Editing Elections in Venezuela (section)

===Current===
Confidence in the traditional parties collapsed enough that the [[1993 Venezuelan general election|1993 presidential elections]] were won by [[Rafael Caldera]] on around 30% of the vote, representing a new electoral coalition, [[National Convergence (Venezuela)|National Convergence]]. By 1998, support for Democratic Action and COPEI had fallen still further, and the [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|1998 election]] was won by political outsider [[Hugo Chávez]].

Since then, a range of newer parties (such as [[A New Era]] and [[Justice First]]) have been more prominent in opposition to Chávez than the traditional main parties Democratic Action and COPEI. The [[United Socialist Party of Venezuela]] (''Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela'', PSUV) was created in 2007, uniting a number of smaller parties supporting Chávez' [[Bolivarian Revolution]] with Chávez' [[Fifth Republic Movement]]. It is the lead party of the [[Great Patriotic Pole]] coalition. The [[Democratic Unity Roundtable]] (''Mesa de la Unidad Democrática'', MUD), created in 2008, unites much of the opposition. [[Hugo Chávez]], the central figure of the Venezuelan political landscape since 1998, died in office in early 2013, and was succeeded by [[Nicolás Maduro]] (initially as interim President, before narrowly winning the [[2013 Venezuelan presidential election]]).