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Chavez' failure at the polls opens a new horizon in Venezuelan politics
11/12/2007 By Susanne Gratius, Laura Tedesco
President Chávez’s mandate now has an expiry date. This fact, along with the weakening of his government, modifies the political scenario not only in Venezuela but also in other countries of the region (mainly Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador).
Whatever the destiny of the president and his political project, by rejecting constitutional reform, Venezuelans demonstrated that populism could not overwhelm the democratic framework.
The next months will prove if Chávez has understood this message. If he does, a more favourable period for democratic participation can be expected, along with a decline of the hegemonic project.
If he does not, the most likely scenario is the continuity of national military populism, and, in the best case scenario, of the polarisation between different and irreconcilable political projects.
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Keywords
Conflict Democracy Latin America & Caribbean Populism VenezuelaRelated publications
Bio author: Susanne Gratius
Latin America. Emerging powers. Brazil. Cuba. Venezuela. EU-Latin American relations.
Bio author: Laura Tedesco
PhD from Warwick University. She is now Visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science Department of the University Autónoma of Madrid.
