DEVELOPMENT, CAPITALISTS AND EXTRACTIVE RENT: CLASS STRUGGLES IN VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR Thomas Chiasson-LeBel A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN POLITICAL SCIENCE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO December 2016 © Thomas Chiasson-LeBel 2016 Abstract Through a relational class perspective, this dissertation compares the evolution of the development models in Venezuela and Ecuador since the 1970s to better understand the significance of the recent turn to the left. Based on field research in both countries comprising extensive interviews with representatives of social movements and business interest groups, it studies the main class organizations, their struggles, and their relation with the state in order to shed light on the dynamics of change in the development models pursued in each country, and the role that extractive rent plays within them. While governments associated with the “pink tide” in Venezuela and Ecuador were not elected under similar economic contexts, they faced comparable political conditions. In particular, both countries faced situations where class struggle adopted a particular form as popular classes lost their coordination, and the capitalist classes had significant influence over the state. In response to the challenge these conditions represented, left governments attempted to increase the capacity of the state to act with more autonomy through the adoption of new constitutions and the reassertion of state ownership over extractive resources to pursue a rent- based social-developmental model. This involved the use of extractive rent for redistributive measures and as a leverage to foster economic diversification. A comparative perspective on social classes shows how a united capitalist class in Venezuela, adopting a confrontational stance, pushed the state to rely increasingly on its role as a “dispenser” of rent. By contrast, a regionally divided capitalist class in Ecuador reacted less ii combatively, and led the Ecuadorian state to follow a social-developmental model more supportive of private initiative for economic diversification. In both cases, however, the governments put in place strategies aimed at gaining control over the responses of the popular sector. As opposed to discussions of populism, focusing on the irrational relationship between the leader and its followers, or approaches that focus on categorizing different kinds of left governments, or even perspectives that stress the determining role of natural resources, this dissertation analyzes class struggles as a crucial factor to understanding the transformation of the state and of the development model it pursues. iii Para mis compañer@s que siguen en la lucha iv Acknowledgements The doctoral dissertation is paradoxically a solitary work and the product of the numerous people who, along the way, have contributed to the research, the thinking and the living process that surrounds the production of the dissertation. Without the help of those named in these acknowledgements, and many others, concluding this project would have been so much harder, if not impossible. First, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Viviana Patroni. She has been beyond supportive, knowing how to apply the exact dosage of pressure, empathy, confidence and questioning to make me progress even when I experienced harsher periods of doubts. She had the gentlest way of communicating profound theoretical insights, through little questions asked here and there, on small details, that nonetheless offered me with novel ways to look at a problem. She intuitively knew when to leave me alone, soaking in my ideas, and when to remind me that I needed a finished product. She had the patience to read every draft of this dissertation, and to suggest ways to strengthen it. She has been a terrific supervisor, and I hope she will become, from now on, an accomplice in other research projects. I also want to thank all my friends in Latin America who helped me to decipher their reality and its magic, and find ways to gain access to people and documents that are generally hardly accessible to PhD students from the North. In Ecuador, Franklin Ramírez at FLACSO opened so many doors, as did Diego Carrión, Fransisco Muñoz, and Santiago García Álvarez from the Universidad Central. Jorge León and Liisa North were also available for me in many v important moments. In Venezuela, my dear friends, Julio Fermín and Saida Liendo and their families, have always been helpful, allowing me to navigate this wonderful country where politics is definitely not something monopolized by politicians. I also warmly thank all the interviewees who gave me their time. This thesis would not have been possible without the support of Leo Panitch and Richard Saunders. They enthusiastically shared their theoretical knowledge with me, patiently listening to my stories and offering theoretical avenues for me to consider. Sam Gindin also contributed in a similar way. I’ll always be thankful for that. I feel privileged to have had the chance to interact on this basis with them, and I hope that our intellectual and political friendship will continue. I also want to thank my friends in the program, Eren Duzgun, Lilian Yap and Paulo Ravecca. We started the program together and helped each other. Our lives continue in different places around the world, and in spite of the distance, these friendships will never end. Among them, Lilian deserves a special credit. She made herself available in the last miles, and the quality of her assistance was remarkable. The friends from the French Connection also deserve “un gros merci”. First, Xavier Lafrance and Frantz Gheller. We shared housing and some of the best moments of our lives, notably through energetic intellectual debates. Benoit Marsan, honorary member, also helped by feeding me the novels that I needed to distract me. Other members of the FC vintage crew deserve a special mention: Thierry Drapeau, Valérie Gingras and Juliette, Amélie Delage, Étienne Godard-Flamand and Léo, Élias and Félix, Claudia Hébert, Christine Henderson, Gary Romanuk, Jonathan Martineau, Sébastien Rioux and Priscilla Guy. The “nouvel arrivage” as well: Christian Pépin, Alain Savard and Maika Sondarjee. Thanks to Karine L’Ecuyer for her vi encouragement. My parents Georges Lebel and Béatrice Chiasson were also, in their very own way, always supportive. And last, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Nicole Swerhun, my love. We met in the course of this research, and she has been exemplarily supportive, encouraging and caring. She accepted all the sacrifices even when her own situation became more burdensome. Without her, this project would probably not be concluded. Her confidence in me gave me the energy I needed. My love for her gave me the reason to continue. But more than her contribution to this work, I want to acknowledge her contribution to my life. What we share together makes everything else possible. vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................. v List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................... xiii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... xv Introduction Venezuela and Ecuador in the Pink Tide ........................................................................... 1 Why Ecuador and Venezuela? ............................................................................................................................................... 4 The Pink Tide ................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Studying the Rent-Based Social-Developmental State in Venezuela and Ecuador ..................................... 13 Thesis Structure ........................................................................................................................................................................ 20 1. Locating the Pink Tide Theoretically ..................................................................................................... 23 Latin American Populism Once Again? .......................................................................................................................... 23 A New Resource Curse? Rent Extractivism and the Commodity Consensus ................................................... 34 Pink Tide Parties and Movements .................................................................................................................................... 50 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................................... 58 2. Development and Class: A Long-Standing Debate