ABSTRACT
Venezuela was created as a nation-state (1811–21) under the influence of contradictory forces, each with its own values and objectives about how to exercise political power. Some of them led to a decentralized organization of public structure; others imposed a unitary and centralized form. According to González (1995: 13–23), local governments and administrative decentralization were part of the indigenous tradition in Latin America. Spanish colonization also introduced a decentralized municipal structure, and geographic conditions limited monarchical control of the colonies, thereby allowing for autonomous local governments. The Venezuelan framers of the new state followed the model of the US Constitution because it was the one that seemed to fit the geographic characteristics, local structures and size of the country. Therefore, Venezuelans adopted a federal form of government, becoming the second federation in history after the United States (Brewer-Carías, 2005: 632). However, the war of independence from Spain started around that moment and this first constitution did not enter into force properly. A centralist constitution was established in 1819, but it only lasted two years because in 1821, after achieving independence and with the possibility of creating a bigger nation with the former Nueva Granada (now Colombia and Panama), a new constitution was drafted in Cucuta to create the Colombian nation. Many factors contributed to the dissolution of this state, including Simón Bolívar’s belief in a centralist government and his disdain for the autonomous self-government hopes of the Venezuelan and Grenadine leaders.
