A brief history of Venezuela

[This page was last updated to cover events up to April 2008.]

The Revolución Bolivariana, named after Venezuela’s national hero Simón Bolivar, is rooted in tragic circumstances. On February 27th 1989, the country’s impoverished majority were provoked (by IMF-led economic reforms) to begin rioting and looting. As many as 2,000 were killed by security forces.

Venezuelan “democracy” had been hijacked by two political parties in a pact to exclude all others, and especially the left, from the process. This was enforced by all the major institutions and media. Meanwhile, paratrooper commander Hugo Chávez had been plotting a coup d’état from within the military.

His Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 (which eventually comprised 2,367 military personnel, including five lieutenant colonels) was spurred on by the events of 1989, but on February 4th 1992 their dawn uprising failed to take the capital city, and was quickly defeated, leaving 14 soldiers dead.

This thrust Chávez onto the front pages, and opened the possibility of a later run for the presidency. What guaranteed a strong candidacy, however, was a memorable TV spot in which he was permitted to call his troops to stand down, appearing defiant, and uttering the magic words por ahora (“for now”).

After a spell in prison and subsequent pardon in 1994 (owing much to his national popularity), he set out on the road to democratic victory. Later that year he travelled to Cuba, and was unexpectedly received at the airport by Castro, who was undoubtedly optimistic of Chavez’s potential.

President Hugo Chávez took power on February 6th 1999, having won the ‘98 general election with 56% of the vote in a climate of mass aversion to the established political parties. His immediate priority was to mobilize soldiers for the purposes of vaccinations, food distribution, and anti-poverty activities.

Chávez cancelled privatizations in the oil industry and other sectors. In his mind, no patchwork remedies were going to suffice. Some two-thirds of the entire Venezuelan population were living below the poverty line, most consigned to vast hillside slums with no running water or healthcare.

Characterizing the new Venezuela was a focus on popular welfare, and dialogue with the public. Chávez’s first radio phone-in shows would eventually evolve into a regular Sunday TV programme. Though the upper classes had not yet begun to actively oppose him, his support among the poor was intensifying.

Chávez scheduled a referendum to convene a Constitutional Assembly, and 95% of the seats were won by pro-Chávez legislators. The draft for the new constitution, which expanded presidential and democratic powers, and guaranteed free healthcare/education, was approved by 72% of the electorate.

The image of “The Liberator” Simón Bolívar was reinforcing national identity, with the country renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Meanwhile, Chávez’s own personality cult was also growing, thanks to his typical Venezuelan manner, and rhetoric aimed at his poor base of support.

In mid-December 1999, disaster struck as heavy rains and mudslides hit the coastal state of Vargas, claiming thousands of lives. The armed forces assisted in evacuation and relief efforts. In the aftermath national unity was at a high point, but Chávez’s politics would soon become divisive.

In July 2000, Chávez was elected with 60% of the vote to his first of two possible six-year terms under the terms of the new constitution. By this time, he had referred to himself as a “social revolutionary”, and pledged an “economic revolution”. A tour of OPEC member states was a necessary diversion.

A five-day visit in October by Fidel Castro strengthened relations with Havana, and an agreement was made to supply Cuba with discounted oil. Similar deals were signed with ten Central American and Caribbean nations, marking the beginning of philanthropy and integration in the region.

Domestic opposition to Chávez became markedly more vocal in November 2001, when he passed 49 laws under decree power. These laws upset a diverse set of elite interests, most notably the numerous foreign oil companies operating in Venezuela, large fishing operations, landholders and banks.

By the end of 2001, economic growth was steady at 4%, with inflation at a 15-year low. Land reform was developing, and Chávez’s government reported one million extra primary school enrolments. However, speculators were raising food prices, and signs of an opposition strategy were emerging.

Increasing control over the state oil firm PDVSA was a priority, given its massive oil revenues and Chávez’s plans for social spending. As progress on this front continued in early 2002, PDVSA management began to strike. On April 8th, Chávez fired seven top executives (amongst others) on national TV.

This gave the opposition an excuse to stage a major rally outside PDVSA’s headquarters in Caracas on the 11th. This march was illegally redirected across town towards a pro-Chávez rally near the presidential palace, where unidentified snipers in nearby buildings shot at both sides, killing 19.

A televised announcement of six deaths by military personnel, calling for Chávez to resign, was later revealed to have been recorded days before the actual events. However, the private media managed to convince much of the public that Chávez was indirectly responsible for the deaths and had resigned.

Opposition figures in the military command had Chávez removed, and the next day a transitional government began dismantling democratic achievements, in particular the 1999 constitution. But on the 13th, masses of Chávez supporters took to the streets, and loyal military personnel returned him to the presidency.

A purge of some 50 military officers followed, and so very quickly the armed forces were in immeasurably safer hands. Installing anti-aircraft defenses around the presidential palace (mindful of the fate of Chile’s Allende), Chávez then attempted conciliation with the opposition.

Despite an uncontroversial remainder of the year, in December PDVSA’s management sought to starve the government of oil revenues. Again, the elite sectors worked in concert to enforce a strike over two months, forcing severe gasoline shortages as the country was brought to its knees.

