Changing Venezuela by Taking Power: The History and Politics of the Chavez Government

Just after the Zapatista (EZLN) uprising that began on January 1, 1994, the peasant/indigenous insurgent movement was asked about why they didn't seek to overthrow the government as part of their revolutionary strategy. Representatives from the EZLN said that they didn't believe that taking over the government would be the best route to take, considering what happened to the Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran revolutions. In each of those three examples, the US government expended a great deal of energy to undermine the revolutionary movements and governments. The EZLN decided that creating a movement that gave civil society more of an opportunity to change the government in Mexico was a better route to go.

The case of Venezuela is somewhat different. The "Bolivarian revolution" that is personified in the current President Hugo Chavez has taken the route of coming to power, but through the electoral process and not by force. Changing Venezuela by Taking Power is a book that honestly investigates whether or not the Bolivarian experiment in Venezuela has worked since Hugo Chavez came to power in 1998. The book begins by laying out some historical background so as to provide the reader with a context for the Chavez government to come to power, but the bulk of the text is devoted to an evaluation of Venezuela's governance, economic, social, and foreign policies.

Even though US news consumers might perceive the current government of Venezuela only through the lens of economics or foreign policy, it is the governance policy that has laid the groundwork for systemic change in the country. The governance policy is an extension of the new Venezuelan constitution that was voted on in 1999. These constitutional changes have implemented several new policies that have benefited women and minorities. However, one of the most revolutionary and democratic changes has been the establishment of Consejos Comunales or Communal Councils. These councils exist at the local level and provide opportunities of citizens to take ownership of the democratic process. People have more say in how things operate in their communities and the councils give them a mechanism to develop and implement strategies to improve their communities and not wait for the federal government to make the changes they seek. The Venezuelan constitution even mandates that the state provide funding for these councils in order to implement projects and programs they develop. According to the author, the level of citizen participation has been amazing, and it will be interesting to see what the long-term benefits will be.

However, there have been problems with these new governance policies. Because these Communal Councils are receiving funds from the state, the local government structures are receiving less. This dynamic has set up some tensions between local Mayors and the councils. Another issue that the author points out is that since Venezuelan civil society has been excluded for so long from participating in the democratic process, they have not yet fully developed the capacity to make the councils effective. The Chavez government believes that this will all happen over time, as the Bolivarian experiment becomes part of the political culture.

The economic and social policies have also moved in the direction of more citizen participation. The state has directed funds to small and medium businesses as well as worker run companies. Venezuela has the capacity to do this in part because of the revenues generated from oil production, but also because the government is committed to eliminating poverty and trying to level the economic playing field. Another changes that the Chavez government have made as been to nationalize some previously owned private services and to implement some land reform. Both of these actions have received some opposition, but in the case of the land reform the government has been paying previous owners a fair market price for land that is generally not used.

Education policy has also been transformed since the Bolivarian experiment began. The curriculum emphasizes cooperation and community as opposed to competition. The state has also undertaken a massive literacy campaign with young and old alike. The healthcare system has also been targeted by the state for change. The program they use is called Barrio Adentro or Inside the Barrio. This program has set up clinics and health care workers in poor communities to address issues like vaccination, nutrition and combating diseases. The government has also begun an aggressive campaign to train students in the health field, with many of the students going to Cuba for their medical training.

The last big area of policy change has been with Venezuela's foreign policy. The Chavez administration has sought to change direction with its foreign policy with a multi-pronged approach. Venezuela has sought to create more interaction and cooperation between regional partners, particularly in the areas of trade by attempting to create regional blocks that could act independently of the World Bank/IMF and the economic hegemony that the US has been trying to impose in the region. Another area of change has been Venezuela's role in OPEC. Chavez has tried to get the OPEC countries to meet more often and to improve cooperation. The Venezuelan President has done this by making it a point to visit OPEC partners, an action which has also upset Washington.

Since the time he took office, Chavez has been an ally of Cuba and a close friend of Fidel Castro. Chavez has used this relationship to learn from the Cuban experience as well as to tap into the health, education, and literacy successes of the Caribbean nation. This relationship has also not been well received in Washington, which has been attempting to undermine the Cuban revolution for nearly 50 years. The author points out that the anti-imperialist rhetoric of Chavez may contribute to Washington's desire to assist the opposition in Venezuela to oust Chavez. Wilpert points out that the US has used USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as mechanisms to fund anti-Chavez forces within the country. The author doesn't spend a great deal of time on the role of the US in the coup against Chavez in 2002, since that topic has been addressed in detail by writers elsewhere.

For those trying to have a better understanding about what has been taking place in Venezuela in the last decade Changing Venezuela by Taking Power is a great resource. Gregory Wilpert does not idealize the government of Hugo Chavez, instead the author points out the shortcomings of this Bolivarian experiment. More importantly, this book provides a good investigation into the power of participatory democracy, something those of us who live in the US could learn from.

Gregory Wilpert, Changing Venezuela by Taking Power: The History and Politics of the Chavez Government, (Verso, 2006).