The party was born as a left wing from the Venezuelan
Populist Movement in 1967. In 1970, they adopted a clear socialist orientation, but they were hesitant in some aspects. This led to an evolution towards
scientific socialism and the use of the
dialectical method. The political basis and ideologies of the party were declared by its founder, Luis Beltrán Preito Figueroa, in his thesis Del Tradicionalismo a la modernidad. This thesis is also known as Libro Morado. The fundamental values of the MEP are: •
National Liberation- The MEP is an instrument to eradicate imperialist exploitation and oligarchy. • Socialist Democracy- The MEP works to overcome contradictions and differences of the nation's classes and to further develop the human personality. Furthermore, Preito Figueroa expressed that socialist democracy means giving power to the working class as well as both manual and intellectual workers, who exercise control over the state and its means of production. With regard to the economic aspect, Prieto Figueroa defended that social property should not be regulated in a bureaucratic or uniform matter. With this, it favored the
nationalization of large companies, the creation of some self-managed units in medium and small companies, and an exception of a few small companies in private control for an indefinite amount of time. At the same time, he claimed that socialist democracy implied that they would create a plan for the economy to benefit the
common good, and distribute wealth with regard to the
work each individual completes. Similarly, Prieto Figueroa states that steps towards socialization are only taken when the state is under heavy influence by the power of the working class. == History ==