Unpopular Choices: A Cautionary Tale for the Future of Venezuela
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- After the death of Hugo Chavez and the rise of his handpicked successor Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan began a rapid descent towards authoritarianism. However, the conditions that gave way to this chaos trace their roots beyond that of Chavismo and modern Venezuelan socialism. In 1958, political leaders with visions of democracy and liberal ideals united to oust a military dictator that ruled for the past decade. Together, they crafted a power sharing agreement in the Pact of Punto Fijo to ensure alternation of power among political parties and to curtail divisions on ideological issues. The pact survived for nearly five decades and weathered numerous coup attempts and a large Marxist insurgency. However, structural changes in the political institutions eventually weakened the pact and created the conditions for the rise of populism. All signs of democracy have evaporated since the Pact of Punto Fijo was signed sixty years ago. Now, opposition parties to President Maduro are fracturing and the Venezuelan armed forces remain closely tied to Maduro. However, with history as their guide, this paper argues that the opposition leaders should maintain strong coordination among themselves and identify moderates within the armed forces that will be essential when the transformation back to democracy begins. It will review the historical process which brought about democracy in the mid-twentieth century. It will subsequently review the structural transformation of the political institutions and how it created the conditions for the breakdown of democracy. It will conclude with a contemporary assessment of the current political situation and put forth an unpopular recommendation.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 1, 2018 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Kertis, Ryan E. |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Weinstein, Jeremy |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Center for Latin American Studies |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford Center for Latin American Studies |
|---|---|
| Subject | Latin America |
| Subject | Venezuela |
| Subject | democracy |
| Subject | political institutions |
| Subject | armed forces |
| Subject | policy making process |
| Subject | Pact of Punto Fijo |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC-ND).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Kertis, Ryan E. (2018). Unpopular Choices: A Cautionary Tale for the Future of Venezuela. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/sq651wq7384
Collection
Stanford University, Center for Latin American Studies, Masters Degree Capstone Projects
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- Contact
- rkertis@alumni.stanford.edu
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