Venezuela, located in the Latin American region, is a country that has been characterized by its abundance of oil reserve. A natural resource that has shaped the history and development of the country, affecting its economic, social and most important is political spheres. For many years Venezuela was controlled by authoritarian regimes. The country, being very important in the sense of geo-politics due to its abundance of oil, has been a key player in the international arena and most important, to those that for many years kept the country under their regime. It was not until 1958 that Venezuela experienced the change to democracy and a stable democracy was kept between the two main political parties of the time, Accion Democratica (AD) and Christian Democrats (COPEI). These two parties were responsible for the country, and for many years both of them balanced their power in order to govern the country and keep it stable. It was until the 1990’s that this situation changed. As other countries in Latin American experienced, the levels of corruption and lack of accountability towards the population, made possible that in 1998 Hugo Chavez Frias was elected president of Venezuela. Chavez taking power in 1998, and showing to the masses as a “Savior” has completely revolutionized the country and some argues that he has been successful on establishing what is known as competitive authoritarian regime. His actions through out the many years he has been the president of Venezuela and the impacts on the country’s economic, political and social spheres, has made many critics to analyze and think on the question of whether or not Chavez has increase or decrease democracy? Analyzing how he has changed Venezuela’s political structure and how ...
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Arraras, April 22, 2012, Module 8 Professor power point presentation.
Ferriss, Susan, Ricardo Sandoval, and Diana Hembree. The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997. Print.
Chávez’s leadership was based on an unshakable commitment to nonviolence, personal sacrifice and a strict work ethic. He emphasized the necessity of adhering to nonviolence, even when faced with violence from employers and growers, because he knew if the strikers used violence to further their goals, the growers and police would not hesitate to respond with even greater vehemence. Despite his commitment to nonviolence, many of the movement’s ‘enemies’, so to speak, made efforts to paint the mo...
Ferris, Susan & Sandoval, Rircardo (1998). The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the
Chavez is one of the greatest Civil Rights activists of times. As a child he watched workers be mistreated and misused. He follows King and Gandhi’s principles of nonviolence and lives by their standards. He also believes that the highest form of freedom carries with it the greatest measure of
By the early 1960’s widespread concern for social and economic justice and increased levels of political participation had boosted the popularity of parties that advocated radical economic and social change. Thus, in 1964, Eduardo Frei, a Christian Democrat, won an overwhelming mandate to carry out a revolution in liberty. Six years later, in 1970, Salvador Allende, the leader of a coalition of Marxist and Social Democratic parties, was elected President on a platform that promised to bring about a peaceful transition to socialism. The Popular Unity program and the authors of its economic strategy “envisioned a carefully controlled revolution from above” (139), that radical social, political and economic change could be brought about within the framework of the constitution and the laws. According to Allende, “this required a carefully controlled and phased revolutionary process, which was also neces...
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Middle-class protest against the long-standing dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. Established a radical system in which elections were controlled while a handful of dominant families and their clients monopolized financial and political power in the provinces.1
Filmmaker Oliver Stone embarked on a journey across the Latin American continent pursuant to the filling of gaps left by mainstream media about the social and political movements in the southern continent. Through a series of interviews he conducted with Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Cristina Kirchner and former president Nėstor Kirchner of Argentina, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Lula da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Raúl Castro of Cuba, Stone was able to compare firsthand information from the leaders themselves with that reported and published by the media (“Synopsis,” n.d.). It gives light to the measures these leaders had to take in order to initiate change in their respective countries, even if their public identities were at stake. Several instances in the film showed the mismatch between these two sources, pointing at the US government’s interests for greatly influencing the media for presenting biased, groundless views.
In Chavez’s article, he explicates that throughout history, violent revolutions have been more harmful for the poor and workers than beneficial. He employs this information in order to force the workers to cognize that violence should not be utilized because it will result in adverse outcomes. Chavez employs logic and history to allow his audience to understand that violence could become fatal for protesters. Chavez hopes to motivate his audience to condemn violent methods. He attempts to enlighten the workers about the futility of utilizing vehement methods as opposed to peaceful
...aring, S. and Shugart, M. (1997) “Juan Linz, Presidentialism, and Democracy: A Critical Appraisal”, Comparative Politics, vol.29, no.4, pp. 449-471.
Food shortages, high inflation rates, protest, and violence: one sees these headlines in a Google search of Venezuela today. All around the country, there are long lines to buy simple necessities, like bread and milk. High inflation rates lead to shortages of food supplies, which increase frustration leading to protests in the streets and, sadly, an increase of violence. The protests and violence result from the inability of Venezuelans to provide the most basic human needs for their families. Sky-rocketing inflation rates in Venezuela are the result of Hugo Chavez, the former socialist and revolutionary leader of the country, and his administration. While in power, Chavez was so consumed with fixing the social issues in Venezuela, that other aspects of the country were ignored – like the economy. In 2014, Venezuela is left with a destroyed economy, angry people, and a government that is trying to fix the many issues the country currently faces; although the government is committed to finding solutions, the people of Venezuela do not feel the government is fixing the problems fast enough.
Diego Ore and Brian Ellsworth. “Venezuela protest death toll rises to 33”. Reuter. Mar.22.2014. Web.4.Apr.2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/22
Now days democracy has been establish in every Latin America country except Cuba, which is still a socialist state. It seemed that every other alternative form of government such as Marxism or Leninism has failed and been replaced by democracy. Furthermore it looks like people in Latin American really enjoy democracy and its’ benefits, as they also consider it to be the best form of government. After the failure of authoritarian leaders and the military intervene their lives, Latin American citizens wanted to change their system into a more fair and honest system, democracy. Democracy is usually defined as a system of honesty, equality, freedom of rights, though for Latin America countries it means gains, welfare and patronage. Latin American did not work the democratic system properly as it should be and different obstacles keep the system away from being consolidated. Democracy in Latin America still face serious problems in matters as grinding poverty, huge social gaps, corruption, drug dealing, inefficient governments and most importantly governments who promote and use military. The real question is why democracy actually failed even though democracy is what people want. Paraguay is a case of failure in transition democracy because of the corruption and other things that will be argued in this essay. Paraguay and Ecuador are considered to be the only countries that democratization did not achieve consolidation, in differ from Chilli and Central American.