Bolivarian Revolution
Encyclopedia
The “Bolivarian Revolution” refers to a leftist social movement
and political process in Venezuela
led by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez
, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement
(replaced by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
in 2007). The "Bolivarian Revolution" is named after Simón Bolívar
, an early 19th century Venezuelan and Latin America
n revolutionary leader, prominent in the Spanish American wars of independence in achieving the independence of most of northern Latin America from Spanish rule. According to Chávez and other supporters, the "Bolivarian Revolution" seeks to build a mass movement to implement Bolivarianism - popular democracy
, economic independence, equitable distribution of revenues, and an end to political corruption
- in Venezuela. They interpret Bolívar's ideas from a socialist
perspective.
. According to one author whose name was Tamarick Person "a spontaneous and enduring popular cult of Bolivar" as early as 1842, and he is venerated in "parades, speeches, ceremonies, competitions, inaugurations, commemorations, unveilings of monuments, official publications, and other formal events."
Chavez as a military cadet was "a celebrant of the Bolivarian passion story".
Chávez relied upon the ideas of Bolívar, and on Bolívar as a popular symbol, early on in his military career, when he was creating his MBR-200 which would become a vehicle for his 1992 coup attempt.
.
n economic and social integration by enacting bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements, including his so-called "oil diplomacy", which provides cheap oil to poor neighbouring nations. Chávez regularly portrays his movement's objectives as being in intractable conflict with neocolonialism
and neoliberalism
.
Gobierno en Línea: Misiones — Official government website detailing the Bolivarian Missions.
Gobierno en Línea: Misiones — Official government website detailing the Bolivarian Missions. Misión Barrio Adentro — Official government Mission Barrio Adentro web portal. Instituto Nacional de Estadística — Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics; has web several portals for accessing demographic and economic data related to the impact of Bolivarian Missions. Barrio Adentro — Official government dossier on Barrio Adentro (in Spanish) Aló Presidente 225 — Video of a July 2005 episode of Hugo Chávez
's talkshow Aló Presidente
that features an eight hour tour of a new Barrio Adentro II CDI (Centros de Diagnóstico Integral) in Maturín, Monagas state, Venezuela
. Programa Nro. 225 - Aló Presidente — Transcript of Aló Presidente
225.
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
and political process in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
led by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement
Fifth Republic Movement
The Fifth Republic Movement was a left-wing, Socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to support the candidacy of Hugo Chávez, the current President of Venezuela, in the Venezuelan presidential...
(replaced by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
United Socialist Party of Venezuela
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez...
in 2007). The "Bolivarian Revolution" is named after Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, an early 19th century Venezuelan and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n revolutionary leader, prominent in the Spanish American wars of independence in achieving the independence of most of northern Latin America from Spanish rule. According to Chávez and other supporters, the "Bolivarian Revolution" seeks to build a mass movement to implement Bolivarianism - popular democracy
Popular democracy
Popular democracy is a notion of direct democracy based on referendums and other devices of empowerment and concretization of popular will. The concept evolved out of the political philosophy of Populism, as a fully democratic version of this popular empowerment ideology, but since it has become...
, economic independence, equitable distribution of revenues, and an end to political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
- in Venezuela. They interpret Bolívar's ideas from a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
perspective.
Background: Bolivarianism
Simón Bolívar has long been an important figure in Venezuela's historyHistory of Venezuela
This article discusses the history of Venezuela. See also the history of South America.-Pre-Columbian period:Archeologists have discovered evidence of the earliest known inhabitants of the Venezuelan area in the form of leaf-shaped flake tools, together with chopping and plano–convex scraping...
. According to one author whose name was Tamarick Person "a spontaneous and enduring popular cult of Bolivar" as early as 1842, and he is venerated in "parades, speeches, ceremonies, competitions, inaugurations, commemorations, unveilings of monuments, official publications, and other formal events."
Chavez as a military cadet was "a celebrant of the Bolivarian passion story".
Chávez relied upon the ideas of Bolívar, and on Bolívar as a popular symbol, early on in his military career, when he was creating his MBR-200 which would become a vehicle for his 1992 coup attempt.
Policies
The Chávez administration has deployed national social welfare programs (Misiones or "Missions") called Bolivarian MissionsBolivarian Missions
The Bolivarian Missions are a series of social justice, social welfare, anti-poverty, educational, electoral and military recruiting programs implemented under the administration of the current Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez...
.
Internationalism
The "Bolivarian Revolution" under Chávez has also refocused Venezuelan foreign policy on Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n economic and social integration by enacting bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements, including his so-called "oil diplomacy", which provides cheap oil to poor neighbouring nations. Chávez regularly portrays his movement's objectives as being in intractable conflict with neocolonialism
Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control...
and neoliberalism
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
.
See also
- Socialism of the 21st centurySocialism of the 21st centurySocialism of the 21st century is a political term and a slogan coined by Heinz Dieterich in 1996. It was used by Hugo Chávez during a speech at the World Social Forum of 2005 and it has been publicised actively by Dieterich worldwide since 2000, especially in Latin America.-Bolivarian...
- Bolivarian Continental MovementBolivarian Continental MovementBolivarian Continental Movement it is a political movement named after South American independence hero Simón Bolívar...
External links
- Schuyler, George W. (The Policy Studies Organization) Health and Neoliberalism: Venezuela and Cuba. Retrieved 18 Oct 2005.
Gobierno en Línea: Misiones — Official government website detailing the Bolivarian Missions.
- Richard Gott, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 30 May 2005, Chávez leads the way - Christian Parenti, The Nation, 11 April 2005, "Hugo Chávez and Petro Populism"
Gobierno en Línea: Misiones — Official government website detailing the Bolivarian Missions. Misión Barrio Adentro — Official government Mission Barrio Adentro web portal. Instituto Nacional de Estadística — Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics; has web several portals for accessing demographic and economic data related to the impact of Bolivarian Missions. Barrio Adentro — Official government dossier on Barrio Adentro (in Spanish) Aló Presidente 225 — Video of a July 2005 episode of Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
's talkshow Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente is a largely unscripted talk show hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez which is broadcast on Venezuelan state television and radio stations every Sunday at 11:00 AM...
that features an eight hour tour of a new Barrio Adentro II CDI (Centros de Diagnóstico Integral) in Maturín, Monagas state, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Programa Nro. 225 - Aló Presidente — Transcript of Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente is a largely unscripted talk show hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez which is broadcast on Venezuelan state television and radio stations every Sunday at 11:00 AM...
225.
- Venezuela's Cooperative Revolution from Dollars & SenseDollars & SenseDollars & Sense is a magazine dedicated to providing left-wing perspectives on economics.Published six times a year since 1974, it is edited by a collective of economists, journalists, and activists committed to the ideals of social justice and economic democracy.It was initially sponsored by the...
magazine - Exploring the Dialectic of the Bolivarian Revolution by Monthly ReviewMonthly ReviewMonthly Review is an independent Marxist journal published 11 times per year in New York City.-History:The publication was founded by Harvard University economics instructor Paul Sweezy, who became the first editor...
- Gott, Richard. The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 25 Aug 2005. Two fingers to America. - Wilpert, Gregory. Venezuelanalysis, 11 Nov 2003. "Venezuela’s Missions to Fight Poverty".
- Jorge Martin, "While Bush prevaricates, Venezuela offers help to US poor". In Defense of Marxism. 2 September 2005