Each of these strategies exists in Venezuela and will either be altered, or supported, by the outcome of the 1998 presidential election . While guns are available at a price to anyone who wants one in Venezuela , the military and police have the armament situation well under control. Uprisings in prisons and criminal incidents such as in the Clinica Urologico a few years back, have been handled with dispatch, usually resulting in massive deaths. Human rights complaints and investigations go unheeded.
Populism is the social glue of Venezuelan politics.
The maintenance of order, the provision of stability, and the claim of solidarity with the public, are considered the prime and sometimes the only job of the president. Even in last month's devastating criticism of the Caldera government's economic policies , former president Herrera Campins credited Caldera with providing stability. Caldera himself believes this is his greatest accomplishment. In Venezuela , the orthodox religion is not Catholicism , but statism and politics. The belief is that the paternal and sovereign state should control everything, and that politics should rule economic exchanges and social behavior.