Urban poor and political order

The convergence of economic and political crises throughout the 1980s and 1990s contributed to the unraveling of Venezuela's representative democracy. As a result of these crises, mass dissatisfaction with the institutions and policies implemented by the Punto Fijo regime paved the way for the emergence of a charismatic leader who appealed to sectors previously excluded. The arrival of Hugo Chávez Frías and his evorts to consolidate the Bolivarian political project cannot be fully understood without attention to the role of the urban poor.