United Socialist Party of Venezuela

United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Spanish: Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) is the name of a Democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez. It is the current ruling party of the country and the largest left-wing party in Latin America and the Western Hemisphere. It has an approximate membership of 5.7 million people as per 2007.[1] They held primaries on May 2, 2010 for candidates to the National Assembly election in September, with 2,568,090 members voting.[2]

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Contents
[hide]*1 Formation
 * 1.1 Participants
 * 2 Structure
 * 3 References
 * 4 External links
 * }

[edit] Formation
It was initiated by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez after he won the Venezuelan presidential election of 2006 in order to merge all parties which support the Bolivarian Revolution.[3]. This move had a moderate success with the approval of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) [4] and other minor parties such as the People's Electoral Movement (MEP), Venezuelan Popular Unity (UPV), the Tupamaro Movement, the Socialist League and others [5] which all together added up 45.99% of the votes received by Chávez during the 2006 election.[6] Other parties like the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) [7], Fatherland for All (PPT)[8] and For Social Democracy (PODEMOS)[9] , who added 14.60% of the votes from the mentioned election, decided not to join the proposed party.

On 18 December 2006, the Minister of Communication and Information Willian Lara announced the preparation of a letter addressed to the National Electoral Council, regarding the proposal to formally disband the Fifth Republic Movement. Chávez has stressed the need for a single, united Bolivarian party.[10].

The party held its founding congress in early 2008[11].

[edit] Participants
Of the twenty-four parties which supported Chávez in the 2006 presidential election, eleven are in the process of joining PSUV. On 7 March 2007, Chávez presented a phased plan for founding the new party until November 2007.[2] PODEMOS (For Social Democracy), Patria Para Todos (Fatherland for All) and Partido Comunista de Venezuela (Communist Party of Venezuela) initially stated they would wait until PSUV had been founded and decide their membership in the new party based on its program.[3]

On 18 March 2007, Chávez declared in his programme Aló Presidente that he had "opened the doors for Podemos, Patria Para Todos, and the Communist Party of Venezuela if they want to go away from Chávez´s alliance, they may do so and leave us in peace". In his opinion those parties are near to be on the opposition and they had to choose wisely the way to go off, "in silence, hugging us or throwing stones".[12] Patria Para Todos decided at its annual congress from 10 April to 11 April not to dissolve, while re-affirming its support for Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution.[13]

It is also of note that many elements of the revolutionary left have entered into the PSUV and take a enthusiastic and vigorous participation in its struggles. Most notable are the Trotskyist groups Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria, Lucha de Classes (IMT), and Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI).

On March 2010, Chávez commented on the resignation of Henri Falcon, governor of the Lara State, from the PSUV. Chávez stated "Anyone who follows Henry Falcon is against me"[14] and "Patria Para Todos and the Communist Party of Venezuela will disappear from the political map because they are liars and manipulators"[15]

Chávez said that "It's a very young party" with an average age of 35 among members. This is thought to drop as the voting age is lowered to 16 and more young people are encouraged to participate. Analysts agreed, saying: "The assumption is that the younger people are going to be Bolivarians [in support of Chávez], they are going to be the ones whose families have benefited from Chávez's social programs."[16]

[edit] Structure
The party is headed at the national level by a president (currently Hugo Chávez), vice-president (Cilia Flores), and a 29-member board of directors:
 * Adán Chávez
 * Alí Rodríguez Araque
 * Ana Elisa Osorio
 * Antonia Muñoz
 * Aristóbulo Istúriz
 * Carlos Escarrá
 * Darío Vivas
 * Diosdado Cabello
 * Elías Jaua
 * Érika Farías
 * Freddy Bernal
 * Héctor Navarro
 * Héctor Rodríguez
 * Jacqueline Faría
 * Jorge Rodríguez
 * Luis Reyes Reyes
 * María Cristina Iglesias
 * María León
 * Mario Silva
 * Nicolás Maduro
 * Nohelí Pocaterra
 * Rafael Ramírez
 * Ramón Rodríguez Chacín
 * Rodrigo Cabezas
 * Tarek El Aissami
 * Vanessa Davies
 * Willian Lara
 * Yelitza Santaella