ABSTRACT
The last fifteen years witnessed the arrival in power of the Venezuelan left. It came first in the form of political parties with little success, such as the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) or La Causa Radical (Causa R). These movements had their first victories in the regional arena, and became prominent later on at the national level when they attained a larger representation in the Venezuelan Congress. Subsequently, the definitive dominance of the left in Venezuela arguably breezed in with the victory in the presidential elections of 1998 of charismatic Lt Col. (r) Hugo Chávez Frías, the leader of the coup attempt on February 4, 1992, against then Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
