Abstract
If Peru served as the stimulus for a flurry of networked multilateral activity surrounding the Inter-American Democratic Charter, Venezuela’s crisis presented a crucial first test for the updated democratic solidarity paradigm. Up to and including the Peruvian political crisis in 2000, the OAS had responded to periodic threats to democracy among member states mostly when they were already full-blown crises, rather than taking steps in advance to prevent them. This earned the OAS the reputation for “firefighting,” instead of thwarting fires from catching in the first place.1 As we have discussed previously, in no small part, this tendency reflected the limits of club multilateralism.
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Notes
Domingo E. Acevedo and Claudio Grossman, “The Organization of American States and the Protection of Democracy,” in Beyond Sovereignty: Collectively Defending Democracy in the Americas, ed. Tom Farer, 132–149 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996);
Andrew F. Cooper and Thomas Legler, “The OAS Democratic Solidarity Paradigm: Questions of Collective and National Leadership,” Latin American Politics and Society 43 (Spring 2001): 103–126.
OAS, The Situation in Haiti, CP/RES. 806 (1303/02), January 16, 2002.
John W. Graham, “A Magna Carta for the Americas. The Inter-American Democratic Charter: Genesis, Challenges, and Canadian Connections,” FOCAL Policy Paper (FPP-02–09), September 2002.
On the Puntofijo political system, see The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela, ed. Jennifer L. McCoy and David J. Myers (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).
On the political economy of puntofijismo and the importance of its oil wealth underpinnings, see Terry Lynn Karl, The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997).
See Charles Ameringer, “The Foreign Policy of Venezuelan Democracy,” in Venezuela: The Democratic Experience, ed. John D. Martz and David J. Myers (New York: Praeger, 1977), 335–358.
This discussion provides only a partial overview of the crisis and demise of the Puntofijo system as an entry into the analysis of the OAS’s role in Venezuela. For more complete treatments, see The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela, ed. McCoy and Myers; Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization, and Conflict, ed. Steve Ellner and Daniel Hellinger (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003);
Daniel H. Levine and Brian F. Crisp, “Venezuela: The Character, Crisis, and Possible Future of Democracy,” World Affairs 161, no. 3 (Winter 1999): 123–165;
Brian F. Crisp and Daniel H. Levine, “Democratizing the Democracy? Crisis and Reform in Venezuela,” Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs 40, no. 2 (Summer 1998): 28–61.
See Kenneth M. Roberts, “Social Correlates of Party System Demise and Populist Resurgence in Venezuela,” Latin American Politics and Society 45, no. 3 (Fall 2003): 35–57.
Jennifer L. McCoy, “Chávez and the End of ‘Partyarchy’ in Venezuela,” Journal of Democracy 10, no. 3 (July 1999): 64–77. The term partyarchy was originally coined by Michael Coppedge.
See Michael Coppedge, “Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of Partyarchy,” in Constructing Democratic Governance: South America in the 1990s, ed. Jorge I. Domínguez and Abraham F. Lowenthal, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 3–19.
María Pilar García-Guadilla, Ana Mallén, and Maryluz Guillén, “The Multiple Faces of Venezuelan Civil Society: Politization and Its Impact on Democratization,” (paper prepared for the 2004 Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Las Vegas, NV, October 7–9, 2004);
Jennifer McCoy, “The Referendum in Venezuela: One Act in an Unfinished Drama,” Journal of Democracy 16, no. 1 (January 2005): 109–123.
Omar G. Encarnación, “Venezuela’s ‘Civil Society Coup,’” World Policy Journal 19, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 42.
Margarita López-Maya, “Venezuela 2001–2004: Actores y Estrategias,” Cuadernos del CENDES 21, no. 56 (May–August 2004): 113–114.
OAS, OAS Secretary-General Calls on Venezuelans to Defend Democracy (E-027/02). February 8, 2002, http://www.oas.org/OASpage/press2002/en/Press2002/february2002/027–020802.htm.
Rio Group. Declaración del Grupo de Rio sobre la Situación en Venezuela. San José, Costa Rica, April 12, 2002.
OAS, Statement of the OAS Secretary-General on the Situation in Venezuela (E-078–02), April 11, 2002, http://www.oas.org/OASpage/press2002/en/Press2002/april2002/078—041102.htm.
OAS, Situation in Venezuela, OEA/Ser.G CP/RES 811 (1315/02). April 13, 2002.
OAS, Report of the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, César Gaviria, Pursuant to Resolution CP/Res. 811 (1315/02) Situation in Venezuela, OEA/Ser.P AG/doc.9 (XXIX-E/02), April 18, 2002.
Luis Alfonso Dávila, Discurso del Señor Canciller Luis Alfonso Dávila ante la Asamblea General Extraordinaria de la OEA (speech, OAS General Assembly, Washington, DC, April 18, 2002). http://www.oas.org/speeches/Speechother02/2002/spa/VE_041802Canciller.htm.
Colin L. Powell, Remarks of the Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to the Special Assembly of the Organization of American States (speech, OAS General Assembly, Washington, DC, April 18, 2002). http://www.oas.org/speeches/Speechother02/2002/eng/041802-Colin_Powell_VE.htm.
OAS, Support for Democracy in Venezuela. OEA/Ser.P AG/RES. 1 (XXIX-E/02), April 18, 2002.
OAS, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Concludes Its Visit to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Press Release No. 23/02, May 10, 2002, http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2002/Press23.02.htm.
OAS, The Current Situation in Venezuela (presented by the delegation of Venezuela, Permanent Council meeting, Washington, DC, May 28, 2002) OEA/Ser.P CP/doc.3616/02.
OAS, Report of the Permanent Council on the Situation in Venezuela (presented pursuant to resolution AG/RES. 1 (XXIX-E/02) and adopted by the Permanent Council, Washington, DC, May 28, 2002), OEA/Ser.P AG/doc. 4131/02, May 29, 2002.
OAS, Declaration on Democracy in Venezuela (adopted at fourth plenary session of the General Assembly, Bridgetown, Barbados, June 4, 2002), AG/CG/doc.16/02, http://www.oas.org/xxxiiga/english/docs_en/docs_items/AGcgdoc16_02.htm.
For a good analysis of the conditions under which OAS member states can successfully advance their agenda multilaterally against U.S. interests, see Carolyn M. Shaw, Cooperation, Conflict, and Consensus in the Organization of American States (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004).
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© 2006 Andrew F. Cooper and Thomas Legler
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Cooper, A.F., Legler, T. (2006). Passing the (First) Test? The Venezuelan Coup of April 11, 2002. In: Intervention Without Intervening?. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403983442_6
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