Venezuelan Presidential Elections, 1998
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Presidential elections were held in
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
on 6 December 1998. The main candidates were
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, a career military officer who led a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
against then-president
Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...
in 1992; and former
Carabobo Carabobo State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The state capital city is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is and ...
Governor Henrique Salas Römer. Both candidates represented newly formed parties, a first in a country where the main candidates always represented the parties of the bipartisanship. Chávez represented the
Fifth Republic Movement The Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento V uintaRepública'', MVR) was a Socialism, socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to ...
(MVR), while Salas Römer represented
Project Venezuela Project Venezuela () is a center-right political party in Venezuela. At the legislative elections, 30 July 2000, the party won seven out of 165 seats in the National Assembly of Venezuela. The legislative elections of 2006 were boycotted by the ...
. Initially weak in the polls, Chávez ran on an anti-
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and anti-
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
platform, condemning the two major parties that had dominated Venezuelan politics since 1958; and began to gain ground in the polls after the previous front runners faded. Despite the fact that the major parties ( Copei and Democratic Action) endorsed Salas Römer, Chávez was elected into his first term as
President of Venezuela The president of Venezuela (), officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (), is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan go ...
. A
political realignment A political realignment is a set of sharp changes in party-related ideology, issues, leaders, regional bases, demographic bases, and/or the structure of powers within a government. In the fields of political science and political history, this is ...
, the result meant the end of the bipartisanship that had dominated the political atmosphere of the country in the last 40 years, and the beginning of the dominance of the new MVR party (later merged into the
United Socialist Party of Venezuela The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (, PSUV, ) is a Socialism, socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. It was formed from a merger of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivar ...
) under the
Bolivarian Revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...
system that still holds political power in Venezuela as of .


Background

In the early 1990s the Venezuelan government's economic strength and political legitimacy was declining, with two coup attempts in 1992 and the impeachment for corruption of President
Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...
. The result was a turn against the traditional
Puntofijo Pact The Puntofijo Pact was a formal arrangement arrived at between representatives of Venezuela's three main political parties in 1958, Acción Democrática (AD), COPEI (Social Christian Party), and Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), for the ...
parties ( Democratic Action and Copei) in the 1993 elections:
Rafael Caldera Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez ( ; 24 January 1916 – 24 December 2009) was a Venezuelan politician and academician who was the 46th and 51st president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999, thus becoming the longest se ...
's victory in 1993 was the first time in Venezuela's democratic history that a President had been elected without the support of either of the two major parties. It was symptomatic that Caldera's election platform included pardoning those who had participated in the coup attempts, and he did so in 1994.
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, imprisoned for his role in the February 1992 coup attempt, was among those released. By 1998, the economic crisis had grown even worse. Per capita GDP was at the same level as 1963, down a third from its 1978 peak; the purchasing power of the average salary was a third of its 1978 level.


Chávez's participation

For a number of years after his 1994 release from prison, Chávez maintained a position against participation in elections, believing them a fixed game which merely legitimated the established order. This led to a split with his colleague
Francisco Arias Cárdenas Francisco Javier Arias Cárdenas (born 20 November 1950) is a Venezuelan politician and career military officer, and was the governor of Zulia state. He participated in Hugo Chávez's unsuccessful February 1992 coup attempt, being pardoned in 1 ...
, who left the
MBR-200 The Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 or MBR-200) was the political and social movement that the later Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez founded in 1982. It planned and executed the February 4, 1992 ...
.Jones (2008:202-4) In the early years after his release, Chávez considered the possibility of another coup attempt, but with the prospects appearing slim, some advisers, notably
Luis Miquilena Luis Manuel Miquilena Hernández (July 29, 1919 – November 24, 2016) was a Venezuelan politician. He was involved in politics in the 1940s, and again after the 1958 restoration of democracy, but retired from politics in 1964 until the early ...
, urged him to reconsider his scepticism of the elections, arguing that Chávez could potentially win so convincingly that the establishment would not be able to deny him victory. To find out whether this was the case, Chávez set up teams of psychologists, sociologists, university professors and students to carry out a survey. With their support, grassroots members of the Bolivarian movement polled tens of thousands of people across the country. The results showed that 70% of respondents supported Chávez running for the presidency – and 57% said they would vote for him. Support for the electoral route was strengthened when Arias Cárdenas, as a candidate for
Radical Cause The Radical Cause (, LCR), stylized as La Causa Я, is a minor left-wing political party in Venezuela, and today part of the Venezuelan opposition to president Nicolás Maduro. At its peak in the early 1990s, the party came within touching dista ...
, won the Governorship of
Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...
State in the December 1995 regional elections. Despite this, the MBR-200 remained divided over electoral participation, and spent a year debating the issue in local, regional and national assemblies. A national congress on 19 April 1997 took from 9 am until 2 am the next day to reach a conclusion, ultimately deciding to launch Chávez' candidacy. Some members of the movement resigned in protest, holding too much at stake. In July 1997 Chávez registered the new
Fifth Republic Movement The Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento V uintaRepública'', MVR) was a Socialism, socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to ...
with the National Electoral Council (the name had to be changed as Venezuelan law did not permit parties to use
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
's name). The international media took little interest, citing opinion polls showing 8% support for Chávez.


