LAS 140 Final

Impact of oil production on Venezuelan society

- All different races sought to take advantage of the oil bonanza which caused racial and cultural tensions - This was the first time that Venezuelans from different parts of the country came face-to-face with one another - Huge population boom in areas where oil deposits were discovered - Living conditions favored foreigners - Venezuelans lived in poor societies while oil companies created communities for their elite employees - Foreign monetary initiatives attracted the attention of the Venezuelan government

Nationalization of the oil industry

- Bill signed in 1975 and went into place in 1976 - Moderate approach to nationalization because it allowed for contracts with foreign firms - Did not resolve the issue of foreign influence in the industry - Many loopholes that allowed foreign companies to operate in the industry - The PdVSA took control of 14 different firms, forming a massive conglomerate - Oil workers continued to receive the highest wages - Significant inequality in the distribution of income

Cipriano Castro (Andean)

- Came from the Andean mountain region and raised an army to march on Caracas - "Liberal restoration movement" - Price of coffee plummeted, drastically altering the economy - His rise to power ushered in an era of 40 years of control by Andean rulers - Andes region was different in their forms of land ownership - Economic nationalism to expand the role of a state-sponsored national military - Negotiated the contracts for oil exploration in Venezuela - Opposed to foreign intervention

Corporatist Democracy

- Competing interests can be harmonized and serve the interests of the nation - Advocate the creation of official channels of representation from groups organized according to their functions - Focuses on patron-client relationship (partnership between labor and capital) - Continuous negotiations between employees and employers of labor with government mediation

Coup in 2002

- Conservative effort against the government that failed - Increasingly concerned with Chavez's ideas about what a democratic system and his comments about U.S. actions fighting terrorism -(Chavez showed a picture of a family who were eating when a bomb fell on them and it said "we cannot fight terror with terror") - Chavez had very close relations with Fidel Castro of Cuba - Chavez visited the middle east as well - Coup supporters underestimated the popular support that Chavez's administration had and the support he had from the military - The coup lasted less than 48 hours

Pacto of Punto Fijo

- Document signed by leaders of Venezuela's non communist parties (AD - Betancourt, COPEI - Caldera and URD - Villaba) to minimize public interparty rivalry, avoid efforts by military to influence political divisions, and curtail the role of the left-wing communist parties - Under the document, parties agreed to promote political peace, respect the outcome of popular political elections, and to incorporate losing parties in their cabinets - Deliberately excluded left-wing radical parties from the political process - Written guarantee that signing parties would respect election results, fight dictatorships, share oil wealths - Often credited with launching Venezuela towards democracy

Popular democracy

- Efficiency depends on capacity to resolve the problems of democracy and justice - People's participation - Process capable of giving the people the power to elect a leader and have lives changed - Masses are directly making decisions

Hugo Chavez Frias

- Emerged as the leader of the anti-establishment movement - Background in rural, mixed-race poorer family which enabled him to relate with the masses - Went to a military academy and encountered like-minded people who were concerned with the direction of the country, the cases of corruption, and the increasing rate of poverty - Saw many revolutionary movements as common people striving for a better life for themselves so he empathized with them - Won the presidential election in 1998 because he wanted to channel existing social movements and the discontent that existed among social various social classes - Legacy was that Venezuela tried to chart its own course on the international stage

Neoliberal Model

- Expansion and deregulation of the market economy - free markets that are self-regulating - privatization of state owned assets - reduction of state subsidies - elimination of tariffs - favors businesses and helps them compete internationally - export based mindset - solution to debt crisis

Catholic Church (Adaptation to modernity, populism, and urbanization in Latin America)

- First true global institution of the world - Learned to adapt by recognizing secularization (idea that society is not ruled by faith but by reasoning) protestants able to practice faith - Has to be more relaxed in urban areas - Realized that people are not as devout as they used to be and that they may only go to church if someone dies, gets married etc. - Changed how their mission is packaged to acknowledge the less faithful - Peron (populist leader in Argentina) didn't have connections with the church, but as long as he wasn't speaking against god the church didn't oppose him - Latin America has a tradition of folk-Catholicism where people are Catholic but aren't very religious

