Two Revolutions Compared: Cuba and Venezuela

• In Event: 4166 - Democracy on the Defense: Rising Authoritarianism and Populism

Abstract

We compare and contrast two Latin American revolutions – Cuba under Fidel and Raúl Castro and Venezuela under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro – as we analyze the causes, process, and outcomes of both. We also discuss the strong alliance that developed between Cuba and Venezuela – economic, political, and military -- as well as their relationship to other key countries -- the Soviet Union and the United States – and the consequences for both revolutions.

Our comparison leads us to conclude that there are significant similarities, particularly in the charismatic leadership of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez; the social inequalities in Cuba and Venezuela; the attraction of a socialist ideology; and the nationalist challenge to the United States’ hegemony. However, the differences loom larger. One, the international context was vastly different -- the raging Cold War conflict in the Cuban case, the post-Cold War multipolar world in the Venezuelan case. Two, a massive exodus of the internal opposition did not take place in Venezuela, as it did in Cuba, where dissent was thus externalized and the exile community became a political actor.

We compare and contrast both revolutions for what it tells us about them, the various possible scenarios for their future, and also the implications for democracy given the democratic stock of their past experiences.

More generally for theories of revolution, we argue that particularly when studying the developing world, theories of revolution need to take into account the role of the geopolitical, international context as well as the role of an exodus.

Authors

• Silvia Pedraza, University of Michigan

• Carlos A. Romero, Universidad Central de Venezuela