ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the development of civil-military relations in Venezuela, with emphasis on the social, economic, and political factors that have determined the evolution of that relationship since the democratization of the country in 1958. It analyzes the structural context influencing civil-military relations, which includes the political culture, the international context, the constitutive rules for the political system, and the civil-military relationship as it currently exists. The chapter examines the concerns of the civilian and military sectors. It analyses the current crisis of Venezuelan democracy and its effect on the civil-military relationship. Civil-military relations developed under a structure of political rules designed to ensure civilian control over the military while at the same time endowing it with the resources necessary for its modernization. The chapter concludes with speculation on the future of the civil-military relationship and democracy in Venezuela.
