Great Patriotic Pole

The Simón Bolívar Great Patriotic Pole (Spanish: Gran Polo Patriótico Simón Bolívar, GPPSB[1]) is a left-wing socialist electoral alliance/popular front of Venezuelan political parties created in 2012 to support the re-election of Hugo Chávez in the 2012 presidential election.[2]

Simón Bolívar Great Patriotic Pole Gran Polo Patriótico Simón Bolívar
Leader	Nicolás Maduro
Founder	Hugo Chávez
Founded	7 October 2011 (2011-10-07)
Ideology	Bolivarianism Chavismo Left-wing nationalism Marxism–Leninism Left-wing populism Socialism of the 21st century Socialism
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
Colors	Orange, blue, red, yellow
Seats in the National Assembly	50 / 167
Seats in the 2017 Constituent National Assembly	503 / 545
Governors of States	20 / 23
Mercosur	6 / 23
Mayors	306 / 337
Website
www.granpolopatriotico.org.ve
Politics of Venezuela Political parties Elections

The organisation, which "formally unites 35,000 Venezuelan movements and collectives",[3] is led by Nicolás Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV). Although the coalition shares a name with the "Sovereign Front" of the 1998 presidential election, the 1998 coalition was one of political parties, and did not include the wide range of social movements and community organisations involved in the GPP. For example, in Mérida state the GPP includes "[m]ovements such as the Tupamaros, the Educational Community Socialist Front, the Frebin (the Bolivarian Front of Researchers and Innovators), the student movement Community Integration, the comrades in the rural workers front- the Campesino Front Ezequiel Zamora, the popular educators network, the Women’s Bicentennial Front, and... Tatuy TV".[3]

A member of the regional promoter team of the GPP in Mérida state said in February 2012:

in order to form the GPP, there are a range of stages to go through. The first stage was the formation of the national promoter team, which was sworn in and approved by the president. It is made up of 153 comrades, spokespeople of different collectives at a national level. That stage ended with the national registration in October 2011. Next came the second stage of regrouping, which are the ongoing meetings of all the collectives registered in the GPP. After that, which is where we are at now, comes the stage of carrying out the popular assemblies of the GPP. These are where the planning, decision making, and debating of all those participating in the GPP takes place. Finally, there is a last stage, which consists of the national congress, or the national popular assembly, with President Chavez. That will be held on 13 April this year and it’s where the new proposals for the national organisation will be discussed and voted on.[3]

Members

The GPP is currently composed of the following political parties:

Party	Spanish name	Ideology	National Assembly	Government
United Socialist Party of Venezuela	Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela	Chavismo Bolivarianism Socialism of the 21st century	31 / 167	government
Communist Party of Venezuela	Partido Comunista de Venezuela	Communism	6 / 167	government
Fatherland for All	Patria para Todos		4 / 167	government
Revolutionary Movement Tupamaro	Movimiento Revolucionario Tupamaro	Revolutionary socialism	3 / 167	government
We Can	Podemos	Social Democracy	2 / 167	government
Republican Bicentennial Vanguard	Vanguardia Bicentenaria Republicana	Bolivarianism	2 / 167	government
Venezuelan Popular Unity	Unidad Popular Venezolana	Anti-imperialism	1 / 167	government
Alliance for Change	Alianza para el Cambio	Social democracy	1 / 167	government
People's Electoral Movement	Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo	Left-wing populism	0 / 167	not in government
Organized Socialist Party in Venezuela	Partido Socialista Organizado en Venezuela	Democratic socialism	0 / 167	not in government
Movement We Are Venezuela	Movimiento Somos Venezuela	Left-wing nationalism	0 / 167	not in government
Networks Party	Partido Redes	Chavismo	0 / 167	not in government
Authentic Renewal Organization	Organización Renovadora –Auténtica	Social conservatism	0 / 167	not in government
Venezuelan Revolutionary Currents	Corrientes Revolucionarias Venezolanas	Communism	0 / 167	not in government

The following parties are not members however support the GPP politically:

• Revolutionary Middle Class
• Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela
• Worker's Party

Election results

Parliamentary

National Assembly
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–	Leader
2015	5,625,248 (#2)	40.9	55 / 167	–	Diosdado Cabello

Presidential

Election year	Name	First Round		Second Round
		# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall votes	% of overall vote
2012	Hugo Chávez	8,191,132	55.1 (#1)
	Member of "United Socialist Party of Venezuela" party in coalition. Winner
2013	Nicolás Maduro	7,587,579	50.6 (#1)
	Member of "United Socialist Party of Venezuela" party in coalition. Winner
2018 (disputed)	Nicolás Maduro	6,205,875	67.8 (#1)
	Member of "United Socialist Party of Venezuela" party in coalition. Winner

Regional

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote
2012	4,853,494 (#1)	56.2
2017	5,814,903 (#1)	55.1

Municipal

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote
2013	5,216,522 (#1)	48.7
2017	6,517,506 (#1)	71.3
2018	~5,519,890 (#1)	97.3

See also

• Democratic Unity Roundtable – the opposing electoral alliance

Notes

^a Also includes some centre-left parties and one right-wing party, but is dominated by the left-wing other than on social policies such as abortion and LGBT rights.

References

1. "Hugo Chavez revives Venezuela election coalition". BBC. October 8, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
2. "Venezuela opposition leaders taken from homes overnight". CBC Canada. Associated Press. August 1, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
3. Venezuelanalysis.com, 28 February 2012, Interview: The Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) – How Thousands of Movements are Constructing their Revolutionary Organisation

External links

• granpolopatriotico.org.ve