Communist Party of Venezuela

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Partido Comunista de Venezuela




Leader	Jerónimo Carrera

Founded	March 5, 1931
Headquarters	Caracas

Political ideology	Communism
International affiliation	Sao Paulo Forum

Website	Official site

The Communist Party of Venezuela (in Spanish: Partido Comunista de Venezuela, PCV) is a communist party in Venezuela. Until the 1990s, it was the main left group in Venezuela. The PCV was founded in 1931 as clandestine organization during the military dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. It was initially led by Juan Bautista Fuenmayor and became the Venezuelan affiliate of the Communist International.

The PCV remained an illegal organization until 1945. It was again outlawed during the second presidency of Rómulo Betancourt in the 1960s. In the 1960s, inspired by Che Guevara, it engaged in guerrilla warfare against the government. Those in the PCV who did not support guerrilla tactics left the party in 1971 to form Movement toward Socialism (MAS). The Communist fighters were later given a general amnesty by President Rafael Caldera in the 1970s. (Controversial matter. See: Discussion)

In the following years, the PCV received few votes in national elections. In the 1993 presidential elections, the PCV endorsed Rafael Caldera, a member of the Convergencia alliance.

In elections of 1998, the PCV backed Hugo Chávez and his Fifth Republic Movement. Following Chávez's election as president, the Communist Party has continued to support him and his "socialism for the 21st century." The PCV has articulated its belief that the transition to socialism in Venezuela will be slow and evolutionary.

Following the December 2005 legislative elections, eight PCV members were elected as deputies to the National Assembly:

Roberto Hernández
Diluvina Cabello
Germán Ferrer
Oscar Figuera
Edgar Lucena
Chiche Manaure
Omar Marcano
David Velásquez

The PCV publishes Debate Abierto (Open Debate) and Tribuna Popular (Popular Tribune). The youth wing of PCV is Juventud Comunista de Venezuela (Communist Youth of Venezuela).