Politics of Venezuela
[6][1][5][7][8][9] Under Chávez's rule and later under the rule of his successor Nicolás Maduro, power has been concentrated in the hands of the executive, institutional checks and balances have been undermined, independent media have been repressed, and opposition forces have been marginalized in governing institutions, such as congress, courts, oversight agencies, the state-owned petroleum company (PDVSA), and the military.
Up to 60 countries, including United States and the European Union have recognized Juan Guaidó (MUD) as the President of Venezuela.
[13] Background to the current political landscapes is the development of democracy in Venezuela during the twentieth century, in which Democratic Action (ADx or Acción Democrática in Spanish, founded in 1941) and its predecessors played an important role in the early years.
After an intervening decade of dictatorship (1948–1958) and the fall of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez[14] saw ADx excluded from power, four Venezuelan presidents came from Democratic Action from the 1960s to the 1990s.
This period, known as the "Fourth Republic", is marked by the development of the 1958 Punto Fijo Pact between the major parties (originally including the Democratic Republican Union, which later dwindled in significance).
Democratic Action's last president (Carlos Andrés Pérez) was impeached for corruption in 1993 and spent two years under house arrest as a result.
The other main traditional party Copei, provided two Venezuelan presidents (Rafael Caldera, 1969–1974, and Luis Herrera Campins, 1979–1983).
Confidence in the traditional parties collapsed enough that Rafael Caldera won the 1993 presidential election with about 30% of the vote, representing a new electoral coalition National Convergence.
Chávez was granted executive power by the National Assembly to rule by decree multiple times throughout his tenure,[19][20][21] passing hundreds of laws.
His rule has been marked by a continuation of Bolivarian socialist populist policies (at least until 2020), but also by a severe economic crisis -- hyperinflation (53,798,500% between 2016 and April 2019),[28] escalating hunger,[29] disease, crime and mortality rates,[30] and mass emigration (almost 5 million from the country as of 2019).
[30] On 14 April 2013 elections were held between Nicolás Maduro and Henrique Capriles Radonski, opposition leader and co founder of the political party, Primero Justicia.
[40][41][42][43][44] Maduro has not achieved the same level of popularity that Chávez had during his presidency, demonstrated by the narrow early presidential election win.
[49] In 2020, news reports described a loosening of many socialist/redistributive economic policies—price and currency controls, stringent labor laws—by the Maduro government, along with an rapprochement with members of the capitalist community—especially Lorenzo Mendoza of the Empresas Polar conglomerate who is no longer denounced as a "thief," a "parasite" and a "traitor".
[51] Another result of the economic liberalization is that erstwhile socialist allies of Maduro's government who began to protest corruption and the "extravagant lives flaunted by the government's cronies in supermarkets stocked with expensive imports and luxury car showrooms", have become victims to the same security apparatus that have attacked Maduro's opponents on the right—they have been denounced as traitors, arrested (leaders of the Communist and Tupamaro parties), beaten and sometimes assassinated (the fate of radio host José Carmelo Bislick).
On 25 April 2023, representatives from 19 nations, including the European Union, attended a conference that was intended to rekindle negotiations between Nicolás Maduro's government in Venezuela and the opposition political parties, but it had no noticeable impact.
