Movement for the Fifth Republic

▪ political party, Venezuela

Spanish  Movimiento V República 

      nationalist Venezuelan political party established to support the presidential candidacy of Hugo Chávez (Chávez, Hugo) in 1998.

      Although the MVR was formally established in 1998, it traces its roots to the Bolivarian Movement 200 (Movimiento Bolivariano–200), which was established secretly within the military in the 1980s. In 1992 the movement, led by Chávez, who was then a lieutenant colonel, attempted to engineer a coup, justifying its intervention on the basis of charges of governmental corruption and various economic grievances. Chávez was subsequently imprisoned, but he won sympathy from large segments of the Venezuelan population. In 1994 Chávez was released from prison in a goodwill gesture by Venezuela's newly elected president, Rafael Caldera.

      The movement rejects democracy, endorses policies based on Chávez's interpretation of the philosophy of Simón Bolívar (Bolívar, Simón) (who led the revolutions of independence against Spain in South America in the 19th century), and has sometimes advocated violence to overthrow the existing political order. The MVR's criticisms of social inequalities won it broad support among the impoverished living in Caracas. Although the movement had previously called on its supporters to abstain from voting, in 1998 it established the MVR to serve as a vehicle for Chávez's successful bid for the presidency. The party also became the second largest in the national legislature. In 2001 opponents of Chávez engineered his brief ouster from the presidency, but protests and threats of violence from his supporters resulted in his return to power.

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