ABSTRACT
Geography and history have shaped contemporary Venezuelan politics. Nestled in the northeastern quadrant of South America between 1 and 13 degrees north of the equator, Venezuela is hot and tropical. Cool temperatures predominate only at altitudes above 3,280 feet. Two political cultures coexist uneasily in post-Chávez Venezuela. A single political culture permeates followers of Hugo Chávez, the Chavistas. Some Chavistas support the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Others believe he should be replaced—either because Maduro's continuance in office threatens the survival of Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution or because Maduro is seen as having betrayed that revolution. The environment that framed the political culture of Chavismo's opponents was struggle against General Pérez Jiménez's dictatorship. Those who overthrew Pérez Jiménez imposed Punto Fijo, which lasted forty years. The second component of the political culture approach, to repeat, links the fate of individuals sharing a culture to the fate of groups.
