Democracy as political strategy of the Venezuelan right

This paper examines the emblematic case of the use of the discourse of democracy as a key component of identity formation strategies on the Venezuelan right. The Venezuelan opposition's identity narrative is analysed as part of its competition for hegemony following the emergence of the Chavist political project, based on interviews conducted in 2016 with Venezuelans from this part of the political spectrum. The Venezuelan case reveals that the discourse of democracy not only facilitates the coalition and mobilisation of individuals without necessarily articulating ideological references of left or right, it also helps prevent changes to the existing social order.