venezuela

(Venezuelan & Ausman, 2019). The Bolivarian Revolution began with what Chavez called

“participatory and protagonist democracy” (Canache, 2012, p.96). Chavez’s main goal was to

implement populist programs and to increase democracy by increasing voter turnout. Hugo

Chavez immediately got to work on this idea of participatory democracy by crafting a new

Constitution (Canache, 2012, p. 99). The new Constitution began with the wording democratic,

participatory, and protagonist; in direct contrast to the 1961 Venezuelan Constitution that gave

power to the wealthy and elites (Canache, 2012, p. 99). In a peer reviewed article titled “The

Meanings of Democracy in Venezuela: Citizen Perceptions and Structural Change” author

Damarys Canache stated: “During his first term (1999-2007), this effort included the promotion

of initiatives such as the Bolivarian Circles, cooperatives, socialist enterprises, and communal

councils” (Canache, 2012, p. 100). This included passing over 49 laws targeting land

redistribution from wealthy private sectors to citizens. Chavez also launched anti-poverty

projects, education reforms in slums, a vaccination campaign, and wider food distribution. Many

of these reforms made a significant difference for Venezuelan citizens, and under Hugo Chavez

the minimum wage was increased and many citizens were lifted out of poverty (Bulmer-Thomas,

2013, para. 18-19). Chavez successfully cut poverty levels in half, almost wiped out extreme

poverty, and helped millions of Venezuelans out of unemployment (Cusack, 2017, para. 3).

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However, the Bolivarian Revolution also saw many failures. First, the Bolivarian

Revolution failed to address the high rate of crime in Venezuela. During the Bolivarian

Revolution, Venezuela had the fourth highest murder rate in the world and a lackluster criminal

justice system. Under the Chavez presidency, Venezuela saw more homicides than the United

States and the European Union combined (Wilson, 2012, para. 3). Chavez introduced eighteen

anti-crime organizations during the Bolivarian Revolution but these evidently made no difference

as crime continued to increase (Wilson, 2012, para. 11). Another failure of the Bolivarian

Revolution was its dependency on oil prices. Chavez funded his social programs on revenue

from oil and transformed the Venezuelan economy to rely solely on oil prices as revenue. This

meant that when oil prices crashed in 2014, so did Venezuela's economy.

Ultimately, the greatest failure of the Bolivarian Revolution was its failure to consider the

future. It is largely due to Bolivarian policies that led to Venezuela’s current crisis. Chavez and

his regime continued costly social programs as oil prices continued to drop, this resulted in

national debt, corruption, and left the Venezuelan economy with no path forward. As of 2020, an

estimated five million people have fled Venezuela, millions are living in poverty without access

to food, healthcare, or jobs, and crime is rampant (Reid, 2020, para. 1). The country owes over

$100 billion to foreign countries and their currency is currently at 10 million percent inflation;

essentially meaning their national money is so easily garnered that it is worth next to nothing

(Sanchez, 2019, para. 3).

The Bolivarian Revolution brought swift and dramatic changes to Venezuela’s domestic

policies, foreign relations, and essentially remodeled Venezuela’s government. This revolution is

a great representation of changes that happened all over Latin America. Chavez intended to

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eliminate U.S. involvement in Venezuela when he was president. Many countries in Latin

America followed Chavez’s anti-American stance and leaned toward socialism in a term coined

pink tide, which saw an unprecedented number of leftist leaders who were voted into power from

1998 to 2010 (Santiago, 2020, para. 5). Another key aspect the Bolivarian revolution represents

in Latin American society is use of the military. Chavez’s regime had great support from the

military, as was evident when a coup ousted him from power temporarily in 2002 only for the

military to restore him to power almost immediately (Butto, 2013, p. 168). This is a recent shift

in Latin America as well, with many corrupt military regimes becoming protectors of

authoritarian governments. In a peer reviewed article written by Douglas Farah titled, “The

Advance of Radical Populist Doctrine in Latin America: How the Bolivarian Alliance is

Remaking Militaries, Dismantling Democracy and Combatting the Empire,” Douglas states:

Within the Bolivarian construct a strong president is the representative of the revolution,

which in turn represents the will of the people. Therefore, anything against the president

is counter-revolutionary, against the people, and deserving of censure and punishment (p.

96).

This quotation sums up how Bolivarian policies have helped transform militaries in Latin

America toward loyalty to the president and not the law (Farah, 2015, p. 95).

All things considered, the Bolivarian Revolution was a fourteen year period which began

in 1992 and saw transformative changes in Venezuelan society and was led by Hugo Chavez and

his regime. Chavez was a charismatic leader who implemented education reforms, programs to

distribute medicine and food as well. He succeeded in raising Venezuela’s literacy rate, reducing

poverty, and income inequality. Chavez also had failures such as rapidly increased crime and

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homicide under his regime but the Bolivarian Revolution’s biggest failure was its dependency on

oil for these programs. It left Venezuela’s economy destined to crash when oil prices fluctuated.

Nonetheless, the structural changes the Bolivarian Revolution implemented was taken as an

example and a model by many other populist Latin American leaders who were looking to make

changes in their own government and society.

References

BUTTÓ, L. (2013). ARMED FORCES AND POLITICS IN THE BOLIVARIAN

REVOLUTION. Politeja, (24), 163-178. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from http://

www.jstor.org/stable/24919583

Bulmer-Thomas, V. (2013, March 6). Analysis: How Hugo Chavez changed Venezuela. BBC

News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-15240081

Canache, D. (2012). The Meanings of Democracy in Venezuela: Citizen Perceptions and

Structural Change. Latin American Politics and Society, 54(3), 95-122. Retrieved

November 29, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23321720

Cusack, A. (2017, August 2). What the left must learn from Maduro's failures in Venezuela | Asa

Cusack. The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/02/left-learn-maduros-failures-in-

venezuela-bolivarian-revolution-chavismo

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FARAH, D. (2015). The Advance of Radical Populist Doctrine in Latin America: How the

Bolivarian Alliance is Remaking Militaries, Dismantling Democracy and Combatting the

Empire. PRISM, 5(3), 90-105. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/

stable/26470413

Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2020, from http://

www.worldfuturefund.org/Reports/Chavez/Chavez.html

Reid, K. (2020, June 23). Venezuela crisis: Facts, FAQs, and how to help. World Vision. https://

www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/venezuela-crisis-facts.

Sanchez, V. (2019, August 5). Venezuela hyperinflation hits 10 million percent. 'Shock therapy'

may be only chance to undo the economic damage. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/

2019/08/02/venezuela-inflation-at-10-million-percent-its-time-for-shock-therapy.html

Santiago Anria Assistant Professor of Political Science and Latin American Studies, & Kenneth

M. Roberts Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government and Director. (2020, October

25). The Latin American left isn't dead yet.. https://theconversation.com/the-latin-

american-left-isnt-dead-yet-124385/

TRTWorld. (2019, January 24). What is Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution? Retrieved

November 29, 2020, from https://www.trtworld.com/americas/what-is-venezuela-s-

bolivarian-revolution-23587

Venezuelan, A., & Ausman, J. (2019, July 26). The devastating Venezuelan crisis. Surgical

neurology international. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6744797/.

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Wilson, P. (2012, September 20). Venezuela crime out of control, imperiling Chavez re-election.

USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/09/20/venzuela-crime-

chavez-reelection/1581261/.