Venezuelan foreign policy: Chavez and the “Puntofijismo”, divergences and parallelisms

Abstract

In the last years Venezuela has experimented big and profound transformations inside their political structure, more specifically in the conduction of its foreign policy. Chavez triumph changes the traditional paradigm of Venezuelan politics, pointing out a radical change between the “Puntofijismo”, also known as the system of elite conciliation (establish among the principal political parties after 1958) and the “Bolivarian revolution” or Socialism of the twenty first century. This article intends to examine both processes through an evaluation of the policies implemented in these historical moments, taking into account the relevant facts of their foreign policies and establishing parallelisms between them. These analysis lead to the conclusion that these political structures presented common ideas, even though they were pointed out as antagonistic processes. The assessments of these policies are fundamental for the comprehension of the contemporary political, economic and social conjuncture.

Keywords: Venezuela, foreign policy, Hugo Chavez, Socialism, Puntofijismo, Romulo Betancourt.

Received on May 7, 2013 / Accepted on June 16, 2013.