Using political science literature focused on democratic transitions and peace-making this paper explores the possibilities of a negotiated democratic transition in Venezuela. Often is the pacted...Show moreUsing political science literature focused on democratic transitions and peace-making this paper explores the possibilities of a negotiated democratic transition in Venezuela. Often is the pacted transitions considered to be the most lucrative path to a democracy due to its peaceful nature. However, domestic challenges in Venezuela make a sustainable transition to democracy challenging. Venezuela has seen massive levels of democratic backsliding under the presidency of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. Particularly, Maduro’s presidency has been riddled with severe economic crisis and human rights abuses. While the international community has been involved for several years, their use of negotiations and sanctions have not been successful in causing a regime change. By analyzing the literature on Venezuela and policy papers I identify the obstacles to a democratic transition. As the COVID-19 pandemic made a deep impact on the world, I will also analyze whether the pandemic has created incentives for the regime to democratize or if it has made the regime’s hold on power stronger.Show less
How is Venezuela’s oil dependency associated with the authoritarian rise of Hugo Chávez Frías? This question can be addressed in three varying pathways; short, medium and long-term explanations....Show moreHow is Venezuela’s oil dependency associated with the authoritarian rise of Hugo Chávez Frías? This question can be addressed in three varying pathways; short, medium and long-term explanations. This paper attempts to construct profound insights into the rise of Chávez as a populist competitive authoritarian leader. In order to comprehend the popularity of a leader with authoritarian characteristics, the political and socio-economic context must be understood. Chávez’s rise is often seen as a consequence of the collapse of the Punto Fijo system. However, this only provides medium-term explanations. Instead, it should be asked why the collapse of puntofijismo entail the rise of authoritarianism. To answer this question, this thesis commences its research by exploring the foundations of the pact of Punto Fijo. It finds that Venezuela did not consolidate its democracy and, as a consequence, during social upheaval, its democratic institutions withered when confronted with the rise of authoritarianism. Furthermore, it explores the social grievances that led to Chávez’s rise and analyzes the role of petroleum in his ascension to power. The findings conclude that the pact of Punto Fijo, which prevailed for 40 years, prolonged the existence of peace and disguised democracy in Venezuela because it was built on clientelist strategies that were supported by oil rents. The decline of the world price of oil in the 1980s meant the collapse of an unsustainable system alongside the Venezuelan quality of life which opened the route for the rise of an authoritarian leader, such as Chávez.Show less
Due to the Venezuelan Exodus, Peru has received over 1,2 Million Venezuelan immigrants, provoking a turn towards the criminalization and securitization of migration. This study adopts a Discourse...Show moreDue to the Venezuelan Exodus, Peru has received over 1,2 Million Venezuelan immigrants, provoking a turn towards the criminalization and securitization of migration. This study adopts a Discourse-Historical Approach to investigate how Venezuelan immigrants in Peru are socio-politically criminalized in news articles by Exitosa Noticias shared on Facebook in February 2021. In a second part, the public response to these articles will be examined through an analysis of the Facebook comments, which can give an indication of discourse patterns on Venezuelan migration among a subgroup of the Peruvian population. The main findings are that news coverage by Exitosa Noticias and the dominant discourse perpetuated by their readership has strong elements of criminalization. By use of referential and predicational strategies, the Venezuelan immigrants are represented negatively in the comments and often linked to criminality.Show less
There is currently a gap in knowledge concerning how authoritarian regimes communicate with the public during crises and how they seek to make-meaning of crises. A key characteristic of...Show moreThere is currently a gap in knowledge concerning how authoritarian regimes communicate with the public during crises and how they seek to make-meaning of crises. A key characteristic of authoritarian regimes is that they seek to manage the flow of information and fill the mass media with pro-regime narratives, of which propaganda is a key communication tool. Propaganda as a means of communication aimed at influencing a target audience to advance a political agenda. This paper analyses the Maduro regime’s use of propaganda during the Covid-19 pandemic in Venezuela, focusing on identifying the communication techniques and narratives employed by the regime in it’s response to the crisis. A content analysis is employed to analyse regime-backed media during the period of the pandemic. This study bears significance for furthering an understanding of how autocratic political actors respond during crises and frame security where state-capacity is weak. It concludes that the Maduro regime employs propaganda to shift blame for the crisis while espousing an image of the strength and resilience of the regime, it’s system and instruments of social control. This parallels with reports of similar initiatives to control and manipulate information in other undemocratic states during the pandemic.Show less
