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Student politics in Venezuela is the collection of students, largely university students, from across Venezuela participating in activism and developing political opinions. In Venezuela, student politicians hold a much larger clout than in many other countries, and many go on to be successful lawmakers in the nation.
Profiling student politics in Venezuela in 1959, S. Walter Washington wrote that the interest in politics is something the students "inherited from their forebears in Europe, especially in Spain, where for centuries students have played prominent roles in the fight for human rights", adding that "tyrannical governments" in Latin America encourage the students to be more political than they ever were in Europe. [1] :463 The power of student politics was summarised by Washington as a result of their power to vocalise emotions of the nation that working people are too scared to. Already in this early year, it was noted that student politicians in Venezuela held "special weight". [1] :463 Washington puts this down to three main reasons: that Latin Americans have respect for education; that student demographics were changing and wanted social reform more hastily; and that over 70% of Venezuelans were under 30, making the student politicians more credible and relatable than their decades-older counterparts. [1] :463
During the Venezuelan War of Independence, in the battle of La Victoria, royalist forces under José Tomás Boves tried to take the city of La Victoria, held by General José Félix Ribas. The battle was fought on 12 February 1814. Given the shortage of regular troops, Ribas had to arm a thousand students from colleges and seminaries in the city and other neighboring towns, including 85 students of the Seminary of Santa Rosa de Lima, Caracas. [2] Before going into battle, General Ribas addressed the youths who accompanied him, ending with these words:
Soldiers: What we have desired will be held today: behold Boves. Five times larger than the military brings to fight us; but it still seems insufficient to dispute our win. You defend the fury of tyrants the lives of your children, the honor of your wives, the soil of the homeland; show our omnipotence. For this day to be memorable, we cannot choose between victory or death: it is necessary to overcome! Long live the Republic! [3]
The battle began at seven in the morning and lasted all day on the streets of the city. Republican troops built an impressive resistance to push the royalist troops at that time led by Francisco Tomás Morales. By late afternoon, victory had not yet gone to either side. While the fighting raged, the Patriots received a reinforcement of 220 troopers under Vicente Campo Elías, from San Mateo, that effectively broke the siege. Hours later, Morales and his men withdrew combat horsemen pursued by Republicans. Result of this battle fails realistic attempt to cut communications between Caracas and Valencia.
Bolivar, knowing victory Ribas granted the title of "Winner of the Tyrants".
On 12 February 1947, the Constituent Assembly decreed that Venezuela would celebrate each anniversary of the battle as Youth Day, in honor of the young people who achieved this important victory. In Victoria's main square there is a sculptural group made by Eloy Palacios, erected in 1895, representing Ribas showing a youth how to use a rifle. [4]
The Generation of 1928 (Spanish: Generación del 28) was a group of students who led protests in Caracas in 1928 against the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. Many politicians prominent in Venezuela's transition to democracy took part in the protests, including Rómulo Betancourt, Jóvito Villalba, Juan Oropeza, Joaquin Gabaldon Marquez, Raúl Leoni, Andrés Eloy Blanco, Miguel Otero Silva, Pedro Sotillo, Francisco Ignacio Romero, Isaac J Pardo, Juan Bautista Fuenmayor, Germán Suárez Flamerich, and Gustavo Machado, and Antonia Palacios. [5]
After the 1928 protests a number of the Generation of 1928 were arrested or went into exile. Political organizations in exile included the founding of Agrupación Revolucionaria de Izquierda (ARDI) in Colombia in 1931 by Rómulo Betancourt and others. This later became the Partido Democrático Nacional, a forerunner of Democratic Action. The Communist Party of Venezuela, also founded in 1931, was initially led by Francisco José "Kotepa" Delgado and Juan Bautista Fuenmayor.
