The idea of a political union between Venezuela and the United States has seemed impossible for decades, as Caracas is defined by chavismo, a left-wing populist ideology that is rooted in anti-imperialism and at odds with Washington’s policies.
But questions about the Chavista’s future in Venezuela are beginning to emerge after US President Donald Trump ordered the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, and the US subsequently insisted that the interim government of Caracas must take orders from Washington.
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So what is chavismo? Is it still a living movement, or has it morphed so far from its origins that it has become virtually dead?
Here’s what you need to know:
What is Chavismo?
Chavismo is named after its founder, the late Hugo Chavez, an outspoken socialist politician and leader in Venezuela. This is based on the policies and reforms he implemented during his presidency from 1999 until his death in 2013.
Inspired by the ideology of Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan military officer who fought for the independence of Latin American countries from Spanish colonialism in the mid-1800s, Chávez introduced a number of social reforms that he believed would reduce poverty and bring equality within the country.
These reforms included the government supporting social welfare programs, nationalizing industry, and confronting what Chávez called imperialist policies such as those of the United States, policies that prioritized capitalism over human rights.
During a visit to the United States in 2006, Chavez said, “Capitalism is the devil and the path of exploitation.”
“If you really want to see things through the eyes of Jesus Christ, who I think was the first socialist, only socialism can truly create a true society.”
In addition to Chávez’s party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, other parties such as the far-left revolutionary movement Tupamaro and All Homeland also support this political ideology.
After Chávez’s death, Maduro, a former bus driver from Caracas and longtime supporter of Chávez and often considered his protégé, became president.
Speaking at Chávez’s funeral in March 2013, President Maduro promised to continue his predecessor’s Chavismoism and said Venezuela would be ruled by democracy and socialism.
“We will continue to protect the poor. We will continue to feed those in need. We will continue to build the education of our children. We will continue to build a great homeland. We will continue to build peace…peace on our continent, peace for our people,” he said at the time.
But Yoletti Bracho, an associate professor of political science at France’s Avignon University who focuses on Venezuela, said chavismo is difficult to define as a socialist ideology because it is foreign.
“[Chavismo]is a political movement built on the remobilization of diverse actors across the political and social spectrum, including social movements, historical left-wing parties, and military personnel. Maintaining a kind of coherence between these various sectors was one of the challenges of the Chavismo democratic era,” she told Al Jazeera.
“Then, with authoritarian consolidation, Chavismo reduced heterogeneity to serve the interests of political and military elites and their ability to maintain power,” she added.
Has Chavezmo ever worked in Venezuela?
A March 2013 report by the European nonprofit Center for Economic Policy Research found that since Chávez took office, poverty in the country has “significantly declined,” by nearly 50 percent, and extreme poverty has fallen by more than 70 percent. At the same time, the economy grew due to the nationalization of the oil industry.
But some critics said that despite this, Venezuela’s private sector still dominated the economy.
A 2010 report by the Associated Press, citing Venezuela’s central bank, said that despite Chávez’s efforts to make the country a socialist economy, the private sector still controls two-thirds of the economy, the same level as when Chávez was elected in 1998.
Academic and political activist Noam Chomsky said in a 2017 interview with American television host John Stossel that Chavez’s ideology was “quite a long way from socialism.”
“Private capitalism remained. … Capitalists were free to undermine the economy in any way they wanted,” he added.
Many critics also argued that Chavismo was already dead, having died under Maduro’s regime, where the ousted president ruled the country in a heavy-handed manner.
Ensuring human rights was supposed to be an important aspect of Chavismo. However, especially since President Maduro took power, human rights groups have documented how the government has cracked down on human rights defenders and protesters critical of the regime, sought to restrict media coverage of protests and political events in the country, and committed further human rights abuses, including the arbitrary detention of opposition leaders.
Bracho told Al Jazeera that while Chavez and Maduro’s Chavez government sought to promote political inclusion and social justice in Venezuela, it had become extremely corrupt and repressive.
“For many years, many people in this country, and even opposition leaders, have not felt that they represent the Chavismo government, which aims to rule through socialism,” she said.
Additionally, Chavismo ideology sought to develop the Venezuelan economy by avoiding neoliberal policies and prioritizing democracy, but under Maduro the economy began to shrink. According to the International Monetary Fund, Venezuela’s economy shrank by almost 80 percent from 2014 to 2021.
“Chavismo initially had a major impact on the redistribution of wealth and, importantly, brought into the political arena broad sectors of historically marginalized populations,” Renata Segura, Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.
But after Chavez’s death, “Chavezmo also lost a leader who had captured the imagination of many Venezuelans,” she said. “During the Maduro regime, the regime lost much of its ideological coherence. Corruption, incompetence in managing the state, and an ever-widening economic crisis made Chavismo an empty promise and quickly lost almost all support among Venezuelans.”
According to America’s Quarterly, a magazine that focuses on Latin America, a group calling itself “Chávez No Maduristas,” or supporters of Chávez who oppose Maduro’s governing methods, formed an alliance in 2016 called the Platform for the Battle of Chávez and the Left in an effort to keep Chávez under Maduro’s rule.
But despite some dissent, a large pro-Chavista group remains loyal to President Maduro due to economic incentives to address the country’s financial crisis and his measures to counter U.S. sanctions and foreign influence on the country.
Since 2005, the United States has sanctioned individuals and entities for “criminal, anti-democratic, or corrupt conduct” in Venezuela. Also in 2017, during President Trump’s first term, Washington imposed wide-ranging financial sanctions against the government for allegedly backsliding democracy.
President Maduro has since accused the United States of meddling in Venezuela and making the country even poorer.
Will Chavismo survive after President Maduro’s abduction?
After President Maduro was captured by US forces and taken to New York on Saturday, President Trump said the US intended to “run” Venezuela and that the interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez must take orders from the US government.
But Rodriguez, an ardent supporter of Mr. Chávez and Mr. Maduro who served as Mr. Maduro’s oil minister and vice president, has vowed to uphold Chavista ideals.
“We will never again be a colony of any empire,” she said in a televised address to the Venezuelan people on Sunday, referring to Spain’s colonization.
“The government of Venezuela is in charge of our country and no one else. There is no foreign agent governing Venezuela,” Rodriguez said after taking office as interim president.
Crisis Group’s Segura said there are still “ideologically hardcore members” of Venezuela’s post-Maduro government, but their main goal is to remain in power.
“Delcy Rodriguez and other government officials have at least remained true to the Chavismo narrative, but it is too early to tell whether the government will be able to continue operating as usual,” she said. “The Trump administration opposes any socialist regime, even in name.”
Bracho said the U.S. has shown it has the power and means to overthrow the government if Caracas doesn’t play by Washington’s rules. But it also violates international law by detaining President Maduro and demanding access to Venezuela’s natural resources.
She warned that while the transitional government negotiates with President Trump and concedes some of his demands, while U.S. policy will also be prioritized, a repressive Chavista regime could still remain in Venezuela.
“This will make the future that the Venezuelan people are trying to build very difficult,” she said. “There are more than 1,000 political prisoners in this country. People are feeling repressed and we are also concerned about Venezuelans in the diaspora in other countries. So it is important that we keep the best interests of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
