Venezuelan Leftist Parties in the Era of Hugo Chávez

In this article the roots, development and the current situation of the political movement around Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías ( Chavismo ) are analyzed through historical reconsiderations regarding the main Leftist political parties of the country. Many scholars have tended to neglect important historical connections between, for instance, Chavismo and Venezuelan historical Leftist parties. Conflict and change in and around Chavismo principally from the early 1990´s onwards are factors to be explored in a context of Venezuelan democracy and leftist political actors, both those associated with Chávez and those actors of the present and recent political opposition. Likewise, the personalistic character of Chavismo and its possible implications for the party system and individual parties are considered.