Editing Elections in Venezuela (section)

===Background===
[[File:RB, votando en los comicios del 27 de octubre de 1946.JPG|thumb|right|[[Rómulo Betancourt]] voting in the 1946 elections]]
[[Democracy in Venezuela]] developed during the twentieth century, with [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]] (founded in 1941) and its antecedents playing an important role in the early years. Democratic Action led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period ([[El Trienio Adeco|1945–1948]]). After an intervening decade of dictatorship (1948–1958) saw AD excluded from power, four [[President of Venezuela|Venezuelan presidents]] came from Democratic Action from the 1960s to the 1990s. This period, incorrectly called the "Fourth Republic" by [[Hugo Chavez]] and his followers, is marked by the development of the [[Punto Fijo Pact]] between the major parties (originally including the [[Democratic Republican Union]], which later dwindled in significance), with the notable exclusion of the [[Communist Party of Venezuela]]. By the end of the 1990s, however, the now two-party system's credibility was almost nonexistent, mostly because of the corruption and poverty that Venezuelans experienced because of the debt crisis developed during the 1980s. Democratic Action's last president ([[Carlos Andrés Pérez]]) was impeached for corruption in 1993, and spent several years in prison as a result. The other main traditional party [[Copei]], provided two Venezuelan presidents ([[Rafael Caldera]], 1969–1974, and [[Luis Herrera Campins]], 1979–1983).