With the crisis overcome and oil production slowly coming back online, Chávez duly fired 18,000 of the employees that had supported the strike/sabotage. By this time it was February 2003, and with PDVSA finally wrestled from the hands of the opposition, Venezuela was ready for core social programs.

Misión Barrio Adentro (“Inside the Barrio”) is a program utilizing over 10,000 Cuban doctors to provide free local healthcare to poor Venezuelans. Misión Robinson provided free reading and writing classes using a proven Cuban program, and thousands of televisions and videos borrowed from Cuba.

Under the new constitution, Venezuelans have the right to recall any elected official halfway through their term, and in mid-2003 the opposition set out to collect the required signatures. These would eventually be leaked in the form of the Tascon list, to the reported detriment of many signees.

With the recall referendum approaching, the economy was only just starting to recover from the oil strike, and inflation had rocketed, settling at nearly 30%. However, the early progress of the social missions alleviated some of the impact, and in August 2004 the ‘NO’ took over 59% of the Carter-certified vote.

Aided by a sharp increase in oil prices to nearly $60/barrel, Chávez found himself with significant breathing space for the truly revolutionary changes he wished to implement. The economy achieved double-digit growth in 2004, in a trend that was to continue as employment rebounded.

In January 2005 at the World Social Forum, Chávez revealed his vision for “socialism of the 21st century”. It was the year of worker cooperatives and land redistribution. At the 2005 Summit of the Americas in Argentina’s Mar del Plata, Chávez led resistance to the FTAA trade agreement, pronouncing it “buried”.

Venezuela and Cuba had already inaugurated ALBA, a cooperative trade agreement for the region, and “oil diplomacy” expanded considerably with the creation of PetroCaribe among 13 nations. As Venezuela proceeded to buy Argentina’s foreign debt, the IMF was being rapidly expelled from the continent.

Visits to China, India, Russia and Iran marked the emergence of a multipolar world order, with the purchase of Russian fighter jets resulting from a US decision to block all military trade with Venezuela. A new light-arms militia comprising 2 million citizens and 100,000 AK47 rifles was established.

Through PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary CITGO, Chávez initiated a program that would deliver subsidised heating fuel for low-income families in several North American states. This was to be expanded and established as an annual act of philanthropy that might encourage other oil firms to follow suit.

As the Barrio Adentro medical mission initiated its second and third stages, Chávez announced that he would jointly establish with Cuba a second medical school to train community doctors. In early 2006 Misión Mercal was distributing subsidized food products across thousands of local stores.

In May of 2006, Chávez visited London for the first time. Talks began over an exchange deal to supply discounted fuel for London’s bus network, in return for then-major Ken Livingstone’s City personnel setting up an office in Caracas to advise on urban planning, environmental concerns and tourism.

Just as the Venezuelan presidential campaigns were kicking off, Chávez spoke at the UN General Assembly, holding up Noam Chomsky’s book “Hegemony or Survival” and recommending it to the audience. He also referred to George Bush as “the devil” that had left a smell of sulphur at the podium.

Manuel Rosales ran as the united opposition candidate, and attempted to win over Chávez supporters by literally offering them free money in the form of the Mi Negra debit card, based on oil revenues. To contrast Chávez’s bold quest for 10 million votes, Rosales promised to represent “all 26 million Venezuelans”.

Chávez had inaugurated train lines and a giant bridge across the Orinoco River as the date approached. Though some polls indicated an increasingly tight race, three-quarters of the electorate turned out to relect Chávez with 63% of the vote for his second (and provisionally final) six-year term.

Chávez promised to deepen the socialist revolution, and duly announced that RCTV, a major channel, would not have its analogue broadcast license renewed. It had conspired to overthrow Chávez in 2002, but another major failing was the quality and moral content of its shows. RCTV remains on cable TV.

Another priority was the nationalization of strategic industries, primarily the telecommunications firm CANTV, and the national electricity company. These were bought at fair market value in order to assist and secure socialist development, lowing prices and providing services to “non-profitable” areas.

The creation of a truly revolutionary party — the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV — was intended to unite the democratic forces backing the project, and create a structure that would begin at the very grassroots of society. During nationwide inscriptions in 2007, over 5 million joined the party.

Chávez then outlined a broad set of constitutional reforms, to which the National Assembly added more, and it all went to the public vote. Numerous factors resulted in a mass Chavista abstention, allowing the opposition to win a narrow majority. Venezuela was not ready for such sweeping changes.

Domestic concerns were prioritized as part of a programme of Revisión, Rectificación, y Reimpulso, with food scarcity and crime at the top of the list. A major dairy firm, Lácteos Los Andes, was nationalized. Security was stepped up in Caracas, while 200 socialist factories were announced to be in construction.

Colombian-Venezuelan relations worsened as Chávez’s offer to assist in freeing FARC hostages was rejected by the militarist Uribe. Chávez continued to receive freed hostages in early 2008, until Colombia recovered FARC laptops with alleged proof of material support from the Venezuelan government.