Chavez’s Legacy in Venezuela’s Twists and Turns

Venezuela is one of the countries from Latin America which, from 1998 and following the coming to power of Hugo Chavez as the president of this country, has become one of the governments which opposes the system of hegemony; a neighbor with which the US has not yet been able to coordinate its policies. The unsuccessful 2002 coup also indicated the extent of the significance of Venezuela for the US and the US has placed regime change in this country as one of its priorities. On this path, the opposition groups which could not gain the majority of votes in the 2010 parliamentary election and were defeated in the 2012 elections pursue change in the political trends of this country.

If we intend to have a better look at the recent developments in Venezuela’s domestic and foreign policy scene, besides studying the differences and internal competitions to gain power and reach the presidential palace after Chavez’s demise, we must not ignore some factors which are significant in the new political developments in Latin America. The reason is that domestic developments are not the only factors which are impacting the future of this country and the new regional and international developments have weakened the Monroe Doctrine and the grounds are better prepared for the emergence and stabilization of new governments with new political views. This approach has led to the formation of a new system in the region. New democracies have caused the economies in this region to grow, to the extent that Spain, which for decades had dominated this continent from a political, cultural and economic point of view, is asking for economic help from these countries to resolve its own financial crisis.

In regime change, Washington has always attempted to prepare the grounds for the overthrow of the present government through strengthening and supporting Venezuela’s opposition. Considering the US’ current challenges in maintaining its influence in Latin America, the US attempts to use different opportunities to change the political leaders in this region who act against the US. But the presence of the revolutionary people of Venezuela who supported Chavez and Maduro, the new president, in the presidential election and after the death of the leader of Venezuela despite the continuous efforts made by the opposition with the US’ support has prevented any change in this country.

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s new young president, who became the president of this country following the demise of Chavez, is faced with difficult economic, political and social crises. In his speeches, he usually reiterates that the opposition, along with those bank officials who have fled this country and now reside in Miami, have planned many conspiracies against the economy of Venezuela and Elias Jaua, the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, has demanded that the US officials stop their interferences in the internal affairs of this country and respect the people and officials of Venezuela.

Like many other regions of the world, Latin America has always been faced with US measures to overthrow governments and launch coups in this part of the world. It should be mentioned that the reactions of the leaders of Latin America after hearing news of Chavez’s death were somehow interesting. They were in great shock and some countries even declared three to seven days of public mourning. Even the Cuban leader called the death of Chavez the death of a political ally and economic partner and called him his real son and later declared three days of public mourning.

Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, asked for one minute of silence and expressed her sympathy with the people of Venezuela and called Chavez a great man of Latin America and stated that today Brazil has lost a great leader and true friend. The Bolivian president, who was known as Chavez’s biggest ally, stated with tearful eyes that he felt broken upon the death of his brother. The President of Chile called the death of Chavez the death of a leader who was committed to Latin American convergence. The new presidents of Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, Argentina and Uruguay have also stated that the death of Chavez was the loss of an ally who had created unity among the Latin American countries.

But based on the belief of many Latin America observers, the most important reason behind the stability of Venezuela was the method of leadership in this country which always relied on the people as the basis of the government and today his successors attempt to continue his path. But the opposition makes efforts to use new tools and take advantage of the economic weaknesses and the US’ foreign pressures to create instability in this country and force the leaders of Venezuela to hand over part of the power to them so they can gradually gain complete control of this country.

In the end, it must not be forgotten that, in his proposal at the National Peace Conference on Friday, Maduro emphasized that it would be in the interests of this country to respect each other and talk. The President of Venezuela stated that, although negotiation is necessary and he is ready to hear some of the criticisms or recommendations of the opposition, he does not expect to convince others to become socialists and other should not expect to convince him to become a rightist. On the other hand, the opposition leader accused the government of Venezuela of moving towards an economic failure which they cannot control. He further continued that peace and negotiation cannot be achieved with lies and accused the government of continuing its suppression.

It can be concluded that a new tactic has emerged in the policies of the government and the opposition which might lead to the formation of a coalition government which the US is interested in.