Populism, clientelism, and corruption are nothing new to Venezuelan politics. For years the country was plagued by a corrupt two-party system where special favours were doled out by the elites. Authoritarianism, however, was never a part of Venezuela’s political development.  While military dictatorships took over in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil during the Cold War, Venezuela remained a stable civilian democracy with relatively high levels of per capita income.

However, by the 1990s Venezuela’s institutions were decaying rapidly. Economic inequalities were deepening and dissatisfaction was growing towards elites continuing to exclude the poor from the political process. This was the environment that Hugo Chávez emerged out of. He was very adept at connecting with the common man, portraying himself as a political outsider. He appealed to those who had felt marginalized, championing their concerns, and adopting a persona of a messianic figure. He emphasized hero worship and idolatry through poems and songs.

Chávez was a certainly a polarizing and legendary figure in Venezuela. He transformed the country’s political and economic landscape by nationalizing industries and funnelling enormous amounts of government money into social programmes. Under his rule, Venezuela’s unemployment rate halved, income per capita more than doubled, the poverty rate fell by more than half, education improved, and infant mortality rates declined.  He ignited the wrath of the country’s elites and conservatives but was loved by the country’s poor and working classes.

Much of Chávez’s power came from his direct control over the spending and investment of the country’s oil income. The government created special non-transparent funds, free of legislative oversight. This allowed him to implement selective populist policies to garner support when it was needed. Chávez was innovative in the way that he spent money but did little to help invest in Venezuela’s ability to generate money. He failed to diversify the economy or invest in domestic production outside the oil sector. Because imports were relied upon for basic goods and services, including food and medicine, any drop in oil prices made the country vulnerable to inflation. Bids for contracts were non-competitive. 

Chávez also deliberately weakened the state’s institutions. The bureaucracy and high level government positions were filled with his associates, many from the military. Merit, expertise, and experience were not necessarily used as criteria for promotion for administrative positions(Corrales and Penfold, 2015).  The military was used instead of the administrative institutions to deliver goods and services. These programmes were now operating independently of ministries of the state. By doing so, previously privileged groups lost their influence, access, and patronage, but in the process, institutional capacity was weakened. Chávez also shook up Venezuelan politics by creating communal assemblies that countered the power of local governments, in the name of participatory democracy.

Within a couple of years of his 1999 election, Chávez had made other significant changes to Venezuela that elevated his power. Amendments to the 1999 Constitution enabled him to expand the emergency powers of the executive, which gave him the power to rule by decree.  He also eliminated the Senate and created a 21-person unelected council that was loyal to him. He banned public financing of political parties, though there was no way to monitor his own campaigns. The National Electoral Commission was also placed under Chávez’s control and was filled with regime loyalists. In 2004, an additional 12 seats were added to the Supreme Court, to ensure that the now 32-seat tribunal was filled with government supporters. The justices all pledged a commitment to Chavez’s agenda.

All of these manoeuvres were passed with the support of the public. Referendums and recall of officials legitimized his agenda, which Chávez could hold without legislative approval.  Chávez submitted his agenda to 14 national votes and he won 13 of them by large margins.  He even allowed his opposition to run a recall referendum against him in 2004 two years after surviving a coup attempt, which he won.

The pro-Chávez support was arguably fuelled by his control over the media. The government invested more than $40 million in upgrading the state-owned TV stations, adding more stations and acquiring more than 145 local radio stations and 75 newspapers, effectively nationalizing the media. It also used this money to create numerous pro-Chávez websites.  The government also imposed tougher penalties for speech that offends government officials, and allowed for the arbitrary suspension of TV channels, radio stations, and websites.

Since Chávez’s hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has taken over after Chávez’s death in 2013, observers have noted that the country has further spiralled into dictatorship. Elections, that are heavily stacked in his favour since some of the opposition has been arrested, remain the only democratic institution left (Brodzinsky, 2017).  The judiciary is now under his control as is the legislature (Dwyer, 2017).    While Chávez legitimately won elections, Maduro’s victory is questionable.  His popularity is at 20%, much lower than compared with Chávez (Ulmer, 2016).   Maduro held a snap election, which he barely won. While Chávez legitimately won elections, Maduro’s victory is questionable. His popularity is 20 per cent lower than Chávez.  Maduro starts in his second term in 2019 isolated, lacking the personal magnetism or the connections to gain a fervent following.

Part of Maduro’s problem is that Venezuela is experiencing one of the worst economic crises in its history. The crisis was spurred by the drop in global oil prices, but regulations on its currency led to record breaking inflation. Calorie consumption levels have decreased dramatically with 75 per cent of the population losing almost 20 pounds of bodyweight due to food shortages. But Maduro has (up until the time of writing) refused to acknowledge that there is a crisis. 

Maduro has also done little to curb corruption. People who have government connections are allowed to exchange bolivars for US dollars at a discounted rate. Those elites can buy things like food abroad using government subsidized dollars and sell them domestically to people who buy them with the bolivar—with the seller pocketing the difference.

Maduro also imprisoned major rivals and postponed state elections. While Chávez was more measured, using the ballot box to boost his own power, Maduro has appeared to have no qualms about using force. In response to protests, the regime has cracked down on protestors, with government security forces killing demonstrators. For months, the regime coerced citizens to register as Socialist Party members, traded food for votes, and blacklisted opposition candidates. Most recently, Maduro’s regime has created a 545 seat constituent assembly that has the power to rewrite the constitution and take away power from the opposition-controlled parliament. Maduro and his supporters now have total control of the government, and at the time of writing, they are showing no signs of slowing down.

References

Brodzinsky, S. August 2, 2017. Venezuela: Maduro condemned after opposition duo arrested in midnight raids. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/venezuela-maduro-government-opposition-leaders. Accessed October 29th, 2018

Corrales, J. and Penfold, M., 2015. Dragon in the tropics: Venezuela and the legacy of Hugo Chávez. Brookings Institution Press.

Dwyer, C. August 18th, 2017. Venezuela's Pro-Maduro Assembly Seizes Congressional Powers.  National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/18/544475268/venezuela-s-pro-maduro-assembly-says-it-can-pass-laws-seizing-congress-powers. Accessed October 29th, 2018

Ulmer, A. November 18th, 2016.  Venezuelan president approval slips to minimum, under 20 percent: poll. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics/venezuelan-president-approval-slips-to-minimum-under-20-percent-poll-idUSKBN13D02N. Accessed October 29th, 2018

Critical thinking questions

• Why is Venezuela now considered to be a dictatorship?
• Was Venezuela authoritarian under Hugo Chávez?  Why or why not?
• What explains why Maduro has not been ousted from power yet, given the growing crisis in the country?
• Is it surprising that the regime that followed Chávez would become authoritarian?  Why or why not?