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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
Representative government in Venezuela is in its infancy. Experience with the techniques of political competition within a democratic framework has until recently been almost non-existent. Yet the vigor and determination with which strides toward economic development and political legitimation are being executed suggest that perhaps the nation may be able to accomplish the task of creating a stable and effective polity without the sacrifice of respect for human dignity that has been so commonplace elsewhere. Political parties have had a key role in this process; they have, in effect, been instruments of transition.
This essay analyzes the evolution and growth of one of these parties — the Christian Democratic party — an organization which, ranking second in size only to Rómulo Betancourt's Acción Democrática, stands today in a pivotal position in the nation's distribution of political power.
1 John D. Martz, “Acción Democrática of Venezuela” (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of North Carolina, 1963), Ch. I.
2 Magallanes, Manuel Vicente, Partidos políticos venezolanos (Caracas: Tip. Vargas, 1960), p. 151.Google Scholar
3 Martz, unpubl. diss., p. 24.
4 Magallanes, Partidos políticos, p. 151. The founders of the UNE were Rafael Caldera R., Pedro José Lara Peña, Lorenzo Fernández, Eduardo López de Ceballos, Miguel Ángel Landáez, Victor Giménez Landínez, and Francisco Alfonso Ravard.
5 Ibid.
6 Ramírez, Julio Cardenas (ed.), Diccionario biográfico de Venezuela (Madrid: Garrido Mezquito y Co., 1953), p. 210 Google Scholar. He received his degree in 1939.
7 Caldera, Rafael, “Venezuela on Election Eve,” Commonweal, XLIV (Oct. 4, 1946), 590-2Google Scholar.
8 John D. Martz, “The Generation of ‘28: The Genesis of Venezuelan Political Democracy,” Journal of Inter-American Studies, VI (January 1964), 27.
9 Magallanes, Partidos políticos, p. 152.
10 See Ramírez, op. cit., p. 210.
11 The source of this information is an interview with Rafael Caldera obtained by Dr. Robert J. Alexander on July 28, 1947, key points of which have been made available, through the generosity of Dr. Alexander, to the present writer. Henceforth such interviews will be cited in the form: Interview Alexander-Caldera, July 28, 1947.
12 Martz, unpubl. diss., p. 111.
13 Magallanes, Partidos políticos, pp. 152-5. Caldera was still Attorney General when he joined COPEI. He did not resign until April 13, 1946. The reasons for his resignation should be evident from what follows.
14 Caldera, “Venezuela … ,” p. 592.
15 Martz, unpubl. diss., pp. 115-6.
16 Caldera, “Venezuela … ,” p. 592.
17 Table from Elections Factbook: Venezuela (Washington, D. C: Operations and Policy Research, Inc., 1963), p. 17; and from Edwin Lieuwen, Venezuela (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1962), p. 273. URD stands for Union Republicana Democrática; PCV for Partido Comunista de Venezuela.
18 Martz, unpubl. diss., p. 422.
19 Magallanes, Partidos políticos, p. 154.
20 Lieuwen, Venezuela, p. 76.
21 Magallanes, op. cit., p. 154.
22 Interview Alexander-Caldera, July 28, 1947.
23 Magallanes, Partidos políticos, p. 155,
24 Interview Alexander-Valmore Acevedo Amaya, COPEI student leader, July 23, 1952.
25 Interview Alexander-Caldera, June 25, 1954.
26 Interview Alexander-Caldera, March 27, 1958.
27 Congresos internacionales Demócrata-Cristianos (Santiago: Editorial del Pacífico, 1957), passim. See also Rafael Caldera, “The Christian Democratic Idea,” America, CVII (April 7, 1962), 12.
28 See Fremantle, Anne J., The Papal Encyclicals in Their Historical Context (New York: New American Library, 1956)Google Scholar; and Rev. Treacy, Gerald C. (ed.), Five Great Encyclicals (New York: The Paulist Press, 1944)Google Scholar.
29 See Informe Final, III Conferencia Mundial Demócrata Cristiana (Santiago: Organización Demócrata Cristiana, 27-30 de Julio, 1961), passim.
30 Caldera, “The Christian … ,” p. 13.
31 Ibid., p. 15.
32 See Estatutos, Partido Social-Cristiano COPEI (party pamphlet, no place or publisher, 1961). The rendering of the party structure here given, unless otherwise stated, is the same as that decided upon in the III National Convention (March 22, 1948) as modified subsequently in the VII National Convention (October 5, 1958) and in VIII National Convention (April 12, 1960).
33 Information about the sizes and workings of the functional organizations of COPEI has, unfortunately, been discovered only in meager and unsatisfactory amounts. This is particularly unfortunate because these organizations appear to provide excellent measuring rods of the depth and tenacity of party roots in the political culture.
34 See, for example, Caldera, Rafael, Defensa de la Constitutionalidad (Caracas: Publicaciones de la Fracción Parlamentaria de COPEI, # 4 , 1962)Google Scholar.
35 Interview Alexander-Acevedo, February 12, 1964.
36 Interview Author-Valmore Acevedo Amaya, March 17, 1964.
37 See Manifesto de la Juventud Revolucionaria Copeyana (Caracas: Partido Social Cristiano COPEI, 1961), as a good example.
38 Hispanic American Report, XIII (Stanford, California: Hispanic American Society, 1961), 708.
39 Interview Alexander-Ceferino Medina Casillo, September 10, 1961.
40 See Arturo Uslar Pietri, “Venezuela: la construcción de un país,” Cuadernos (Paris: November, 1962), pp. 24-28.
41 See Martz, unpubl. diss., p. 221.
42 Lieuwen, Venezuela, p. 104; Martz, unpubl. diss., p. 225; and Elections Factbook, pp. 15-20.
43 Hispanic American Report, XII, 99. Note that the PCV was formally omitted from the coalition arrangement.
44 The depression is generally conceded to have been the result of the world oil glut that was triggered by the Suez Crisis of 1956-57.
45 Hispanic American Report, XII, 35; 98.
46 Martz, unpubl. diss., Ch. V. The extremist group was shortly named the Movimiento Izquierdista Revolucionaria (MIR).
47 Hispanic American Report, XV, 238.
48 Martz, op. cit., p. 255.
49 Hispanic American Report, XV, 525.
50 Caldera, Defensa, passim.
51 The New York Times, August 28, 1963.
52 Hispanic American Report, XVI, 885, 978.
53 Ibid.
54 Interview Author-Janusz Sleszynski, Director of Center of Christian Democratic Action, New York, March 18, 1964.
55 Table based upon official reports as given in El Nacional on December 13, 1963, and January 15, 1964.
56 See Hispanic American Report, XIV, passim.
57 Unpublished party announcement.
58 Interview Author-Ramón Yllaramendy, COPEI party official, April 17, 1964.
59 Ibid.
60 Interview Author-Acevedo and Yllaramendy, April 17, 1964.
60 Interview Author-Acevedo and Yllaramendy, April 17, 1964.
