Pacto de Punto Fijo

The Pacto de Punto Fijo was an accord between the Venezuelan political parties Democratic Action (AD), COPEI and Democratic Republican Union (URD). It was signed on October 31 in 1958, only a few months after the defeat of Marcos Pérez Jiménez and before the December elections of that same year.

Historical Context

The objective of the pact was to achieve the sustainability of the recently formed democracy, through the equal participation of all member parties in the executive cabinet of the winning party.

To the contrary of conventional wisdom, the defeat of Marcos Pérez Jiménez did not lead immediately to a civil democratic regime and to the exit of the Armed Forces from the political scene. Additionally not all of the tendencies that defeated Pérez Jiménez wanted to install a democratic regime and instead maintained a preference for a government of the Armed Forces the likes of which quelled the democratic "disorder" from 1945-1948.

During the year 1958 coups were attempted at various times against the Government "Junta." The concrete dangers of a military regression led to the formation of a civil Front to pave the way to democratic normalization.

Objectives of the Pact

The finality of the Pacto de Punto Fijo was expressed with the following points:

* Defense of constitutionality and the right to govern conforming to the electoral result.
* National Unity Government. That is to say, to consider equally all the signed parties and other elements of society in the formation of the executive cabinet of the winning party.
* Program of common minimum government.

igning Parties

The signers of the pact were Rómulo Betancourt, Raúl Leoni and Gonzalo Barrios (AD), Jóvito Villalba, Ignacio Luis Arcaya and Manuel López Rivas (URD) and Rafael Caldera, Pedro del Corral and Lorenzo Fernández (COPEI), while meeting in Caracas, in the residence of Caldera. The pact would be named "Punto Fijo". The winner of the elections of 1958 was Rómulo Betancourt.

The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) was left out of this pact, a notable omission due to its role as one of the principal parties that fought against the dictatorship of general Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The marginalization of PCV is owed to, according to some opinions, the dynamic of the Cold War, the defeat of that party by the Church and by COPEI, and a special aversion by Betancourt against the PCV.

Without a doubt the "Pacto de Punto Fijo" was complemented by the closing of the electoral process, with a declaration of principles and a program of minimum government, subscribed to by the presidential candidates of the three parties: for AD, Rómulo Betancourt; for COPEI; Rafael Caldera, and for URD and the Communist Party, Wolfgang Larrazábal.

The pact, in practice, created a bipartisanship between AD and COPEI (URD lost influence progressively in the system). Even though "legally" it only lasted until the first government of Rafael Caldera (of COPEI), in reality it was maintained until 1999, when Hugo Chávez rose to the presidency. The political collapse of the signing parties signified the real end to the system of Puntofijismo.

External Sources

* (Spanish) [http://www.analitica.com/bitblioteca/venezuela/punto_fijo.asp Texto del Pacto de Punto Fijo]