Labour in a time of transition: labour and political changes in Venezuela

Abstract

This paper is intended to contribute to the ongoing analysis of labour studies in Venezuela. In the first nine years of the government of Hugo Chavez, there have been developments of great significance in this field of economic, political and social life. From the beginning the new government emphasized its break with the previous regime, that was in power the beginning of the longest period of democracy in the history of the country in 1958, until 1998, when Chavez won his first presidential election. New measures have been taken, but there is a need to distinguish those that are really new from those that simply have a new appearance, particularly in the oil industry. The importance of the oil industry in Venezuela dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century, when for the first time foreign currency earnings from oil exports exceeded those from the export of coffee, which had been the main source of income for several decades. Eight decades later, dependence on the oil economy persists.