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COPEI | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Juan Carlos Alvarado (ad-hoc) Roberto Enríquez (de jure)[1][2] |
| Secretary-General | Juan Carlos Alvarado (ad-hoc) Robert García (de jure)[1][2] |
| Founder | Rafael Caldera |
| Founded | 13 January 1946 |
| Headquarters | Avenida La Gloria, El Bosque,Caracas |
| Youth wing | Juventud Demócrata Cristiana |
| Ideology | Social conservatism Christian democracy Economic liberalism |
| Political position | Centre[3] tocentre-right[4] |
| National affiliation | Democratic Alliance |
| Regional affiliation | Christian Democrat Organization of America |
| International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
| Colors | Dark green(customary) Lime green |
| National Assembly | 1 / 277 |
| States' Governors | 0 / 23 |
| Mayors | 06 / 337 |
| Website | |
| copei.org.ve | |
COPEI, also referred to as theSocial Christian Party (Spanish:Partido Socialcristiano) orGreen Party (Spanish:Partido Verde), is aChristian democratic[5]party inVenezuela. The acronym stands forComité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente (English:Independent Political Electoral Organization Committee), but this provisional full name has fallen out of use.[6] The party was influential during the twentieth century as a signatory of thePuntofijo Pact and influenced many politicians throughout Latin America at its peak.[7]
COPEI was founded on 13 January 1946 byRafael Caldera.[6] COPEI,Democratic Action (AD) andDemocratic Republican Union (URD) signed thePuntofijo Pact in October 1958, establishing themselves as the dominant political parties in the country.[8] Signatories and supporters of the Pact stated that it was created to preserve democracy and to share governorship between parties.[9] Critics believed that the Pact allowed signing parties to limit control over Venezuela's government to themselves.[10] URD would later leave the pact in 1962 following Cuba's removal from theOrganization of American States,[11] leaving governing of Venezuela to COPEI and AD.[12] The Puntofijo system ultimately created a network of patronage for both parties.[13]
Caldera was elected president in December 1968 and for the first time in Venezuela's history, opposition parties transferred power peacefully. COPEI was also the first Venezuelan political party to assume power peacefully on its first attempt.[14] The only other COPEI member to become president of Venezuela wasLuis Herrera Campins, from 1979 to 1983.[15] However, Herrera Campins fell from grace due to a drop in oil revenue, leading to AD candidateJaime Lusinchi winning the presidency in 1984.
Governing by COPEI and AD would continue through the rest of the century. Dissatisfaction with the established governmental system of patronage increased, culminating in the1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts led byHugo Chávez. For the1993 Venezuelan general election, COPEI passed over choosing Caldera as their candidate.[7] Caldera would afterwards win the election through his newly foundedNational Convergence party.[citation needed] Soon after being elected, Caldera freed Chávez,[16][17] who became Caldera's successor following the1998 Venezuelan presidential election.[18][non-primary source needed]
With the election of Chávez, Venezuela entered into a period of adominant-party system led by hisUnited Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).[19] In the2000 legislative elections COPEI won a meager five of 165 seats in theNational Assembly, with the party receiving 5.10% of valid votes.[20] In the2005 legislative elections COPEI staged an electoralboycott and did not win any seats in the National Assembly.[21] In the2010 parliamentary election, COPEI was part of the broad oppositionalCoalition for Democratic Unity and won eight of the 165 seats.[22]
Prior to the2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election, the pro-governmentSupreme Tribunal of Justice designated new leaders of COPEI, leading some to state that the party was infiltrated by the PSUV.[23] By 2017,Caracas Chronicles said the party was "dying an undignified death" as infighting among leaders could not agree on a path for the party.[7]
| № | Portrait | President(Birth–Death) | State | Term of office | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 |  | Rafael Caldera(1916–2009) | Yaracuy | 11 March 1969 –12 March 1974 | 28(1968) | |
| 41 |  | Luis Herrera Campins(1925–2007) | Portuguesa | 12 March 1979 –2 February 1984 | 30(1978) | |
Voter turnout rose significantly in the 1998 elections, reversing a two-decade trend toward lower participation.
another example is the PSUV in Venezuela, which served in government as a single party for 14 years following a period of multi-party politics. After the death of the charismatic party leader, Hugo Chavez, the PSUV had a new leader, yet managed to form a single-party government again in 2013.
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