United Socialist Party of Venezuela

United Socialist Party of Venezuela
Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela
President Nicolás Maduro
Vice President Diosdado Cabello
Founder Hugo Chávez[1]
Founded March 24, 2007 (2007-03-24)
Preceded by Fifth Republic Movement
Headquarters Mariperez, Caracas
Newspaper Cuatro F
Youth wing United Socialist Party of Venezuela Youth
Membership  (2014) 7,632,606 [2]
Ideology Left-wing nationalism
Marxism
Bolivarianism
Anti-capitalism
Socialism of the 21st Century
Left-wing populism[3][4]
Political position Left-wing
National affiliation Great Patriotic Pole
International affiliation None
Regional affiliation COPPPAL,
São Paulo Forum
Colors      Red
Seats in the National Assembly
52 / 167
Seats in the Latin American Parliament
4 / 12
Governors
19 / 23
Mayors
254 / 335
Website
www.psuv.org.ve

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Spanish: Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) is a socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by the late President Hugo Chávez. It has approximately 5.7 million members as of 2007.[5] PSUV held primary elections on 2 May 2010 for candidates to the National Assembly election in September, with 2,568,090 members voting.[6]

At the 2015 parliamentary election, PSUV lost its majority in the National Assembly for the first time since the unicameral legislature's creation in 2000 against the Democratic Unity Roundtable, earning 55 out of the National Assembly's 167 seats.[7]

History

The process of merging most of the unidentified parties involved in the pro-Bolivarian Revolution coalition was initiated by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez after he won the Venezuelan presidential election of 2006.[8] The process was led by Chávez' own party, the Fifth Republic Movement, and was supported by a range of smaller parties such as the People's Electoral Movement (MEP), Venezuelan Popular Unity (UPV), the Tupamaro Movement, the Socialist League and others [9] which all together added up 45.99% of the votes received by Chávez during the 2006 election.[10] Other pro-Bolivarian parties like the Communist Party of Venezuela (Partido Comunista de Venezuela, PCV),[11] Fatherland for All (Patria Para Todos, PPT)[12] and For Social Democracy (PODEMOS),[13] that cast 14.60% of the votes from that election, declined to join the new party.

On 7 March 2007, Chávez presented a phased plan for founding the new party until November 2007.[14] PODEMOS, PPT and PCV initially stated they would wait until PSUV had been founded and decide their membership in the new party based on its program.[15] On 18 March 2007, Chávez declared on his programme Aló Presidente that he had "opened the doors for Podemos, Patria Para Todos, and the Communist Party of Venezuela if they want to go away from Chávez´s alliance, they may do so and leave us in peace". In his opinion, those parties were near to be on the opposition and they should choose wisely, between going "in silence, hugging us or throwing stones".[16] PPT, at its 2007 congress on April 10 and 11, decided not to join but re-affirmed its support for Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution.[17]

Parties joining PSUV Parties not joining PSUV
Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) For Social Democracy (PODEMOS)
People's Electoral Movement (MEP)[18] Fatherland for All (PPT)
Everybody Wins Independent Movement (MIGATO) Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV)
Venezuelan Popular Unity (UPV)[19] Revolutionary Middle Class (CMR)
Revolutionary Movement Tupamaro (MRT)[20] Emergent People (GE)
Socialist League (LS)[21] Action Networks of Communitary Change (REDES)
Movement for Direct Democracy (MDD)[22] Communitary Patriotic Unity (UPC)
Union Party[23] New People Concentration Movement (MCGN)
Militant Civic Movement (MCM)[24] Active Democracy National Organization (ONDA)
Action Force of Base Coordination (FACOBA) National Independent Movement (MNI)
Independents for the National Community (IPCN)[25] Labor Power (PL)
Venezuelan Revolutionary Currents (CRV)

The party held its founding congress in early 2008,[26] from 12 January to 2 March, with 1681 delegates participating.[27] Chávez was proclaimed President of the new party on 14 March.[27]

As of 2014, the party has been described as "fracturing" and "weakening" due to the loss of Hugo Chávez, the poor state of Venezuela's economy and falling oil prices.[28] Internal issues also appeared in the party, with an email address and telephone hotline created to report "internal enemies".[28] In 23 November PSUV elections, it was reported by party dissidents that very few individuals participated, with less than 10% of the supposedly 7.6 million members casting a vote.[28]

Overview

Chávez said that "It's a very young party" with an average age of 35 among members. Analysts agreed, saying: "The assumption is that the younger people are going to be Chavistas [in support of Chávez], they are going to be the ones whose families have benefited from Chávez's social programs."[5]

With the creation of PSUV, relationships greatly soured with former coalition parties that chose not to join. By the 2008 regional election campaign in October, Chávez declared that "Patria Para Todos and the Communist Party of Venezuela will disappear from the political map because they are liars and manipulators."[29]

In April 2010, an Extraordinary Congress of the PSUV resulted in the endorsement of a range of "general principles", including among others socialism, Marxism, and Bolivarianism; humanism, internationalism, and patriotism; and the defense of participatory democracy and use of internal party democracy. It also defined the party as the "political vanguard of the revolutionary process".[30]

The party held its 3rd Congress in 2014, which elected Nicolás Maduro as the 2nd party president and honored Hugo Chávez posthumously as the party's eternal president and founder, and party policies were updated.

