Editorial: An Assessment of the Legacy of Chavism in Venezuela and the Americas

Abstract

This second number of Latin American Policy (LAP) for 2017 first presents studies about “Chavism” and its legacy in Venezuela and the Americas. José Briceño-Ruiz, our Regional Editor based currently in Bogotá, circulated a call for papers through which some of the articles included were submitted. The story of Chávez and his legacy in Venezuela has been a hot-button issue in Latin American and International Relations studies for several years. Venezuela's geostrategic strategy has attempted to pit U.S. interests in the region against Russia's desire to penetrate it and China's push for more financial and political influence around the world. Venezuela's abundant oil reserves have placed it in a unique position within this geostrategic maneuvering, since the state has used them to create a national social system with its own characteristics, to negotiate with its Latin American partners, and to take a novel approach on the world scene. Much has been written about Venezuela, about Chávez and his successor, Maduro, about petro-diplomacy, and about the pros and cons of Chavism's unique socialistic and nationalistic flair. Still, the current turmoil in the country and the conflicting response from within its borders, as well as from abroad, keep it on the list of current events to be analyzed and judged, particularly as a paradigm of Latin American policy and legacy. This issue offers five articles that consider different aspects of the legacy and of effects Chavism, each from a different lens. Alejandro Gutiérrez's article weighs economic and social policies during the Chávez years, while Rogelio Pérez and Andrea Santa Cruz's contribution focuses on the effects on Venezuela's justice system. Victor Mijares’ article turns the approach toward the realm of foreign affairs, explaining the complexities and equilibria built by Chavists with the United States, Russia, and China. Andrés Serbin and Andrei Serbin's article assesses Chávez petro-diplomacy under the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America (ALBA) and other regional organizations. Finally, Heather Martin's contribution explains the technology of political survival for a regime that lasted 14 years and whose legacy is still affecting Venezuela and the Americas. These perspectives that focus on different aspects of Chavism provide our readers with background, analysis, and future considerations regarding this hot topic. The rest of the collection includes analyses on different public-policy topics that affect key Latin American countries—poverty-alleviation programs in Chile (by Cecilia Osorio and Germán Puentes), neoliberalism and the developmental state in Costa Rica (by Marietta Morrisey), and the link between external voting rights and remittances (by Hafthor Erlingsson and John Truman). Felipe Gonçalves Brasil, Ivan Henrique de Mattos e Silva, and Aline Vanessa Zambello also offer a descriptive article on the profound effects of policy change on public higher education in Brazil. In our Book Review section, readers may find another critical review of books concerning hot topics for the region, focusing this time on the institutional design of Supreme Audit Offices. Isidro Morales is a researcher and professor in the School of Government and Public Transformation at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an external fellow of the Mexico Center at Rice University's Baker Institute.