MAGAZINE COVER;

| COMPARATIVE POLITICS (Minutes of the Meeting) |

December 2, 2021

THEME: DEMOCRATIZATION
TASKS
 Title of Articles PRAM
 Magazine Cover POY
 Opening Remarks/Message (w/signature) SHARA
 Centrefold PRENTS
 Reference ALL
 Contributors (Writer’s Profile)
 Pictures PRAM
(Background: White)
 Title of the Magazine ALL

ARTICLE TITLES
 Venezuela under Dictatorship: A Memoir PRAM
 A Taste of Democracy SHARA
 The Rise of Chavez POY Chxboi
 The Fall of Chavez: The Aftermath PRENTS BAYOT
 Venezuela’s Oil and Minerals ROOM Gwapo

DEADLINES

 Articles (500-800 words) December 11, 2021 (Saturday)

 Magazine Cover December 13, 2021 (Monday)

 Opening Remarks/Message December 11, 2021 (Saturday)
 Centrefold December 11, 2021 (Saturday)
 Contributors December 13, 2021 (Monday)
Final Output December 18, 2021 (Saturday)
THE RISE OF CHAVEZ;
The Rise of Hugo Chávez’s tenure in office, focusing on the constitutional changes that
occurred between 1998 and 2001, the opposition's confrontation and defeat between 2002 and
2005, and the subsequent radicalization of economic and social policy, as well as the expansion
of Chávez’s influence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Venezuelan media is overwhelmingly supportive of Chávez’s candidacy, and the
Venezuela has already had five recessions since 1990, and the people is highly dissatisfied with
the rising wealth divide. While, on the campaign trail, the charismatic Chávez vows to fight
corruption, eradicate poverty, and abolish Venezuela's previous political structure, which was
built on a power-sharing arrangement between the two main parties, in order to give independent
political parties more authority. Surprisingly, Chávez stands for president after being released
from prison in 1994 then, he receives 56 percent of the vote, the highest proportion of the
popular vote in four decades. For this reason, Hugo Chávez was able to get a majority vote by
the reason of the increased publicity and elected as Venezuela’s 45th president on February 2,
1999 amid dissatisfaction with existing parties. Chavez utilized a succession of referendums and
elections during his first three years in office to seek popular support for constitutional
modifications.
On the other hand, allowed him to consolidate his influence over the same institutions,
and he initiates the "Bolivarian Revolution," which includes a new constitution, socialist and
populist economic and social reforms financed by high oil prices, and an increasingly anti-US
foreign policy. However, owing to internal and external pressures from a fragile economy,
Chávez's Socialist dictatorship was forced to solidify his control by installing supporters in a
variety of sectors, including the oil industry, government, and military.
On April 2002, Chavez has used political crises to seize control of two other significant
institutions: the military forces and PDVSA. The first of these, in April 2002 military coup, was a
watershed point in Venezuela's recent political history. It happened in the midst of the
opposition's rising political mobilization in response to a slew of social and economic laws
passed at the end of 2001. (and not put into effect until 2005). Moreover, the coup, Mr. Chavez
began purging political opponents from the armed forces, progressively consolidating his hold on
the institution. As well as, the revolutionary movement exacerbated the worsening of ties
between the US and Chavez. This is because the US is largely regarded as having failed to
respond diplomatically to the events.
Protests in Caracas in April 2002 resulted in a gun confrontation between government
and opposition supporters, with more than a dozen people killed. In these conditions, military
officers refused to carry out Chavez's instructions to subdue protests, and on April 11 evening,
the president was requested to resign. However, for two reasons, the coup was crucial. When the
PDVSA General Strikes, after failing to depose Chavez through a military coup, the opposition
decided to push him out of power with a national strike in late 2002. Strikes organized by
PDVSA managers and technicians effectively halted oil production for two months. Venezuela
was able to survive because to the company's untrained workers, technical aid from Iran, China,
and other manufacturers, and emergency oil supplies from Luis Inacio Lula da Silva's freshly
elected government in Brazil. Early in the first two months of 2003, output steadily increased,
and in March, the government fired 18,000 strikers and reclaimed control of the corporation.
On 2003, Chávez launches Bolivarian Missions to boost popular support, Chavez
undertakes a series of broad-based social projects. The missions, which are run by several
government entities and ministries, include adult literacy programs, free community health care,
low-cost housing for the underprivileged, and food and other consumer goods subsidies.
International agencies such as the World Health Organization and the United Nations have
praised the public health clinics, many of which are staffed by Cuban doctors. While some have
criticized the initiatives as ineffective and corrupt, the Venezuelan government claims that
literacy rates have increased and poverty levels have decreased.
On 2005, Chávez created a Civilian Militia, to guard against foreign invasion, Chavez
announces the formation of a two-million-strong citizen military reserve. He also brings an end
to a 35-year military alliance between the US and Venezuela. Prior to Chavez's election, ties
between the United States and Venezuela had been cordial, with collaboration on commerce and
anti-narcotics measures. Approximately half of Venezuela's oil exports still flow to the United
States under Chavez's government. However, because of Chavez's closeness with Cuban leader
Fidel Castro and his outspoken anti-American rhetoric, tensions between the two countries have
risen. The opposition boycotts the National Assembly elections in December, handing power to
Chavez's friends in the legislature. Russia and Venezuela signed a $2.9 billion weapons
agreement in 2006.

Additionally, Chavez embarks on a world tour, aiming to build ties with Iran, Russia, and
China. He makes generous accords to deliver oil to neighbors in the Americas, notably Bolivia,
Nicaragua, Cuba, and the Caribbean, using revenues from high oil prices. He also helps low-
income areas in the northeastern United States with subsidized heating oil. In 2006, he creates
international news with his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he
criticizes the United States. Chavez wants to secure a temporary seat on the United Nations
Security Council after his fiery address, but he does not receive enough support at the October
vote, and it led the country into huge upswing into democracy.

Approximately one million Venezuelans marched in protest against Chavez's

appointment of political associates to prominent positions in the state-owned oil giant PDVSA,
clashing with supporters of the president in a riot that left nineteen people dead and hundreds
injured. During the chaos, soldiers of the military high command depose Chavez and replace him
with right-wing businessman Pedro Carmona, who dissolves Congress and suspends the
constitution. Despite widespread criticism from Latin American countries, the US, which had
previously accepted the Carmona administration, officially rejects the coup.
References;
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-and-rise-chavez-background-discussion-
paper - RISE OF CHAVEZ
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5mj6j3t8 - ABSTACT
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19652436?
fbclid=IwAR2v18KQ0tx8eCbcx14v1jEZTuUm_crHWs45IVHAccUTWIIh8ldKuj1dI-Q –
VENEZUELA TIMELINE
https://www.cfr.org/timeline/venezuelas-chavez-era?fbclid=IwAR1lUlvO2p0vPlPIzOwB-
kRVvviQ45X0lh9cOFy9l5TYQAqFs5DxK9nK7vQ – VENEZUELA’S CHAVEZ ERA

References
Richard, L. (2005). Venezuela and the Rise of Chavez, Council on Foreign Relations.
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-and-rise-chavez-background-discussion-
paper
Brian, A. N. (2003). Biography, Facts, & Death, President Hugo Chavez.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hugo-Chavez
Tom, P. (2018). A slow-motion catastrophe’: on the road in Venezuela, 20 years after
Chavez rise, the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/06/on-the-road-
venezuela-20-years-after-hugo-chavez-rise