Electoral process

The 1998 elections were the first to be carried out with a non-partisan National Electoral Council. Traditionally poll workers had been provided by the parties, but in this election "a lottery was set up to draft 300,000 registered voters as poll workers". The elections also saw "the world's first automated voting system, which featured a single integrated electronic network that was supposed to transmit the results from the polling stations to central headquarters within minutes." Whilst Venezuela had traditionally provided election observers to other Latin American countries, the uncertainty of the new system and the possibility of handover to a non-traditional party raised the stakes in terms of demonstrating that the elections would be fair, and Venezuela invited international election observers for the first time. The
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
,
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
,
Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...
and
International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
all sent delegations. The automated vote system enabled the Electoral Council to announce the results within 2.5 hours of the polls closing. After corroborating the results with the Carter Center, the losing candidate conceded several hours later.


Campaign

The campaign was dominated by independent candidates, as the electorate completed the turn against the establishment parties begun in 1993. In the final poll of the year in December 1997
Irene Sáez Irene Lailin Sáez Conde (born 13 December 1961) is a Venezuelan politician and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1981. She has been a model, was the mayor of Chacao (a municipality of Caracas), governor of the state of Nueva Esparta ...
, a former beauty queen (
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...
1981''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...
'', 21 July 1981,
Miss Venezuela Chosen World's Most Beautiful
, p3A
) and mayor of the
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
district of Chacao, reached almost 70% as an independent candidate.McCoy, Jennifer (2006), "From Representative to Participatory Democracy?", in McCoy, Jennifer and Myers, David (eds, 2006), ''The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela'',
Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...
. p. 276
However, despite spending millions of dollars on publicity, she fell below 15% within six months, as the public became increasingly sceptical of her readiness for the presidency, and as she lost credibility as an anti-establishment candidate after accepting the endorsement of COPEI. The other early leading candidate, the former Democratic Action leader
Claudio Fermín Claudio Eloy Fermín Maldonado (born in Barinas, Barinas, March 25, 1950) is a Venezuelan politician and sociologist. He was deputy minister of youth under Jaime Lusinchi, and subsequently Mayor of Libertador municipality, Caracas (1989–1993) ...
, reached 35% in December 1997, but fell to 6% by April 1998.McCoy, Jennifer (1999), "Chavez and the End of "Partyarchy" in Venezuela", ''Journal of Democracy'', 10(3), pp. 64–77 During 1998, it then became increasingly clear that the campaign was a race between Salas Römer and Chávez. Salas Römer, the governor of
Carabobo Carabobo State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The state capital city is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is and ...
and leader of the new Project Venezuela party, appeared a credible candidate as Sáez lost ground, and reached 21% in the polls in August 1998. However at the same time, Chávez's own campaign gained ground as he established himself with the electorate. From around 5% in September 1997 to over 10% in late February 1998,Jones, Bart (2008), ''Hugo! The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution'', London:
The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...
, p. 215
Chávez registered 30% in polls taken in May 1998; by August he was registering 39%. The Chávez platform comprised three basic pledges. First to begin his presidency by abolishing Venezuela's old ''
puntofijismo The Puntofijo Pact was a formal arrangement arrived at between representatives of Venezuela's three main political parties in 1958, Acción Democrática (AD), COPEI (Social Christian Party), and Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), for the ac ...
'' political system of two-party
patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
, and opening up political power to independent and third parties. Second, to end corruption. Third, to eradicate poverty in Venezuela. In working to gain the trust of voters, Chávez drafted an agenda that drew heavily on his interpretation of
Bolivarianism Bolivarianism is a mix of panhispanic, socialist and nationalist- patriotic ideals named after Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century Venezuelan general and liberator from the Spanish monarchy then in abeyance, who led the struggle for independence ...
. Chávez also utilized his
charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ''chari ...
and flamboyant public speaking style—noted for its abundance of
colloquialism Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...
s and ribald manner—on the campaign trail to help win the trust and favor of a primarily poor and
working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
following.. On one occasion, he threatened to "fry" the heads of his opponents. The two traditional main parties hoped that 8 November
parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and regional elections would give them a boost, a month ahead of 8 December presidential elections, but the poll remained a two-horse race. At this point polls generally showed Chávez with a 6–12-point lead over Salas Römer's approximately 38% poll numbers, though in some polls he exceeded that margin. Both COPEI and Democratic Action now sought to endorse Salas Römer (he was reluctant to accept). COPEI persuaded its candidate (Sáez) to resign, but Democratic Action's candidate, Alfaro Ucero, refused to do so, triggering an electoral crisis as the National Electoral Council had to rule on whether the Democratic Action ballot slot belonged to the party or the candidate. Salas Römer agreed to accept the endorsement of COPEI and Democratic Action regional and local parties, and sought to maintain a distance to the parties' national leadership. In the end, it was not enough, and Chávez won a substantial majority, and won 17 of 23 states.


Results


Reactions


Domestic

Following his victory, Chávez promised that he would not devalue the bolivar and that currency controls would not be created. Salas Römer reacted to the results stating "I not only accept the victory of my adversary but wish him luck, lots of luck, because his luck will be that of Venezuela". Some Chávez supporters reacted to his election by saying that they would accept an
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
government under Chávez if he decided to utilize such form of government.


International

The
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
reacted cautiously, with American Ambassador John Maisto stating that "With respect to what we know about Mr. Chavez's platform, we will have to see what his policies are, in fact, and see whom he will appoint to key positions".


References


Further reading

* {{Venezuelan elections Presidential elections in Venezuela
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...
Hugo Chávez Bolivarian Revolution
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...