In May 2007, several student politicians founded the Movimiento Estudiantil (English: The Student Movement), prompted by the cancellation of the television channel RCTV. Harvard University's ReVista wrote that whilst many people of the nation were outraged, Hugo Chávez's "decision not to renew the network's license activated a student opposition movement that had been largely dormant up until then". [6] Unlike other television channels in Venezuela, RCTV remained critical of Chávez throughout his presidency; despite being the nation's oldest and most viewed station, Chávez was willing to take the risk to turn it off. In doing so, he gained a powerful student opposition, though groups of students who supported Chávez - the Presidential Student Commission - did form in response to this. [6]
Both the opposition Movimiento Estudiantil and the supportive Presidential Student Commission started at Andrés Bello Catholic University when students at the Caracas campus closed all the entrances and began rioting, prompting nationwide action by students for over a week. [6] The opposition student movement is credited with changing national opinion and giving Chávez his first electoral loss. [6]
Though student politics is, in many cases, focused on student issues, the 2007 student movement began with asking for freedom of expression. In 2008, the Harvard ReVista suggested that the students rose to prominence because of a lack of credible political opposition in the country, tackling wide-ranging issues, and because they had "no seeming interest in elected office", though many of this generation would go on to become politicians (members of the pro-Chávez group highly criticized the opposition students for this, despite some of their members joining Chávez's administration). [6]
The 2007 generation, led by many individuals, may have Yon Goicoechea as its most-remembered student politician, both for being "the face of the student movement" and subsequently then for controversially winning and accepting the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty in early 2008. [6] Outside of Venezuela, the Movimiento Estudiantil founding member Juan Guaidó, [7] who rose to international prominence as a key player in the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, [8] may be more remembered.
After Chávez's death in 2013, and the contested election of Nicolás Maduro, the next generation of student politics began. The actions of this group took force in 2014 during the nationwide protests. [9] This word became used often in 2015 and Venezuelan slang to refer to any opposition protest.
| Name | Years | Institution | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tareck El Aissami | Late 1990s | University of the Andes | Pro-government |
| Manuela Bolívar | ?-2007 | Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) [6] | Opposition |
| Francisco Brandt | 2007 | Universidad Metropolitana | Opposition |
| Fabricio Briceño | 2007 | Opposition | |
| Miguel Cáceres | 2007-? | UCV [6] | Pro-government |
| Yon Goicoechea | 2007-13 | UCAB | Opposition |
| Stalin González | 2007-10 | UCV | Opposition |
| Juan Guaidó | ?-2007 | UCAB | Opposition |
| Freddy Guevara | 2007-? | UCAB | Opposition |
| Francisco Márquez | 2007-? | UCAB [6] | n/a |
| Miguel Pizarro | 2007-10 | Central University of Venezuela (UCV) | Opposition |
| Juan Requesens | 2007-14 | UCV | Opposition |
| Rafaela Requesens | 2017–present | UCV | Opposition |
| Héctor Rodríguez | 2007 | Pro-government | |
| Ricardo Sánchez Mujica | 2007-10 | UCV | Opposition, later pro-government |
| Robert Serra | 2007-? | UCAB [6] | Pro-government |
| Héctor Rodríguez | Pro-government |
The Venezuelan War of Independence was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in South America fought a civil war for secession and against unity of the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars.
José Félix Ribas was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) was a Venezuelan free-to-air television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) was inaugurated on 15 November 1953 by William H. Phelps, Jr. Its radio counterpart was Radio Caracas Radio.
Radio Rochela was a Venezuelan television sketch comedy and variety show, created by Argentine producer Tito Martinez Del Box.
The RCTV protests were a series of protests in Venezuela that began in the middle of May 2007. The cause of the protests was the decision by the government to shut down Venezuela's oldest private television network, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), refusing to renew its broadcasting license and instead creating a new public service channel called TVes, which began operations on 28 May, the same day RCTV's license expired. RCTV had Venezuela's largest viewing audience, with 10 million of the country's 26 million people viewing its shows and soap operas.
Venezuelan protests for and against President Hugo Chávez's proposed 2 December constitutional referendum occurred after the National Assembly approved the referendum on 2 November 2007.
The history of Venezuela reflects events in areas of the Americas colonized by Spain starting 1502; amid resistance from indigenous peoples, led by Native caciques, such as Guaicaipuro and Tamanaco. However, in the Andean region of western Venezuela, complex Andean civilization of the Timoto-Cuica people flourished before European contact.
