The Movement for Socialism ( or ) is a
democratic socialist
Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
.
History
MAS was founded in 1971, with a view to emphasising a
socialist
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
message. Initially led by
Teodoro Petkoff, its first congress was held on January 14, 1971. In 1988 another
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
party, the
Movement of the Revolutionary Left, merged with MAS.
In the 1970s to the 1990s, members of MAS hoped that the party would become the third largest political force, challenging the dominant
Social Christian and
Democratic Action parties. However, the party often won less than 5% of the vote. At the
1993 election it supported the
National Convergence coalition which successfully backed
Rafael Caldera, contributing 10.59% of the vote, a third of Caldera's total. At the
parliamentary elections the same year it achieved a high-water mark of 5
Senators and 24
Deputies.
MAS initially supported the government of
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
in 1998. Petkoff disagreed with this decision and left the party. Disagreements between MAS and Chávez subsequently emerged, and MAS joined the opposition.
In the
legislative elections of 30 July 2000, the party won 21 out of 165 seats in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. Its current leaders include Leopoldo Puchi, Felipe Mújica and Carlos Tablante.
In the period since 1989, when state governors have been directly elected, the party has
won state governorships in
Delta Amacuro
Delta Amacuro State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State is found to th ...
,
Lara,
Portuguesa,
Sucre
Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...
(
Ramón Martínez) and
Zulia. Some of his past members included:
Pompeyo Márquez,
Rafael Guerra Ramos and
Carlos Tablante.
Presidential candidates supported
''Elections where MAS backed the winning candidate shown in bold''
*
1973 election:
José Vicente Rangel (4.26%)
*
1978 election:
José Vicente Rangel (5.18%)
*
1983 election:
Teodoro Petkoff (4.17%)
*
1988 election:
Teodoro Petkoff (2.71%)
*
1993 election:
Rafael Caldera (independent, backed by the coalition
Convergencia, MAS contributing 10.59% of vote)
*
1998 election:
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
(
Fifth Republic Movement candidate, MAS contributing 9.00%)
*
2000 election:
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
(
Fifth Republic Movement candidate, MAS contributing 8.70%)
*
2006 election:
Manuel Rosales (
A New Era candidate, MAS contributing 0.61%)
*
2012 election:
Henrique Capriles (A
Democratic Unity Roundtable candidate)
*
2013 election:
Henrique Capriles (A
Democratic Unity Roundtable candidate)
*
2018 election:
Henri Falcón (A
Progressive Advance candidate)
*
2024 election:
Edmundo González Urrutia (
Unitary Platform candidate)
MAS is a member of
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...
, and a member of
COPPPAL.
[ COPPPAL]
Partidos Miembros
, accessed 10 June 2012
See also
*
Douglas Bravo and his FALN guerilla faction had been expelled from the Communist Party in 1965, forming the Party of Venezuelan Revolution.
References
{{Authority control
1971 establishments in Venezuela
Democratic socialist parties in South America
Political parties established in 1971
Political parties in Venezuela
Social democratic parties in Venezuela