Post-Liberal Regionalism in Latin America - A Case Study of Venezuela as a Petro-State.

Sammanfattning: Since 1910, the major income of Venezuela comes, from the oil exploitation industry which is connected to the consolidation of the nation-state. This oil wealth has throughout history influenced its relations with countries in the Americas, United States and the rest of the world. This case-study examines Venezuela as a petro-state and its impacts on Latin American post-liberal regionalism and political integration by taking a closer look in the history in the Chávez- and Maduro Administration (1999-2014). The study also analysis the various regional integration initiatives (OAS, ALBA-TCP, CELAC, MERCOSUR, PetroCaribe and the Bank of the South) which exist in contemporary Latin America and Caribbean, in which some of them, Venezuela has had a greater impact on, and interest in developing because of the paradigm shift in the country’s foreign policy agenda and rejection of the Washington Consensus Agenda. Thus, the study has both domestic and regional aspects of the Bolivarian Revolution. Key concepts and theories are examined and builds up the framework of analysis. The study is theory-consuming and theory-developing. The purpose of this study is to unfold the following puzzle and research question: Has Venezuela impacted regionalism and the integration processes in Latin America in the 21st Century? Key words: Washington Consensus, Regionalism, Integration, Venezuela, Latin America.