Structure

Party Congress

The party is headed at the national level by the eternal President Hugo Chávez (a posthumous title), the president (currently Nicolas Maduro), vice-president (Jorge Arreaza), and a 29-member national board of directors:

Units of Battle Hugo Chávez (UBCh)

The Units of Battle Hugo Chávez (UBCh) is a collection of organizations with multiple members of PSUV involved that has both military and political characteristics.[31] The UBCh originated as a group to defend the Bolivarian Revolution and support the party through electoral processes in Venezuela, and were transformed into their current name in 2013.[31] They form the basic party unit in Venezuelan communities, and 4 or more of them form a People's Struggle Circle ( Círculo de Lucha Popular) in the community level. The Unit itself is divided into 10 Unit Patrols serving various functions for party members in various sectors.

Other assisting groups include:

Election results

Presidential

Election year Name First Round Second Round
# of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote
2012 Hugo Chávez 8,191,132 55.07 (#1)
Major party in "Great Patriotic Pole".
2013 Nicolás Maduro 7,587,579 50.6 (#1)
Major party in "Great Patriotic Pole".

Parliamentary

Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 +/– Leader
2010 5,451,419 (#1) 48.3
96 / 165
 Decrease 22
Diosdado Cabello
2015 5,599,025 (#2) 40.9
55 / 167
 Decrease 44
Diosdado Cabello

References

  1. ↑ "Comandante Chávez nombrado presidente eterno del PSUV" [Commander-in-chief Chávez named Eternal President of the PSUV]. Caracas: TeleSUR. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  2. ↑ PSUV, July 2014 7.632.606 militantes del PSUV elegirán sus delegados este domingo
  3. ↑ Left-Wing Populists in Latin America?
  4. ↑ Steve Ellner & Daniel Hellinger, eds., Venezuelan politics in the Chávez era: class, polarization, and conflict. Boulder: Lyne Rienner, 2003, ISBN 1-58826-297-9, page 67
  5. 1 2 Bloomberg, 11 October 2007, Venezuela May Lower Voting Age, Add Gay Rights in Constitution
  6. ↑ Archived 5 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "Venezuela Opposition Won Majority of National Assembly Seats". Bloomberg. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Greg Morsbach (December 19, 2006). "Venezuela head seeks party merger". bbc. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Home - Grupo Milenio". Milenio. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "Presidential Election December 3, 2006" (in Spanish). National Electoral Council of Venezuela. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  11. ↑ http://www.tribuna-popular.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=698&Itemid=1 Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ (Spanish) El Universal, 5 March 2007, José Albornoz: El PPT no se disolverá
  13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090211012425/http://www.diarioeltiempo.com.ve/secciones/secciones.php?num=97234&codigo=nnac&llve=dos. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ Chris Carlson (March 7, 2007). "Chavez Presents Plan for Socialist Unity Party of Venezuela". www.venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  15. ↑ Gregory Wilpert (5 March 2007). "Chavez Allies Delay Decision on Merging with New Venezuelan Socialist Party". www.Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  16. ↑ (Spanish) El Universal, 19 March 2007, "Los que se quieran ir, váyanse, pero escojan bien cómo irse"
  17. ↑ http://www.ppt.org.ve/20070411.php Archived 11 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN). "MEP aceptó propuesta de Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela". Aporrea. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN). "UPV se disuelve para formar parte del Partido Socialista Único de Venezuela". Aporrea. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  20. ↑ El Tiempo - El Periódico del Pueblo Oriental
  21. ↑ Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN). "Liga Socialista se adhiere al PSUV". Aporrea. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  22. ↑ Prensa MDD. "MDD apoya el llamado a conformar el PSUV". Aporrea. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  23. ↑ PSUV: Partido Unión se disuelve para incorporarse al PSUV
  24. ↑ PSUV: Propuestas del Movimiento Cívico Militante (MCM) sobre el Partido Único y el Socialismo del Siglo XXI
  25. ↑ PSUV: Partido Independientes por la Comunidad se incorpora al PSUV
  26. ↑ Kiraz Janicke; Federico Fuentes (14 January 2008). "Chavez Inaugurates Founding Congress of New Socialist Party of Venezuela". Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  27. 1 2 PSUV, Somos un faro para América Latina y el Mundo, accessed 12 May 2011
  28. 1 2 3 "Venezuela Is On Borrowed Time". Business Insider. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  29. ↑ (Spanish) Radio Mundial, 11 October 2008, "Chávez: PPT y PCV desaparecerán del mapa político por "mentirosos y manipuladores"
  30. ↑ PSUV, June 2010, Libro Rojo, pp45-6
  31. 1 2 "Contraataque de Maduro: alista las "Unidades de Batalla Hugo Chávez"". Infobae. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
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