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| Movimiento al Socialismo (Venezuela) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Movimiento al Socialismo |
| Native name | Movimiento al Socialismo |
| Leader | Iris Varela |
| Founder | Manuela Sáenz |
| Foundation | 27 October 1971 |
| Headquarters | Caracas |
| Position | Centre-left |
| International | COPPPAL |
| Colors | Green and red |
| Seats1 title | National Assembly |
| Country | Venezuela |
Movimiento al Socialismo (Venezuela) is a Venezuelan political party founded in 1971 that emerged from a split in the Communist Party of Venezuela and debates within the student movement linked to the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the Latin American Solidarity Organization, and trends connected to Eurocommunism. The party has participated in electoral coalitions with entities such as Acción Democrática, COPEI, and later oppositional platforms that confronted administrations of Carlos Andrés Pérez, Hugo Chávez, and Nicolás Maduro while engaging international groupings like COPPPAL and contacts with figures from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the Brazilian Workers' Party.
MAS was formed in a period shaped by the 1968 protests in Paris, the 1973 Chilean coup d'état against Salvador Allende, and ideological shifts exemplified by Enrico Berlinguer and the Italian Communist Party. Founders included activists who had belonged to the Communist Party of Venezuela and intellectuals influenced by the Latin American left, such as dissidents linked to the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria and student leaders from the Central University of Venezuela. Early electoral activities brought MAS into alliances with centrist parties like Acción Democrática during the administrations of Rómulo Betancourt and Luis Herrera Campíns, while internal debates mirrored international disputes between proponents of revolutionary socialism and advocates of parliamentary social democracy associated with leaders like Felipe González and Willy Brandt.
In the 1980s and 1990s MAS positioned itself in opposition to neoliberal policies promoted by international financial institutions including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, aligning with labor movements such as the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela and social organizations tied to the land reform and peasant movements. During the 1998 presidential campaign of Hugo Chávez MAS initially offered a critical stance that evolved into intermittent cooperation and confrontation with the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Electoral realignments after the 2002 coup attempt against Chávez and the 2004 recall referendum saw MAS join broader opposition fronts including the Democratic Unity Roundtable.
MAS defines itself through a mix of social-democratic, democratic socialist, and participatory democratic currents influenced by theorists linked to the New Left and Latin American thinkers associated with dependencia theory and critiques developed in the Third World Project. Its program emphasizes policies on social inclusion that reference models from the Nordic model, proposals resembling reforms advanced by the Brazilian Workers' Party, and advocacy for human rights frameworks promoted by organizations like Amnesty International and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The party platform addresses housing initiatives comparable to programs in Cuba and Uruguay, supports indigenous rights as recognized in the Constitution of Bolivia, and proposes land policies echoing agrarian reforms from the Mexican Revolution.
MAS maintains a federated organization with local committees in states such as Zulia, Miranda, and Carabobo, and youth branches linked to student federations at the Central University of Venezuela and the University of the Andes (Venezuela). Internal governance combines a National Directorate modeled on structures used by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and consultative assemblies akin to mechanisms adopted by the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party in earlier decades. The party has affiliated labor caucuses engaging with unions like the Sindicato Unitario de Trabajadores Petroleros and participates in civil society networks alongside organizations such as Provea and the Fundación Centro Gumilla.
MAS has contested presidential elections including candidacies concurrent with campaigns by figures such as Rafael Caldera and later opposition nominees like Enrique Capriles and Henrique Capriles Radonski, while winning legislative seats in the National Congress and later the National Assembly of Venezuela. The party achieved notable gubernatorial and mayoral victories in municipal contests in the 1970s and 1980s, competed in coalition tickets during the 1993 and 1998 cycles, and faced declining vote shares during the 2000s amid competition from the Fifth Republic Movement and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. In the 2010s MAS took part in the Democratic Unity Roundtable strategy for the 2015 parliamentary elections and later opposition configurations through the 2017 regional elections and the 2018 presidential snapshot involving Henri Falcón and other dissident figures.
When participating in municipal administrations in locales like Barquisimeto and Ciudad Bolívar, MAS enacted programs addressing urban services, social housing initiatives modeled after policies in Chile and participatory budgeting practices paralleling experiences in Porto Alegre, and community-based health projects referencing campaigns by organizations such as Mercy Corps. Policy proposals emphasized fiscal redistributive measures comparable to reforms debated in Argentina and statutory frameworks for transparency akin to laws in Mexico and Colombia's anti-corruption initiatives led by the Fiscalía General de la Nación.
MAS has been criticized by supporters of Hugo Chávez and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela for alleged collaboration with traditional parties like Acción Democrática and by other opposition sectors for perceived compromises during negotiation rounds mediated by actors such as Jorge Rodríguez and international facilitators including representatives from the Catholic Church and the European Union. Internal splits produced splinter groups reminiscent of factions seen in the Communist Party of Cuba and debates over alignment with foreign actors including contacts with delegations from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and delegations linked to Washington, D.C. think tanks.
MAS has engaged with international socialist and social-democratic networks such as COPPPAL, maintained ties with parties like the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, the Brazilian Workers' Party, and elements of the Socialist International, and exchanged delegations with representatives from the European Parliament and NGOs including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch. Through these links MAS interacted with multilateral forums such as the Organization of American States and bilateral dialogues involving delegations from Spain and Brazil during negotiation attempts addressing Venezuela's political crises.
Category:Political parties in Venezuela Category:Social democratic parties Category:Political parties established in 1971