Overview

Political polarization continues to afflict Venezuela eight years after failed coup leader Hugo Chávez was elected to the presidency by capitalizing on the failures of the traditional political parties. Chávez recently extended his mandate for another six year term in the December 2006 presidential election, defeating opposition candidate Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales. The principal opposition parties aligned behind the Rosales candidacy. The participation of opposition parties and the 75 percent voter turnout were notable following the opposition parties’ boycott of the December 2005 legislative elections.

The 2006 election results confirmed ongoing citizen support for President Chávez’s administration. However, actions by this administration have raised serious concerns about the erosion of democratic institutions and processes. These include increases in the number of Supreme Court justices, disputed nominations to the National Electoral Council, broad penal code revisions, legal proceedings against prominent civil society and opposition leaders, preliminary legislative debate to increase government oversight of civil society activity, and establishment of broad executive “decree power.” President Chávez has also indicated that he will consider amending the constitution to permit indefinite re-election. Opposition parties continue to face internal democracy and party organization hurdles and, without any seats in the current legislature, will have to seek democratic means for connecting with voters and presenting meaningful policy alternatives.

NDI Activities

NDI seeks to help reduce this troubling polarization and to support democratic practices by working in partnership with Venezuelans to share international experiences for the reform and modernization of political parties and to support independent election monitoring campaigns that can increase transparency and confidence in elections.

As a cornerstone of any democratic society, political parties play a unique role in aggregating and representing citizen interests and providing a structure for constructive political participation. Many Venezuelan analysts argue that the current turmoil has its roots in the collapse of the nation’s party system during the 1980s and 1990s. During that time, many Venezuelans began to reject political parties, perceiving them as closed, out-of-touch and tainted by corruption. Today, these challenges continue to affect parties’ efforts to reconnect with citizens.

In response to these challenges, NDI is working with reform-minded leaders of emerging and long-standing Venezuelan political parties across the political spectrum to better engage new sectors of society, more effectively present policy platforms, and improve transparency. NDI is also working with traditionally politically marginalized women and youth party members to increase their leadership skills and capacity to promote internal reforms. Through the use of NDI party strengthening materials and exchanges with domestic and international practitioners who have successfully strengthened parties in other countries, NDI seeks to assist Venezuelan parties to better respond to the needs of citizens and strengthen their ability to propose meaningful policies.

Election monitoring by nonpartisan civic organizations has played an important role in strengthening democracy in Latin America and other regions. Networks of independent volunteer observers have helped increase public confidence in election processes by deterring and exposing irregularities, providing a constructive avenue for popular political participation, and collecting information to improve future elections. Observation efforts range from mobilizing citizens to observe the voting and counting process, to monitoring issues in the campaign and post-election periods. These issues include the legal framework for elections, voter registration, media coverage and adjudication of election complaints.

Building on observation efforts that began in Venezuela in 1995, NDI is assisting Venezuelans interested in helping to ensure the credibility and legitimacy of the country’s electoral processes. NDI activities with nonpartisan domestic election monitors include supporting their efforts to systematically collect qualitative information and conduct a “quick count” to provide an independent check on the voting and counting processes. NDI assistance includes sharing best practices learned by regional monitoring groups and NDI in-house expertise gained through observation efforts in more than 80 countries.

Past NDI Programs

In 1995, NDI helped organize a Venezuelan monitoring effort for municipal elections in four cities. NDI also helped conduct a nationwide survey and an international seminar on electoral reform issues that same year. In 1998, NDI assisted Venezuelans to organize an election-day observation program for the presidential election. In preparation for the 1999 constituent assembly process, NDI helped to educate Venezuelans on constitutional reform processes in other Latin American countries by preparing materials and organizing educational forums.

As part of its regional Political Leadership Program (LP), in 1999 and 2000 NDI provided assistance to emerging Venezuelan political leaders and their parties on topics such as political party renewal, strategic planning, negotiation, and outreach to under-represented sectors of society. The LP seeks to develop the skills of emerging political leaders to promote modern, transparent and responsive political parties. LP participants represented the Venezuelan parties Acción Democrática, COPEI, Movimiento Quinta República, and Proyecto Venezuela.

Beginning in 2001, NDI sought to re-engage citizens in politics and political parties by promoting accountability at the municipal level. NDI partnered with Argentine Transparency International chapter Poder Ciudadano, a Venezuelan civic group and six municipal governments to implement anti-corruption and accountability mechanisms to increase citizen input in decision-making and to encourage oversight of local government administration. Five different political parties and movements governed these municipalities in four different states: Causa R (Diego Bautista Urbaneja, Anzoátegui); Movimiento PROGUAN (Guanta, Anzoátegui); Movimiento Quinta República (Simón Bolívar, Anzoátegui); Primero Justicia (Baruta, Greater Caracas); Primero Justicia (Los Salias, Miranda); and Proyecto Venezuela (Naguanagua, Carabobo).

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