Simon Bolivar

- Military leader that emerged as the leading figure in the fight for Latin American independence - Stood apart from others because of his vision of unifying Latin America as one nation - Criticized by some as being too radical - His ideas threatened the power of the ruling elite during the end of colonial era - Many battle triumphs - Was also exiled twice - Controversial due to his thoughts on democracy, race, international relations, and public policy

Failed attempt to shut down oil production

- Opponents of Chavez sought to shut down oil production with the intent of denying the government income, hoping Chavez would resign - They sabotaged the oil companies through strikes - Brazil supplied Venezuela with oil barrels during the shortage - Chavez administration opened up previously blocked oil trading routes to address the shortage as well - Looked to a Constitutional provision to recall an elected official, but couldn't secure enough votes because of the popular support of Chavez

1943 Oil Legislation

- Parties following Lopez's death experienced a great degree of political freedom - Oil reform unified all previous legislation and affirmed the right of the Venezuelan government to intervene in the oil industry - Hiring of more Venezuelans in administrative positions increased nationalist rhetoric

Models of Liberal democracy

- Popular democracy - Corporatist democracy - Delegative democracy

Caracazo

- Refers to a massive popular rebellion in Venezuela in 1989 that was fueled by government economic reforms (and imposing economic austerity measures) - Drop in oil prices and economic crisis - Crisis highlighted growing social discontent with administrative powers in the government - Continous opposition, strikes, rioting etc. - Government went ahead with the austerity measures and they privatized former state entities

Jose Antonio Paez

- Served as the guarantor of the new political arrangement following independence in Venezuela - Sought a limited form of Federalism, one that reconciled the autonomy of the provinces with the central authority of the executive - Sought to avoid economic competition from the Church and to establish the independence of the state, assumed presidency in 1831 - Expelled anyone from the country who he felt was leading an opposition movement -Despite this, rebellions by military officers plagued his presidency

Import Substitution Industrialization Model

- State-led industrialization - State ownership of utilities, ports, railroads, mining, banking etc. - protection of local industries by high tariffs - national education and healthcare - nationalist culture - economic policy that emphasizes domestic production rather than foreign dependency - success comes from development of industrial and proletariat classes as well as from the development of a middle class

Generation of 1928

- Student led march in Caracas protesting the Gomez regime - Group had a mix of leftist and liberal ideas - Contained many future political and cultural leaders - Founded democratic and leftist political parties that influenced Venezuelan politics for most of the 20th century

Trienio (1945-1948 and its legacy)

- Three year period in which the Accion Democratica (AD) governed Venezuela - They gained power through a military coup against President Medina - Shared power with the UPM governed by Romulo Betancourt - Betancourt assured the oil companies that their relationship with the government wouldn't change under the new administration - Military budgets nearly tripled and U.S. government feared a formation of a communist party - AD addressed reforms started by Medina and had new ideas about education system, agrarian reform, promoting immigration, expanding infrastructure, and encouraging manufacturing - Political mobilization of the period compelled existing political and social forces to redefine their roles in society - New electoral law assigned each party an official color and symbol

Obstacles facing liberal democracy

- Traditional authoritarianism dates back to the colonial years - Most unequal region in the world socially - (Think Mexico crossing the street example) - Wealthy feel entitled to do whatever they want - Rule of law is a problem in Latin America - Three P's (Plomo - lead bullets for enemies, plato - silver money for allies, palo sticks to beat people with for undecided)

Change in oil policy after Chavez

- Venezuela sought to claim a larger role in OPEC and its oversight of the PdVSA in order to address the extremely low oil prices - Under Chavez the government sought to complete the nationalization of the oil industry bu closing loopholes from the 1976 law under Perez - Sought to bring the oil conglomerate PdVSA under state control - Created tension among PdVSA executives and management because they exploited foreign interests and viewed the government as an obstacle to the independence and operation of the enterprise - Venezuela assumed a leadership position in OPEC in an effort to strengthen and increase the world prices of oil - Oil revenues would be redistributed to the people through subsidies, employment, healthcare, and education

Delegative democracy

- Whoever wins the election is thereby entitled to govern as he or she sees fit - Leader is only contained by existing power relations and a constitutionally limited term of office - President is taken to be the embodiment of the nation and definer of its interests - Government promises don't have to bear any resemblance to campaign promises