This thesis examines the last circa twenty years of Venezuelan politics and economics with a focus on populism. It seeks to understand the central cause of the current economic, social and...Show moreThis thesis examines the last circa twenty years of Venezuelan politics and economics with a focus on populism. It seeks to understand the central cause of the current economic, social and political crises. The paper poses the hypothesis that populism answers questions in this debate alternative explanations cannot. It argues that populism has been the underlying tool that legitimized and consolidated the government’s political and economic actions even in the light of overspending, mismanagements and anti-democratic adjustments. However, the paper acknowledges that there can be sound alternative explanations as well if one only considers central planning without incorporating populism. The thesis concludes that the current crisis is an ideology-made one.Show less
This research examines the causes behind the emergence of border conflicts in Venezuela. One of the main objectives is to demonstrate that an internal crisis externalises itself in the shape of...Show moreThis research examines the causes behind the emergence of border conflicts in Venezuela. One of the main objectives is to demonstrate that an internal crisis externalises itself in the shape of territorial disputes. Venezuela´s case is tested against other relatively recent border conflicts in South America. This thesis proves the influence of internal crisis and historical precedents on the emergence of border conflicts, and adds value to the existing literature by examining causes instead of consequences.Show less
Based on the resent Venezuelan economic crisis turned political crisis, this paper discusses how this transition influenced the treatment of protesters. To analyse these events and their...Show moreBased on the resent Venezuelan economic crisis turned political crisis, this paper discusses how this transition influenced the treatment of protesters. To analyse these events and their interconnectivity, politicisation and militarisation were consulted. Moreover, the effects of continues politicisation on Venezuela's public security were discussed in connection with an increase in militarisation. Through this research securitisation was identified as the connecting element for an increase in militarisation as a result of continues politicisation.Show less
Throughout the 20th century the region of Latin America has been widely influenced by external actors such as the United States or international organizations, like the IMF or the World Bank. The...Show moreThroughout the 20th century the region of Latin America has been widely influenced by external actors such as the United States or international organizations, like the IMF or the World Bank. The influences of those actors gave rise to “dependency theory”, which highlights the inequalities between more powerful actors of the so-called “center” of the world and those of the “periphery”. As a response, Latin American countries have engaged in different attempts to decrease the influence of those external actors, while increasing their own. In the early 2000s, due to changes in its foreign policy, the focus of the United States on Latin America has decreased. The risen gap has allowed the recently grown superpower China to focus on the region. Consequently, the East-Asian country has become the first or second biggest trade partner for states like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico or Venezuela. Next to the risen trade other bilateral relations, such as investments, combined attempts of development and political relations, have increased. While there are several apparent benefits for both sides, criticism has been voiced regarding a new version of dependency on China replacing that towards the United States. However, such criticism has mainly focused on assessing the international relations between China as a state and Latin America as an entire region. Therefore, by addressing the rising dependency, this paper will show that, in regard to Sino-Latin American relations, the region of Latin America cannot be analyzed as a whole but has to be divided into its nation states. By comparing the two case studies Chile and Venezuela and their respective relations with China the varying levels of dependency between China and different Latin American states will be portrayed.Show less
