25 years ago, the history of Venezuela changed

He On December 6, 1998, Hugo Chávez won the presidential elections in Venezuela for the first time.where he assured that “the time has come for the people”, today poorer than then and governed by an extension of that Bolivarian revolution which has mutated many times, like the country.

After 25 years of victory, the initial project survives mainly in government discoursewhile the population overcame a turbulent time, with a series of economic, political and social crises, spheres that are not at all similar to those in which they existed a quarter of a century ago.

Chávez’s coming to power, after 40 years of bipartisanship, faced in the first steps the typical resistance of institutions accustomed to the way of doing things, which the ‘commander’ tried to push in his favor with a combination of force and charm, a mixture that It enabled him to change the Constitution and reduce the financing of political parties.

While he was president for three years, the then 47-year-old socialist leader dismissed, in a televised speech, the managers of the state-owned oil company, which led to street demonstrations that ended in a coup d’état, which kept him out of power for 72 hours.

Since then, His government survived the general labor strike which lasted almost three months and a referendum on the president’s impeachment, while global crude oil prices rose, and radicalized his speech and actions, with a policy of expropriation that left some in disbelief and others in ruin.

With this revealed spirit, in 2006 Chávez asked for another six-year presidential term “out of love”, and received it thanks to the great majority who opted for the socialist promiseaided by newly created welfare programs, while the country lived off capitalism that skyrocketed oil prices and fattened the nation’s checkbook.

As the government’s dominance over the economy progressed – with nationalization and control – and with all institutions run by supporters of Chavismo, the head of state insisted on reforming the constitution to allow perpetuity in power. Although Venezuelans rejected this idea in 2007, in 2009 the majority approved.

Thus, full of money, generous Chavisism took over every space in Venezuela, which passed into the hands of the army in the ministries and governors, with the aim of the eternal search for of socialism, which ended for Chávez in 2013, when He died after two years of battling cancer.

Death of the President boosted Nicolás Maduro at the pollswho had just been chancellor and vice president, which opened an abyss of doubt about the ability to maintain power and the style that the political dolphin would adopt, with much less charisma and popularity than his mentor.

Once Maduro has made it clear that he will stay in power despite questions about his legitimacyChavisam closed ranks to confront and suppress the fierce opposition, which fueled waves of protests and movements against the executive.

The most difficult thing for the Bolivarian Revolution was to overcome unpopularity and international isolation. in a country that became increasingly poor as the second half of the last decade progressed, when the government showed its most authoritarian face and was branded a dictatorship by many countries.

In every difficulty, Chavisism has found an enemy to blameeither ‘opposition without a state’ or foreign ‘imperialism’, represented in the United States or in the right-wing leaders who, according to Venezuela, constantly sought to end the Bolivarian revolution and kill the president.

Chavista government bypasses international sanctions, investigations for crimes against humanity, accusations of authoritarianismthe worn-out idea of ​​revolution and unpopularity which, according to polls, would cost him power in transparent and competitive elections.

But facing presidential elections in 2024, the sui generis way of running politics established by Chávez continues to bear fruit, with Maduro who has tricks up his sleeve in a country trying to recover its economy and continue to reconnect with the global world.