Socialism of the 21st Century

Contrary to popular belief, Venezuela is not a synonym for Communism or Dictatorship. Many media outlets have used these terms loosely when referring to the Venezuelan government.

Revolution is PEACE

Inside the Revolution: A Journey into the Heart of Venezuela (Pablo Navarette, director, Alborada Films, 2009) is a short documentary that not only tries to dismiss some of these misconceptions, but also paints a clear picture of how the country went from being democratic to becoming socialist.

In 1958, the democratic regime took over. At the end of the oil boom of the 1970s the country started to enter into a crisis and the standards of living diminished drastically. Carlos Andres Perez was elected president in 1989 and soon thereafter he presented new economic measures which included an internal increase in oil prices. This resulted in an increase in prices of goods and services.

Caracazo - February 27, 1989

The people of Venezuela became very unhappy during this time and many protests were organized throughout the country. Thousands of people were killed by the government as a result of the rise in protest--now known as the Caracazo.

An army leader, Hugo Chavez, led a failed coup in 1992 against the democratic government. As a result of his participation in the coup, he was incarcerated for over 2 years where he formed a political party and ran for election.

On Dec 6, 1998 he won with more than 56% of the vote. During the democratic regime, 3% of the country's population controlled 70% of the country's land. Chavez started to change all of that when he passed a series of laws in 2001 which included the elimination of larger estates and oil sovereignty.

By 2003, poverty was down by 53% and government spending had more than tripled. In 2005, Chavez officially announced his 21st century socialism. He made it clear that this was a new socialism and should not be compared with the Soviet Union. He managed to convince people that the leaders of the new socialism would be the people and that this new socialism would bring freedom from capitalism.

As detailed by the film, most of Hugo Chavez's supporters were those that live in the barrios, the poor neighborhoods. Many respected him because they felt that he was able to relate to the struggle of the poor and wanted to give them what they always lacked such as education and land.

The film also included exclusive interviews with some of the revolutionary youth groups in Venezuela. They expressed that before Chavez, youth were not interested in politics, but he ignited an interest in the youth of Venezuela to discover its history and culture. He also taught them that politics could be a powerful weapon.

This film gave a very thorough representation of how the country became socialist and why many people of Venezuela, although not happy with the current government, would not want to have a democratic government that resembles the one they experienced in the 1980s. It is very difficult to find a documentary on Venezuela that is not propaganda, but this film gives viewers a clear understanding of why Venezuelans came to accept socialism and why many still hold on to its ideals today.