Archive / Policy Brief
Bolivia and Venezuela: different political paths
23/03/2009 By Susanne Gratius, Laura Tedesco
Bolivia and Venezuela have transformed their states, constitutions and democracies. Nevertheless, they are walking down different political paths. Apart from some resemblances in the ways of doing politics, the projects are not the same.
J. Barreto/AFP/Getty Images
Whereas president Evo Morales is trying to reconstruct a State and to build a democratic regime which includes the indigenous population; Hugo Chávez is trying to reconstruct the Venezuelan state implementing a concentration of power in his hands, the militarization of politics, the polarization of society and a charismatic and authoritarian-populist leadership. The EU´s response should emphasize these differences rather than equal them.
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Keywords
Bolivia Conflict Democracy Democratic control EU Latin America & Caribbean VenezuelaRelated publications
- Bolivia: ¿Cuánta revolución cabe en la democracia?
- Bolivia: a national clash over multiple worlds
- Bolivia: The Challenges to State Reform
- Brazil and Bolivia: the hydrocarbon "conflict"
- Chavez' failure at the polls opens a new horizon in Venezuelan politics
- Re-founding the State in Bolivia
- State crisis and the social pact in Bolivia
- Venezuela: is Hugo Chávez in control?
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.
