Coordinadora Democrática

The Coordinadora Democrática (CD) was a coalition of political parties and civil organizations created to oppose the government of President Hugo Chávez. It was founded in 2002, and among its constituents were most of the political parties that had held power in Venezuela during the Punto Fijo era. Some of the major parties represented in the CD were Acción Democrática (AD), Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente (CO-PEI), La Causa R, Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), Primero Justicia, and Convergencia. This coalition did not have a consolidated political identity, since some of the parties were rightist (e.g., Convergencia) and some came from the left tradition (e.g., MAS).

The CD was directly involved in several direct actions to diminish the legitimacy of and popular support for the Chávez government. The first action was a national strike that began on 2 December 2002, and lasted two months, seriously affecting both the economy and the oil industry. The second action took place in 2004 when the CD lead a revocatory referendum against President Chávez, using the constitutional rules created in 1999. Shortly after the president was confirmed in the referendum with 59 percent of the vote, the CD was dissolved.

See alsoChávez, Hugo; Venezuela, Constitutions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Acuerdo entre la representación del gobierno de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela y los factores políticos y sociales que lo apoyan y la Coordinadora Democrática y las organizaciones políticas de la sociedad civil que la conforman." Caracas, May 23, 2003. Available from http://www.embavenez-us.org/news.spanish/acuerdo_23mayo2003.htm.

Arriagada Herrera, Genaro. "Zavalita ¿Cuándo se Jodió Venezuela? ¿Antes de Chávez? ¿Con Chávez? (II)." Asunto-Publicos.org, Informe No. 426. Oct. 25, 2004. Available from http://www.asuntospublicos.org/detalle.php?id=2054.

Consejo Nacional Electoral, Venezuela. Available from http://www.cne.gov.ve/.

Hawkins, Kirk. "Populism in Venezuela: The Rise of Chavismo." Third World Quarterly 24, no. 6 (2003): 1137-1160.

                            Patricio Enrique Zamorano