The Generation of 1928 was a group of Venezuelan students who led protests in Caracas in 1928 against the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez.
Popular Will is a political party in Venezuela founded by former Mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo López, who is its national co-ordinator. The party previously held 14 out of 167 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, the country's parliament, and is a member of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, the electoral coalition that held a plurality in the National Assembly between 2015 and 2020. The party describes itself as progressive and social-democratic, and was admitted into the Socialist International in December 2014. The party was formed in reaction to complaints of infringements of individual freedom and human rights on the part of the government of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro. The party attempts to bring together Venezuelans of various backgrounds who consider Chavismo oppressive and authoritarian. Popular Will self-identifies itself as "a pluralist and democratic movement" that is committed to "progress", which it defines as the realization of "the social, economic, political, and human rights of every Venezuelan." The party says its "fundamental pillars" are progress, democracy, and social action.
Movimiento Estudiantil is a Venezuelan student movement started in 2007, made up of students who organized in opposition to the government of President Hugo Chávez. According to several analysts, it had a decisive effect on the rejection of the 2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum.
Anarchism in Venezuela has historically played a fringe role in the country's politics, being consistently smaller and less influential than equivalent movements in much of the rest of South America. It has, however, had a certain impact on the country's cultural and political evolution.
Miguel Alejandro Pizarro Rodríguez is a Venezuelan politician in the National Assembly who represents Petare in Caracas.
Freddy Guevara is a Venezuelan politician. He was elected deputy to the Venezuelan National Assembly for Circuit 2 of the Miranda State representing the Democratic Unity Roundtable in the parliamentary elections of December 6, 2015. He has been a key figure of the opposition to Nicolás Maduro, Guevara was arrested in July 2021 charged with crimes against the state. The United States and others condemned the arrest as politically-motivated. In mid-August, he was freed as part of negotiations between the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition.
Rafaela Requesens is Venezuelan activist and student leader, former president of the Federation of the Students Center of the Central University of Venezuela (FCU–UCV) and an organiser of student protests in Venezuela. She was a prominent figure of the 2017 Venezuelan protests, along with her brother, Juan Requesens, and has since become a prominent democracy activist.
Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez is a Venezuelan opposition politician. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of Vargas.
The 2019 Venezuelan protests began in the first days of January as a result of the Venezuelan presidential crisis. Protests against the legitimacy of the Nicolás Maduro's presidency began at the time of his second inauguration following a controversial presidential election in 2018. Rallies of support were also held for President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, with some Venezuelans and foreign government's recognizing him as the acting President of Venezuela.
The 2019 Venezuelan protests were a collection of protests that were organized, since 11 January, as a coordinated effort to remove Nicolás Maduro from the presidency. Demonstrations began following Maduro's controversial second inauguration, developing into a presidential crisis between Maduro and National Assembly president Juan Guaidó. The protests also included counter-demonstrations organized by those who support Maduro.
The negotiations during the crisis in Venezuela are the negotiation and dialogue attempts and processes between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan opposition. Although numerous dialogue processes and roundtables have taken place, by 2023 none had been effective in achieving a solution to the country's crisis.
On 30 April 2019, during the Venezuelan presidential crisis, a group of several dozen military personnel and civilians joined Juan Guaidó in his call for the removal of Nicolás Maduro as part of what he labeled "Operation Freedom". Reuters reported an "uneasy peace" by the afternoon of 30 April. During the unrest, opposition leader Leopoldo López was freed from house arrest after being imprisoned for five years. Manuel Cristopher Figuera, the head of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service, denounced the Maduro government and was dismissed from his position before going into hiding. At least 25 military men who opposed Maduro sought asylum at the Brazilian embassy in Caracas.
Venezuelan opposition to the Chavista governments of former President Hugo Chávez and current President Nicolás Maduro, commonly referred to as the Venezuelan opposition, or sometimes, anti-Chavismo, is a political umbrella term used to describe political, social and religious movements that have opposed Chavismo, and the associated Bolivarian Revolution political process since 2 February 1999.