Deze scriptie behandelt de naoorlogse (1945-1962) strategie en inzet van de Koninklijke Marine op de Nederlandse Antillen. Deze twee zaken worden bezien in een breed kader, waarbij zij aan het...Show moreDeze scriptie behandelt de naoorlogse (1945-1962) strategie en inzet van de Koninklijke Marine op de Nederlandse Antillen. Deze twee zaken worden bezien in een breed kader, waarbij zij aan het Nederlandse buitenlands-, veiligheidsbeleid en marinebeleid worden gekoppeld. Enkele conclusies luiden dat de strategie en inzet werden vormgegeven door de wens om na de soevereiniteitsoverdracht aan de Verenigde Staten van Indonesië in december 1949 wereldwijd actief te blijven en dat Nederland vanuit dit uitgangspunt langdurige en tamelijk succesvolle onderhandelingen met de Verenigde Staten van Amerika voerde over Amerikaanse betrokkenheid bij de verdediging van de strategisch belangrijke eilanden Aruba en Curaçao in oorlogstijd. Tot slot wordt betoogd dat de Haagse vrees voor Venezolaanse annexatiepogingen van de Benedenwindse Eilanden en de opkomst van het communisme in de regio een andere reden vormde voor de gekozen strategische koers. De strategie en inzet kunnen daardoor worden gezien als een samenspel tussen enerzijds de intrinsieke motivatie om wereldwijd actief te blijven en anderzijds externe druk om de verdediging in de West te versterken.Show less
In Nicaragua, the field of development aid has undergone a considerable change over the last decades. The donor landscape has become more diverse, and the types and compositions of aid have changed...Show moreIn Nicaragua, the field of development aid has undergone a considerable change over the last decades. The donor landscape has become more diverse, and the types and compositions of aid have changed. As a result of a radical new direction that was taken by the latest Nicaraguan government in which country ownership became a more central focus to development, many traditional aid donors have scaled down their aid to Nicaragua, while emerging donors, mainly Venezuela, have become increasingly involved as providers of largely unconditional aid. This paper researches how effective project aid, budget support and Venezuelan aid to Nicaragua have been in lowering poverty levels, by testing these on the factors of conditionality, alignment with the recipient government’s objectives, harmonisation and country ownership. On the basis of these four factors, this research finds that both project aid and budget support have generally had limited effects in Nicaragua, whereas Venezuelan aid seems to have had more significant effects on reducing poverty levels.Show less
The Democratic Autocrat. Venezuela under Hugo Chávez in historical perspective: a comparison with puntofijistic Venezuela regarding democracy and autocracy
In many extractive economies natural resource has the potential to be detrimental to development through the disabling of the countries’ economies, and could be an incentive for mismanagement...Show moreIn many extractive economies natural resource has the potential to be detrimental to development through the disabling of the countries’ economies, and could be an incentive for mismanagement compared to countries without substantial natural resources (Holden 870). This phenomenon is known as the resource curse (Badeeb et al. 123). This study is a critical assessment of the resource curse theory with regards to the management of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company (PDVSA). It investigates the arguments of the resource curse theory that the resource abundance curses institutions through poor governance and promotes high government spending and corruption (Tornell and Lane 34). To achieve the aim of the research, this study reviews the rent-seeking model and the institutional model of the resource curse theory, and examines their applications to Venezuela’s state-owned company. Since the resource curse theory does not give sufficient explanation hence, institutionalism as a different school of thought has been used to complement the theory. The empirical findings and discussion indicates evidence of the rent-seeking model and institutional model in addition to the rationality of institutionalism. This in other words means that the resource curse theory cannot entirely explain the case of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA.Show less
Venezuela has one of the largest oil resource in the world and the oil sector is one of the most prone sectors to corruption. As the Corruption Perception Index shows is the level of corruption in...Show moreVenezuela has one of the largest oil resource in the world and the oil sector is one of the most prone sectors to corruption. As the Corruption Perception Index shows is the level of corruption in Venezuela also one of the highest of Latin America. In this thesis the level of influence of corruption on the resource curse will be assessed, specifically looking at the case study of Venezuela during the Bolivarian Revolution of Hugo Chávez. First, a theoretical framework is created in order to understand the relation between corruption and the resource curse. Second, a contextualization is provided through analyzing the Punto Fijo Pact which preceded the Hugo Chávez government. In this chapter increasing dissatisfaction of the Venezuelan population is shown, which together with the Caracazo massacre, created a platform for Hugo Chávez to gain power and popularity. In the third chapter, the theoretical framework will be applied to Chávez’s Venezuela and its consequences. Whereas the theoretical framework suggests that the resource curse is strengthened by corruption and thus will prevent a country with an abundant resource from developing, the case of Venezuela appears to be have proved the contrary. After analyzing the resource curse in Venezuela it shows that even though an abundant resource is present and corruption is still increasing, the oil revenues have allowed Hugo Chávez to fund several new socioeconomic programs which largely have benefitted the Venezuelan development.Show less
