Is Venezuela a Democracy? Essay

Living in two different countries can be a great experience that can change someone's way of thinking. We live in a world with many countries and different types of people, making us compare each other and ask ourselves how is this different or similar. For example, in Brazil, they speak Portuguese, but in Colombia they speak Spanish. That's one difference. Yet, Brazil and Colombia are in the same continent. Now, that's one similarity. In my case, I have lived in Venezuela and in the United States and sometimes I start comparing many things like economy, government, culture, topography, weather, traditions, etc. Many people don't notice how many difference and similarities two countries can have.

This will be as much a tale about the Venezuelan people as it is about a returning immigrant who knows his homeland largely from memories and media. Though my experiences have shaped my outlook, my intention is to enter the country as a neutral and impartial writer, cognizant of daily life, yet oblivious to the fiery political discourse which consumes too many discussions.

In recent years, an increasing number of professors, commentators, journalists, and teens on social media have claimed that capitalism has failed. What usually follows are suggestions to usher in a new wave of socialism, as if the chaos in Venezuela is somehow non-existent or something truly desirable.

As I said before, many critics agreed that Hugo Chavez has been able to diminished Venezuelan democracy to convert it to a competitive authoritarian regime. Chavez has controlled the country and stills does, in a way in that using populism and his policy of clientism he gets the masses and specially the poor to support him and agreed with him in many of his reforms and actions. Allying himself with leftist countries like Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and especially Cuba, Chavez has implemented what he calls a “Bolivarian Revolution”, revolution that allows him to have a complete control of the country. Furthermore, Chavez has been using the oil revenues not only as a method of getting international support for his ideas and type of regime but also, for his own personal enrichment

What is democracy? According to the online version of the Miriam Webster dictionary, democracy is "government by the people" also "is a government in which supreme power is invested by the people and it is exercised by the people directly or indirectly through a representational system in which periodically held free elections." Venezuela as well as other countries in Latin America has undergone constant changes in their democracy, produced by their rulers. The primary function of the government is to ensure the safety of the state, its territory and its inhabitants. Also their objective is to strength the democratic institutions that ensure the democratic liberties and rights. Unfortunately, not all the leaders are capable of respecting

The country of venezuela is hot, humid,and located in nothern south america.The capitol of venezuela is caracus. The name venezuela came from the explorer , alonso de ojedo ,because he admired how much it reminded him of venice. Earleist records of venezuela date back to march 30th 1845 when christopther made his third voyage in search of gold.Settlers would go to venezuela to trade for their resources because venezuela was known as the riches country.Venezuela would trade natural resiurces like : petroleum natural gas,iron ore gold minerals and diamonds.They first gained independence in 1811 on july 5th ; by the help of jose prudencio.

America and Haiti are both democratic states but one is often viewed as the poster child for democracy- while the other’s democracy is on the verge of collapsing. While Corruption and politics goes hand in hand the systematic structure set within political systems is what differentiates a legitimate state from a failed or weak state . In countries where the political system have been successful in seamlessly integrating itself into the society, by providing for its citizens, politics goes unnoticed. In instances where the state failed to provide the basic necessities for its people , politics is a matter of life or death, it no longer becomes a matter of

Additionally, there was lack of opposition party that could provide stern attack against the ruling party of Porfirio Diaz. The local election officials used to certify choices of Porfirio Diaz. The officials rejects for counting votes to work for Diaz. This resembles the fact that the political power of Porfirio Diaz epitomizes the political revolt in Mexico. The political policies developed by Diazcreated revolution in Mexico.

Throughout this assignment, our job as students was to develop a plan in order to have knowledge about the country we were planning to discuss, the country I decided to talk about in this assignment is Venezuela. Venezuela was given the name of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela since 1999. Venezuela is located on the northern coast of South America, the country is compromised with numerous islands from the Caribbean Sea. It borders Brazil from the south,Colombia from the west and Guyana from the east. A little history about Venezuela, this country became a Spanish colony in the 1520’s. In 1830, Venezuela withdrew from Gran Colombia and became an independent republic. Most of Venezuela’s 19th century history was characterized by periods of political instability, dictatorial rule and then followed by a succession in the first half of the 20th century(CountryWatch). Hugo Chavez became president in 1999 and continuously became elected until 2013, the current president of Venezuela is Nicolas Maduro(CountryWatch).

Venezuela is located on the north coast of South America. It is a very interesting country, since it possesses many unique attributes and resources that other countries in the region do not. There are several different systems that represent these resources and attributes. Major Kris A. Arnold (2006) states “PMESII is (sic) military acronym listed in several joint and service publications, which evolved from a systems perspective, and equates to the political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, and information systems of states. The acronym provides a starting point for identifying key interrelated systems of an adversary and facilitates analysis and kinetic and non-kinetic targeting”. Venezuela is an especially interesting case due to the political system in place, in addition to the unique economic power that the nation has.

It is impossible to separate the history of military dictatorships in Latin America from the history of economic exploitation and of US intervention in the region. The history of slavery and other forced labor in the pursuit of large-scale agriculture and resource extraction in the time of the colonies has created a legacy of economic exploitation. This poverty and inequality has in many cases led to popular uprisings and calls for reform, which provided the reason (or the excuse, depending on your point of view) to use military force to restore discipline. The United States' willingness to support strong regimes capable of securing its interests in the region also has played a decisive role. These

Now days democracy has been establish in every Latin America country except Cuba, which is still a socialist state. It seemed that every other alternative form of government such as Marxism or Leninism has failed and been replaced by democracy. Furthermore it looks like people in Latin American really enjoy democracy and its’ benefits, as they also consider it to be the best form of government. After the failure of authoritarian leaders and the military intervene their lives, Latin American citizens wanted to change their system into a more fair and honest system, democracy. Democracy is usually defined as a system of honesty, equality, freedom of rights, though for Latin America countries it means gains, welfare and patronage. Latin

The oil-rich Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, located on the northern coast of South America, was for many decades considered among the wealthiest nations in the entire continent. While having the largest proven oil reserves in the world has often proved a tremendous boon for Venezuela, the very black gold that has been the cause of its success has also proven to repeatedly be its kryptonite. Over half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product stems from petroleum exports – which equates to approximately 95% of total exports. It is really not too hard to imagine what drastic consequences shifts in global oil prices could have on the economy.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves and by 1960, it became the wealthiest country in Latin America. Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state owned company, was the key to economic and social development in Venezuela under president Hugo Chavez. His government was settled in an environment where the oil prices were rising and the economy was booming, so he was able fund social programs and practices that were popular to the poor masses. This wealthy and growing Venezuela made Chavez to be very popular and his regime very powerful. Oil revenue accounted for nearly 90% of exports, more than 50% of government revenue, and 35% of country’s GDP.

During elections in countries with corrupt governments, for example, it has to be decided whether the guarantee of every individual’s right to vote or who wins is more important. (Wong, Lecture, October 24) Moreover, deep divides continue to exist and separate groups in democratic countries by race, religion, language, and class, resulting in tension and, in some cases, oppression. Thus democracy, despite its emphasis on liberty, equality and plurality, can still be problematic.