Chavism

This article is about a political ideology. For prideful prejudice, see Chauvinism.

Banner at demonstrations and protests against Chavismo and Nicolas Maduro government

Chavism (Spanish chavismo) is a left-wing political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. It combines elements of socialism, left-wing populism, patriotism, internationalism, bolivarianism, feminism, green politics, and Caribbean and Latin American integration.

Chavista is a term to describe strong supporters of Chavez, which is closely associated with support for Chavismo.

Policies

Several political parties in Venezuela support chavismo. The main party, founded and led by Chávez, is the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Spanish: Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, usually referred to by the four letters, PSUV). Other parties and movements supporting chavismo include Homeland for All (Spanish: Patria Para Todos or PPT), and Tupamaros.

Broadly, chavismo policies include nationalization, social welfare programs, and opposition to neoliberalism (particularly the policies of the IMF and the World Bank). According to Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan socialism accepts private property, but this socialism seeks to promote social property too. Chavismo also support participatory democracy and workplace democracy. In January 2007, Chávez proposed to build the communal state, whose main idea is to build self-government institutions like communal councils, communes, and communal cities.

Support

According to political scientist John Magdaleno, the number of Venezuelans who define themselves as "Chavistas" has declined since the death of Hugo Chávez and the deterioration of the economy during Nicolás Maduro's tenure, from 44% in October 2012 to around 22% in December 2014. In February 2014, a poll conducted by International Consulting Services, an organization created by Dr. Juan Vicente Scorza, a sociologist and anthropologist for the National Experimental University of the Armed Forces, found that 62% of Venezuelans consider themselves supporters or followers of the ideals of Hugo Chávez.

Commentary

In The Weekly Standard in 2005, Thor Halvorssen Mendoza described the core of Chavismo as a "far-reaching foreign policy that aims to establish a loosely aligned federation of revolutionary republics as a resistance bloc in the Americas".

In 2006, Noam Chomsky expressed a certain degree of support for Chavez and his policies, saying that he was "quite interested" by his policies and that he regarded "many of them" as "quite constructive". He noted that most importantly, Chavez seemed to enjoy overwhelming support from his people after "six closely supervised elections".

According to an article in the New York Sun, Chavezism was rejected in elections around 2006 in Peru, Colombia, and Mexico, and El Universal reported that former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva kept distance from Chavezism, saying that Brazil is not Venezuela, and has traditional institutions. Still, Lula supported Hugo Chávez in the Venezuelan presidential election of 2012 and also supported Nicolás Maduro in Venezuelan presidential election of 2013 and led his own political ideology.

The Nation noted on its editorial pages that:

"Chavismo is not an adequate description of the social movement that makes up Chávez's political base, since many organizations predate his rise to political power, and their leaders and cadre have a sophisticated understanding of their relationship with Chávez. Over the last couple of years, a number of social scientists have done field work in urban barrios, and their findings confirm that this synergy between the central government and participatory local organizations has expanded, not restricted, debate and that democracy is thriving in Venezuela.

Chavismo has ripped open the straitjacket of post-cold war Latin American discourse, particularly the taboo against government regulation of the economy and economic redistribution. Public policy, including economic policy, is now open to discussion and, importantly, popular influence. This is in sharp contrast to Costa Rica, where a few months ago its Supreme Court, with the support of its executive branch, prohibited public universities from not just opposing but even debating the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which soon won a national referendum by a razor-thin margin."

In February 2014, about a year following Hugo Chávez's death, The Atlantic stated that:

"Hugo Chávez based his popularity on his extraordinary charisma, lots of discretionary money, and a key and well-tested political message: denouncing the past and promising a better future for all. The country’s widespread student protests now symbolize the demise of this message. Venezuelans younger than 30 years of age (the majority of the population) have not known any government other than that of Chávez or Maduro. For them, "Chavismo" is the past. As for the promises of a better future: The results are in. The catastrophic consequences of Chávez's 21st Century Socialism are impossible to mask any longer and the government has run out of excuses. Blaming the CIA, the “fascist opposition,” or “dark international forces,” as Maduro and his allies customarily do, has become fodder for parodies flooding YouTube. The concrete effects of 15 years of Chavismo are all too visible in empty shelves and overflowing morgues."

In 2015 when Foreign Policy was speaking about corruption in Latin America, it was stated that:

"The viceroys of the colonial era set the pattern. They centralised power and bought the loyalty of local interest groups. ... Caudillos, dictators and elected presidents continued the tradition of personalising power. Venezuela’s chavismo and the kirchnerismo of Ms Fernández are among today’s manifestations."

See also

• List of political parties in Venezuela
• Solidarity economy
• Bolivarianism

Bibliography

• Ramirez, C.V. (2005), "Venezuela's Bolivarian revolution: Who are the Chavistas?", Latin American Perspectives, 32(3), pp79–97