Transcript The Rise of the Left in Venezuela

THE LEFT IN VENEZUELA
4/7/2010
Democracy
Direct or Participatory Democracy, “Pure democracy”
 Active citizen participation in everyday political decisions; authority
is delegated to citizens
Representative Democracy
 Citizens elect politicians to represent their interests in the political
structure; politicians are held accountable for their actions both
through the democratic structures and through periodic elections.
Delegative Democracy
 The President is elected and thus has formal democratic legitimacy;
however, this individual then acts – as the delegate of the people –
largely beyond institutional constraint and bypassing representative
structures.
Turning Left: Brazil’s Path
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The Workers’ Party (PT) forms in 1980 as the voice
of “new unionism”
The PT does not participate in the behind-the-scenes
dealing during the transition to democracy (1985)
The PT organizes and wins local political positions
 Internal
democracy
 Participatory governing structures
Turning Left: Brazil’s Path
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Success at the local level builds and the PT gains
more and higher political positions
The election of Lula to the presidency in 2002
 Issues
of scale: broadening of the number of groups
that form the party base
 Issues of scope: broadening of the number of issues the
base expects the PT to deal with competently
Turning Left: Brazil’s Path
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Attempts to deliver social change without alienating
either the public or the market
 Market
instability surrounding Lula’s election pressured
his commitment to continuing previous macroeconomic
policies and respecting IMF agreements
 Reduced
pensions (apx. 30%), wages (apx. 12%), and
social programs (apx. 10%) – initially
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Since Lula took power, Brazil's social spending increased to 17
billion reals ($8 billion) in 2005 from 6 billion reals in 2002
 4.25%
of GDP (approx. 50 billion USD) set aside to meet
foreign debt payments
 Lula
repaid Brazil’s IMF loans early – in 2005
Turning Left: Brazil’s Path
Bolsa Familia
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Direct cash transfer program, R$15-$95 (US$7-$45) per
month
 94% of the funds reach the poorest 40% of the population
 Most of the money is used to buy food, school supplies, and
children’s clothes
Inexpensive and has a real impact on the lived experience of
its 46 million recipients
 Poverty fell 27% during Lula’s first term in office
 Income inequality fell by 4.6% from 1995 and 2004
Does not address the root causes of poverty and may increase
dependence on the state
Venezuela
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
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1982: Chavez, with two other military officers,
organizes the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement
1992: Failed coup against Carlos Andres Perez.
1994: Chavez receives a presidential pardon and is
freed from jail. Organizes the political party, the Fifth
Republic Movement.
1998: Democratically elected to the presidency (56%
of the vote)
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
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1999: Announces a referendum to decide whether
to draft a new constitution. 88% of voters say yes
to a constitutional assembly and elections are held
to elect members.
Chavez establishes the ANC to write the
Constitution; during the next year the ANC
declares judicial and legislative emergencies,
stuffing the judiciary with Chavez supporters
and constraining Congressional action
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
The constitution is ratified (71%) in Dec. and Chavez is
reelected under the new constitution.
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The name of the country is changed to the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela
Switch from bicameral to unicameral legislature
Creates the position of Vice President
Social and Human Rights guarantees (education, healthcare,
minority rights, etc.)
Removed control of the army from the legislature and vested it in
the President; the military is given a role as an active participant
in “national development”
Allows the President to dissolve Congress in times of crisis
Extended presidential term from 5 to 6 years
Allowed the incumbent president to seek a consecutive second
term
Provides for national presidential recall referendums
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
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2000: Chavez is reelected (59%) and his party gains control of the
National Assembly.
The Enabling Law is passed, allowing the President to rule by decree
for one year on economic, social, and public administration matters.
Chavez will approve 49 laws by decree, including measures on land
reform and the oil industry
2001: General strikes begin mostly centered around the state oil
company (Petroleos de Venezuela). Strikes will turn violent in 2002.
2002: Opposition military coup and Chavez is taken into custody.
Massive street protests force the military to back down and reinstate
Chavez.
Plan Estratégico Social: aims to broaden social rights, reduce income
inequality, and promote collective and public ownership; establishes
“missions” as the means of organizing reforms targeting universal
education and health, and food distribution
Urban Land Committees redistribute and formalize land deeds
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
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2003: Opposition forces begin a recall petition. The
petition is rejected twice on technicalities, leading to
public unrest. A compromise is reached and the
referendum is allowed to proceed.
2004: Chavez wins the referendum (58%)
Organic Statute of the Supreme Tribunal allows Chavez to
pack the Supreme Court with his supporters
2005: Opposition forces boycott midterm elections,
leaving Chavez supporters in control of all 167 National
Assembly seats
PetroSur and PetroCaribe “oil alliances” are formed to
provide subsidized oil to friendly South American and
Caribbean countries
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
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2006: Chavez announces he will seek reelection; though only
his 2nd term under the new constitution, seeking a 3rd term is
unprecedented in Venezuelan history. Wins with63% of the
vote (62% voter turnout)
2007: Congress grants Chavez the right to rule by decree for
18 months
Radio Caracas Television (an opposition media outlet) is
labeled a “threat to the country” and its public broadcasting
license is revoked
Attempt to amend the constitution to rescind Presidential term
limits, among other measures to increase executive power, is
narrowly defeated
2009: a renewed attempt to end Presidential term limits is
successful; Chavez will stand for reelection in 2012
Water, power, and food shortages become more significant
Turning Left: Venezuela’s Path
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2007: Constitutional referendum to end Presidential term limits
fails
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela
agree to establish the Banco del Sur as an alternative to the
IMF and World Bank, funded largely through oil revenues.
2009: Constitutional referendum ends presidential term limits
succeeds (54%)
The army is sent to occupy key air and sea ports, centralizing
control over transportation
Chavez announces budget cuts (6.7% or $5billion) to offset
falling oil revenues
Venezuela v. Brazil
Statistics from: Country Watch, Inc., 2010
Venzuela
Brazil
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Area: 912,050 Sq. Km.
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Area: 8,511,965 Sq. Km.
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Population: 29,303,518 (2009)
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Population:194,747,347 (2009)
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GDP (PPP): $355.2 billion (2009, CIA)
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GDP (PPP): $2.024 trillion (2009, CIA)
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GDP/capita: $13,200 (2009, CIA)
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GDP/capita: $10,200 (2009, CIA)
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Current Account Deficit: US$ -673 million
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Current Account Deficit: $US -32 billion
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Inflation: 13%
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Inflation: 4.4%
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Social Spending as % of GDP:
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Social Spending as % of GDP
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Health: 2.3%
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Health: 3.6%
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Education: 3.2%
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Education: 4.2%
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Poverty ($2/day): 32%
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Poverty($2/day): 22.4%
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GINI: 49.1
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GINI: 60.7
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Unemployment: 23.9%
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Unemployment: 16.5%
Questions
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What accounts for variation between Leftist
governments in Latin America today?
Is the left good, bad, or neutral for democracy? for
global political stability?
What impact does scale have on the feasibility of
leftist political structures?