Introduction

Abstract

Mass disturbances in opposition to government-imposed austerity measures in February 1989 (the Caracazo) and the democratic government's ensuing brutal repression exposed serious fissures in the Venezuelan political system. Venezuela has long been promoted as a model democracy for Latin America, but it soon became obvious that below the surface Venezuelan society exhibited a deep social divide and that the political system had become unresponsive to the needs of most of the people. This disparity was only made worse by the popular perception that, as a world supplier of oil, the country had ample resources to redress poverty. Recurrent national scandals involving government corruption and the collapse of banking institutions and the complete impunity surrounding these cases further incensed most Venezuelans. As the country experienced an intensification of class polarization, the continued growth of the informal sector, and a growing wave of social protest, it increasingly resembled others throughout Latin America. The social tensions evident in society were reflected in popular culture, including various musical genres, such as llanero music, salsa, and gaitas (as Light Carruyo shows in this issue). Two unsuccessful military coups in 1992 also put in evidence the widespread discontent. Throughout the 1990s the traditional political class scurried to repair the system without fundamentally addressing the causes of the problem. Yet even under these circumstances, many political leaders at all levels assumed that no fundamental change had occurred in Venezuelan politics. This complacency explains why Venezuela's largest party, the social-democratic Acci6n Democritica (Democratic Action-AD), nominated a lackluster oldtime politician (Luis Alfaro Ucero) as its presidential candidate in 1998 in spite of the formidable challenge posed by the candidacy of Hugo Chavez. The election in 1993 of the octogenarian Rafael Caldera, former leader of the Christian Democrats, at the head of a diverse coalition of traditional political