Dragon in the tropics: Hugo Chávez and the political economy of revolution in Venezuela

209 Pages·2011·2.7 MB·English

by  Javier Corrales

Advance Praise for Dragon in the Tropics C
o
r
“T his is the most objective, comprehensive and interesting book I have read on what has r
a
happened in Venezuela since Hugo Chávez took power in the late 1990s. It shows why l
e
most of the common explanations of the country’s social and political convulsions are
s
superficial and often flawed. A must read.” /
—Moisés Naím, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace P
e
n
“ H ugo Chávez and his ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ to construct ‘21st century socialism’ in
f
Venezuela and reshape the international order have attracted a great deal of polarized o
l
comment: either sycophantic praise or unmitigated condemnation, neither backed up d
by sound data or profound analysis. Dragon in the Tropics escapes this pattern. It pro-
vides a thoughtful, perceptive, balanced but critical, nuanced and illuminating assess-
ment, grounded in rich and revealing data, and deep knowledge of both Venezuela and
of comparative politics and political economy. Highly recommended.”
D
Abraham F. Lowenthal
— , Professor of International Relations, University
r
of Southern California
a
“ Corrales and Penfold have written a wide-ranging and thought-provoking interpreta-
g
tion of how Hugo Chávez has shaped Venezuelan society, and the country’s regional
o
and global role, over the past decade. The book is conceptually innovative, empirically
rich, and cogently argued. Its keen insights into Venezuela’s evolving political economy n
represent an invaluable contribution.”

—Michael Shifter, president, Inter-American Dialogue i D r a g o n i n
n
“ Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold are two of the most outstanding analysts of con-

temporary Venezuela. This accessible and clear-eyed book provides a comprehensive t
overview of Venezuelan politics, economics, and foreign policy over the last decade. No
h
one interested in understanding the rise of radical populism, the distortions inherent t h e T r o p i c s
e
in the oil economy, and the progressive deterioration of democratic institutions should

fail to read this book.”
T
Cynthia Arnson
— , Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
r
Javier Corrales is a professor of political science at Amherst College and o
the author of Presidents Without Parties: The Politics of Economic Reform in Argentina and p
Michael Penfold
Venezuela in the 1990s (Penn State Press, 2002). is profes- i
sor of political economy and former dean of the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de c
Administracion in Caracas and the author of Dos Tradiciones,Un Conflicto: El Futuro de Hugo CH Ávez and tHe PolitiCal
s
la Descentralización (Debate 2009).
eConomy of Revolution in venezuel a
BROOKINGS INSTITUTION PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.brookings.edu
Cover photograph: © REUTERS/Gerardo Garcia Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold
Cover design by Ann Weinstock
DRAGON IN
THE TROPICS
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A Brookings LAtin AmericA initiAtive Book
the Latin America initiative at Brookings focuses on the most critical
economic, political, and social issues facing the region. the books in this
series provide independent analysis for a modern Latin America.
titles in the series include:
Javier corrales and michael Penfold
Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chávez and
the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela
2011
Albert Fishlow
Starting Over: Brazil since 1985
forthcoming 2011
Abraham F. Lowenthal, theodore J. Piccone,
and Laurence Whitehead, eds.,
Shifting the Balance: Obama and the Americas
2011
00-0497-3 fm.indd 2 11/17/10 9:21 PM
A Brookings LAtin AmericA initiAtive Book
DRAGON IN
THE TROPICS
hugo chávez and the political economy
of revolution in venezuela
javier corrales
michael penfold
brookings institution press
Washington, D.C.
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Copyright © 2011
the brookings institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036.
www.brookings.edu
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing
from the Brookings Institution Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Corrales, Javier, 1966–
Dragon in the tropics : Hugo Chávez and the political economy of revolution in
Venezuela / Javier Corrales, Michael Penfold.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “A study of the Venezuelan revolution headed by Hugo Chávez, first elected
president in 1999, with emphasis on how Chávez took a frail but still pluralistic democ-
racy and turned it into a semi-authoritarian regime, achieving political transformation at
great cost to the country’s institutions, including its oil industry”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-8157-0497-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Venezuela—Politics and government—1999– 2. Venezuela—Economic policy.
3. Venezuela—Foreign relations—1999– 4. Chávez Frías, Hugo. I. Penfold, Michael.
II. Title.
JL3831.C68 2010
987.06'42—dc22 2010043335
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed on acid-free paper
Typeset in Sabon and Strayhorn
Composition by Cynthia Stock
Silver Spring, Maryland
Printed by R. R. Donnelley
Harrisonburg, Virginia
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It will not do to leave a live dragon out of your plans
if you live near one.
j. r. r. tolkien
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction: The Chávez Revolution in Perspective 1
2 Power Grabbing and the Rise of a Hybrid Regime
in Venezuela, 1999–2009 14

3 Economic Policy and the Oil Honey Pot 47
4 Institutional Resource Curse: Seizing Political
Control of PDVSA 71
5 Venezuela’s New Foreign Policy: Soft-Balancing
and Social-Power Diplomacy 98
6 Hybrid Regimes and Populism in Venezuela
and Beyond 137
Notes 163
Index 181
vii
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Acknowledgments
A
number of institutions and individuals made this book possible
and, in the process, helped us become better researchers and
writers. Mauricio Cárdenas at the Brookings Institution embraced
this project from its inception. Mauricio’s close reading and criti-
cism of earlier drafts was a source of inspiration and original ideas.
His offer to sponsor a book incubator at Brookings was nothing
less than a splendid gift, allowing us to obtain priceless feedback
from world-class experts such as Cynthia Arnson, Miriam Korn-
blith, Abe Lowenthal, Alejandro Grisanti, Fidel Jaramillo, David
Myers, Moisés Naím, and Michael Shifter. At different stages in
the writing of this volume we also received comments from other,
equally generous colleagues: Francisco Rodríguez, Boris Muñoz,
Ricardo Hausmann, María Victoria Murillo, Enrique Ochoa Reza,
Jon Eastwood, Larry Diamond, Virginia López, Kurt Weyland,
Steve Levitsky, Christopher Chambers-Ju, Maxwell Cameron,
Aníbal Romero, Michiel Baud, Barbara Hogenboom, Sergio Dah-
bar, and Daniel Altschuler.
Over the years, Amherst College has provided ample resources
for our research on Venezuela. The Research Fund at the Institute
for Advanced Administrative Studies (IESA) in Caracas provided
valuable financial support to help us finish the writing. Adriana
Arreaza, Ramón Espinasa, Maikel Bello, and Asdrúbal Oliveros
supplied invaluable data on oil, poverty, and the economy. Carlos
Sabatino, Tara Shabahang, Mariana Urbina, Alejandro Cáceres,
ix
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