ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the emergence and evolution of the guerrilla in Venezuela until the emergence of Chávez’ Bolivarian Revolution, a political system that restricted the Left in the context of the Cold War. The revolutionary wave in Latin America in the wake of the Cuban Revolution also marked the birth of the guerrilla in Venezuela. The insurgent projects continued during four decades: from the civil-military uprisings and the appearance of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) in the early 1960s to the demobilization of the Frente Américo Silva (FAS) in 1994. The gradual re-institutionalization of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and its withdrawal from armed struggle generated a strong confrontation between Fidel Castro and the Venezuelan communists, which produced the Venezuelan guerrilla crisis and atomization at the end of the 1960s. The misadventure of the foco approach, the loss of Cuban support and the process of renewal within the Venezuelan Left, compelled the guerrilla organizations to tactical and organizational redefinitions. However, the path to semi-legal structures and the efforts to participate in elections was shared with the persistence of armed propositions.
