Bolivarianism

Bolivarianism of Hugo Chávez

In recent years, Bolivarianism's most significant political manifestation was in the government of Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez, who from the beginning of his presidency called himself a Bolivarian patriot and applied his interpretation of several of Bolívar's ideals to everyday affairs, as part of the Bolivarian Revolution. That included the 1999 Constitution, which changed Venezuela's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other ideas such as the Bolivarian Schools, Bolivarian Circles and the Bolivarian University of Venezuela. The term "Bolivarianism" is often used specifically to refer to Chávez's presidential terms.

The central points of Bolivarianism as extolled by Chávez are the following:

• Latin American economic and political sovereignty (anti-imperialism)
• Grassroots political participation of the population via popular votes and referendums (participative democracy)
• Economic self-sufficiency (in food, consumer durables and so on)
• Instilling in people a national ethic of patriotic service
• Equitable distribution of (South America's) vast natural resources
• Eliminating corruption

Chávez's version of Bolivarianism, although drawing heavily from Bolívar's ideals, was also drawn from the writings of Marxist historian Federico Brito Figueroa. Chávez was also influenced by the Hispanic American tradition of cooperativism early in his life, such as that practiced by Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Salvador Allende. Other key influences on Chávez's political philosophy include Ezequiel Zamora and Simón Rodríguez. Although Chávez himself referred to his ideology as bolivarianismo ("Bolivarianism"), Chávez's supporters and opponents in Venezuela refer to themselves as being either for or against chavismo ("Chavism"). Chávez supporters refer to themselves as chavistas.

Chavismo

Bolivarianism in Venezuela is also referred to as Chavismo or "Chavezism". Adherents are referred to as Chavistas.

Several political parties in Venezuela support Chavismo. The main party, directly affiliated with Chávez, is the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which replaced the Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: Movimiento Quinta Republica, usually referred to by the three letters MVR). Other parties and movements supporting Chavismo include the Communist Party of Venezuela and Venezuelan Popular Unity.

The Movement for Socialism (Spanish: Movimiento al Socialismo or MAS) and Radical Cause (Spanish: Causa R) initially supported Chavismo, but they have since distanced themselves from it and now oppose it.

A 2002 article in The Boston Globe said Chavismo "fueled the eruption of public fury that swept the charismatic and confrontational president back into power after a group of military officers deposed him for two days in April in favor of a businessman-president", adding that the "Chavismo phenomenon has almost religious qualities".