Punto Fijo Pact
Table where the Punto Fijo Pact was signed on 31 October 1958 in Caracas, Venezuela.
|
|
| Signed | 31 October 1958 |
|---|---|
| Location | Puntofijo Residence, Francisco Solano López Avenue, Sabana Grande, Caracas, Venezuela |
| Parties | |
 at |
|
The Puntofijo Pact was a formal arrangement arrived at between representatives of Venezuela's three main political parties in 1958, Acción Democrática (AD), COPEI (Social Christian Party), and Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), for the acceptance of the 1958 presidential elections, and the preservation of the new democratic regime. This pact was a written guarantee that the signing parties would respect the election results, prevent single-party hegemony, work together to fight dictatorship, as well as an agreement to share oil wealth.
The pact is often credited with launching Venezuela towards democracy, being recognized for creating the most stable period in the history of Venezuela's republics. While the pact did provide the grounds for possible democratic deepening, it also ushered in a period of exclusionary politics where the political system became dominated by the two party system of AD and COPEI.
On January 23, 1958 President Pérez Jiménez fled Venezuela for the Dominican Republic and a group of military leaders took control of the country. The presidency of Pérez Jiménez was a dictatorship that relied heavily on oil revenues to pay for a massive urbanization and modernization campaign in the cities of Venezuela. The need for the pact of Puntofijo arose after the ousting of dictator, President Jiménez in the coup. COPEI, AD, and the URD came together to ensure that Venezuela did not again turn to authoritarianism. The parties wanted to allow democratic transition away from a military controlled dictatorship. The parties were aware that a contest of the election on behalf of one of their parties would be detrimental given the economic instability and volatility that resulted from the declining oil prices and post-coup atmosphere. The pact was a way for the parties to ensure cooperation and compliance with election results. This would allow for a transition to democracy.
The pact was signed in and named after the residence of Rafael Caldera in Caracas, by representatives of the Democratic Republican Union (URD), Social Christian (COPEI) and Democratic Action (Acción Democrática AD). Its adherents claimed the pact was aimed at preserving Venezuelan democracy by respecting elections by having the winners of the elections consider including members of the signing parties and others to positions of power in bids for national unity governments and by having a basic shared program of government. Three members of each party signed the pact. These men included Rómulo Betancourt of AD, Rafael Caldera of COPEI, and Jóvito Villalba of the URD. Both Betancourt and Caldera would go on to become presidents of Venezuela. The pact served to deepen democracy in the region in that it ensured respect of the democratic process of the election. This allowed for the uncontested democratic election of Rómulo Betancourt
...
Wikipedia