VENEZUELAN HISTORY, HUGO CHAVEZ, AND SOCIALISM

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VENEZUELAN HISTORY, HUGO CHAVEZ, AND SOCIALISM
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Venezuelan History

• 1521- Spanish colonization begins on the North
  East Coast.
  
• 1783-Simon Bolivar is born in Caracas. Led the
  liberation from Spain of much of the continent.
  
• 1810- Venezuela is one of the first South
  American countries to revolt against Spanish
  rule.
  
• 1821- Venezuela wins independence with Columbia
  and Ecuador as the Republic of Greater Columbia.
  
• 1830-Venezula becomes a Republic with the capital
  of Caracas.
  
• 1870-1888- Antonio Guzman Blanco governs
  Venezuela and attracts foreign investments,
  modernizes infrastructure and develops
  agriculture and education.
• 1908-1935- Venezuela becomes worlds largest oil
  exporter with Juan Vicente Gomez.
  
• 1947-1948- First democratically elected President
  Romulo Gallegos is overthrown after 8 months by
  Marcos Perez Jimenez, whom was backed by the
  U.S.

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Venezuelan People
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Hugo Chavez

• Hugo Chavez may be said to be the most unusual
  and original political figure to have emerged on
  the Latin American political scene since Fidel
  Castro. With his huge charm and charisma Chavez
  has an infinite capacity to relate to the poor
  and marginalized population of Venezuela.
• Born on July 28, 1954 in Sabaneta, Barines.
• Son of school teachers. He grew up very poor,
  selling homemade candy on the streets to earn
  some money.
  
• Graduated from the Military Academy with a degree
  in Engineering in 1975.
  
• Former army Colonel, Chavez and a group of fellow
  military officers founded a secret movement.
  
• Chavez and The Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement
  attempted 2 military coups in 1992
  
• Chavez was jailed for two years before being
  pardoned.
  

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Chavez New Socialism

• Chavez was first elected in 1998 on the platform
  of creating programs which include free health
  care, subsidized food and land reforms.
  
• Chavez has proclaimed that Venezuela is a
  Bolivarian Republic bent on constructing a new
  socialism for the twenty first century.
  
• Many of Chavez political ideologies come from
  the political doctrines of Bolivarianism.
  
• Chavez supporters refer to themselves as
  Chavistas indicating a public perception that
  Chavezs philosophy does not originate so much
  from Bolivarianism as much as his own ideas
• Bolivarianism- is a set of political doctrines
  used in parts of South America. Named and
  constructed after 19th century Venezuelan general
  and liberator Simon Bolivar. One of the main
  ideas of Bolivarianiams is promoting the
  unification of Latin America.
• The central points of Bolivarianism as
  implemented by Chavez are
  
• Venezuelan economic and political sovereignty
• A participatory democracy
• Economic Self Sufficiency
• Instilling a national ethic of patriotic service
• Equitable distribution of Venezuela's vast oil
  revenues

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Venezuela
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Accomplishments

• Venezuelan economy grew by 18 in 2004 and about
  9 in 2006.
  
• The government has more than doubled social
  spending.
  
• Venezuela under Chavez is providing free health
  care to 70 of the population
  
• Chavez has subsidized food for 45 of the country
  via co-ops, special food programs and government
  distribution centers.
  
• 20,000 doctors are now spread around Venezuela, a
  country of more than 25 million people.
  
• In a year and a half 1.4 million people have
  learned to read and write. And 3 million
  Venezuelans have enrolled in the educational
  system, whom were previously excluded due to
  poverty.
• During seven years of Chavez rule eight
  elections and referendums have been held, making
  Venezuela an authentic example of a participatory
  democracy.
• Chavez has encouraged the growth of an incredible
  number of grass roots activities among 80 of the
  population.
  

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Hugo Chavez and Latin America

• Many Latin American Countries are beginning to
  move leftward from the neo-liberalism practiced
  in the 80s and 90s toward socialism
  
• Evo Morales from Bolivia is the 6th candidate in
  the last 9 years to have won a presidential race
  campaigning explicitly against neo-liberalism
  
• Chavez has strengthened his regional influence
  through diplomatic and economic overtures towards
  other Latin American nations
  
• Chavez launched PetroCaribe which is a program
  to provide oil to the Caribbean nations at
  reduced prices
  
• Chavez has also launched PetroSur a plan to
  integrate the energy grids of several South
  American countries

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Works Cited

• "Bolivarianism." Wiki Pedia. 25 Feb. 2008
  .
  
• Burbach, Roger. "Hugo Chavez a Bolivarian
  Socialist At the United Nations." Zmag 22 Sept.
  2005. 25 Feb. 2008 .
  
• "Country Profile Venezuela." BBC News. 04 Dec.
  2007. 25 Feb. 2008 .
  
• Gott, Richard. "Chavez Leads the Way." Common
  Dreams News Center. 30 May 2005. 25 Feb. 2008
  .
  
• "Profile Hugo Chavez." BBC News. 5 Dec. 2002. 25
  Feb. 2008 .
  
• "Timeline Venezuela." BBC News. 4 Dec. 2007. 25
  Feb. 2008 .
  
• Weisbrot, Mark. "Latin America Shifts Left Its
  the Economy." Common Dreams News Center. 14 Jan.
  2006. 25 Feb. 2008 .