Venezuelan politics was characterized by military rule for much of its post-independence history. From independence until 1956, Venezuela had 24 constitutions. 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). By the end of the 1990s, however, the now two-party system's credibility was almost nonexistent.
1999–2013 Chávez launched what he called the "
Bolivarian Revolution" and fulfilled an election promise by calling a
Constituent Assembly in 1999, which drafted the new
Constitution of Venezuela. Chávez was granted executive power by the
National Assembly to
rule by decree multiple times throughout his tenure, passing hundreds of laws. Chávez ruled Venezuela by decree in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2011 which was criticizing the government's
Human rights record.
Hugo Chávez, the central figure of the Venezuelan political landscape since
his election to the presidency in 1998 as a political outsider, died in office in early 2013 after a long struggle with cancer. Nearing his death, Chávez expressed his intention that his vice president would succeed him. Chavez was succeeded by
Nicolás Maduro, his vice president, initially as interim President, before he narrowly won the 2013 Venezuelan presidential election.
2013–Present Nicolás Maduro has been president of Venezuela from 2013 to the present. 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), escalating hunger, disease, crime and mortality rates, and mass emigration (almost 5 million from the country as of 2019). Extrajudicial killings of opposition by government forces are reported (by the
United Nations) to include 6800 deaths as of 2019. The crisis has been variously blamed on
low oil prices in early 2015; on an "economic war" on Venezuelan socialism waged by international sanctions, and the country's business elite; and on "years of economic mismanagement, and corruption", Opposition forces said that Henrique Capriles Radonski actually won by close to 300,000 votes and proposed evidence of voter fraud. Maduro and his government responded with suppression of the opposition that resulted in hundreds of arrests, that Maduro claimed to be in defense of a coup he was facing. Maduro attempted to continue the
Chavismo policies. Like Chávez, Nicolás Maduro has ruled by decree multiple times since he was elected in April 2013. President Maduro has ruled Venezuela by decree for the majority of the period from 19 November 2013 through 2017. Maduro has not achieved the same level of popularity that Chávez had during his presidency, demonstrated by the narrow early presidential election win. Many attribute Maduro's failure to continue the same populism model successfully to his lack of charisma that Chávez capitalized on. Chávez's opposition reported to still have large love and respect for Chávez during his presidency, Eric Olsen, deputy director of the Latin American Program at the Wilson Center reports. Olsen notes that this was not the same case with Maduro, who clearly lacks the same amount of captivating characteristics. Henrique Capriles a former MUD presidential candidate and the opposition coalition leader, Jesus Torrealba marked this as a change in the nation's history encouraging celebration with Torrealba stating, "Venezuela wanted a change and that change came. A new majority expressed itself and sent a clear and resounding message."
2017 The strong performance by the opposition led to the reduction of the legislative powers due to the judiciary's increased scope and politicization. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), controlled by the PSUV, invalidated three deputies' elections from the opposition. When this ruling was not accepted by the Assembly, its powers were stripped. By 2017, the old legislative body was dismissed and transformed into the
New Constituent National Assembly. This was similar to the
Constituent Assembly in 1999, having power to change the constitution and dismantle pre-existing officials and/or the bodies themselves. The members of the Constituent Assembly were chosen in July 2017, during elections that were largely boycotted by the opposition, with accusations of illegitimacy. 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). ==Miscellaneous==