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Which political parties govern Venezuela Bolivia Nicaragua Cuba and Vietnam and since when?
Executive summary
Venezuela is governed by the leftist PSUV-led Great Patriotic Pole coalition under Nicolás Maduro, with the ruling bloc claiming dominant electoral victories most recently in May 2025 (ruling coalition reported 82.6% of parliamentary votes) [1]. Bolivia is governed by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) that rose to power with Evo Morales in 2006 and returned with Luis Arce after 2020; MAS is cited as ALBA member under Morales in 2006 [2]. Nicaragua has been governed by Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) since Ortega’s return to the presidency in 2007 [2]. Cuba continues under the Communist Party state that has governed since the 1959 revolution and partnered regionally with Venezuela since the ALBA founding [2] [3]. Vietnam is not covered in the available search results — current reporting on Vietnam’s ruling party and dates is not found in current reporting.
1. Venezuela — “Chavista” coalition still in charge
Venezuela’s government remains controlled by the Bolivarian left: the ruling electoral bloc is described as the Simon Bolivar/Great Patriotic Pole led by Nicolás Maduro, and official results cited for May 2025 give that ruling coalition 82.6% of votes for parliament and 23 of 24 governorships, indicating continued dominance by the Maduro-aligned coalition [1]. Historic context in the sources links Venezuela’s long alliance with Cuba and ALBA membership that dates to ALBA’s founding in 2004 by Cuba and Venezuela [2].
2. Bolivia — Movement for Socialism (MAS) and ALBA ties
Bolivia’s leftist Movement for Socialism (MAS) first reached national power with Evo Morales and joined the ALBA regional bloc in 2006, a fact cited by ALBA background reporting [2]. Sources note that Bolivia’s membership in ALBA has been politically intermittent — an interim government withdrew in 2019 while the government elected in 2020 (Luis Arce, MAS) rejoined — underscoring intra-country political upheaval around MAS’s rule [2].
3. Nicaragua — Ortega and the Sandinistas since 2007
Nicaragua under Daniel Ortega is identified in the ALBA timeline as joining ALBA and returning to power in 2007; Ortega’s FSLN has governed since that period and is repeatedly tied to Cuba and Venezuela in regional diplomacy and voting behavior at forums such as the UN [2] [4]. International coverage cited here notes Nicaragua’s close alignment with Havana and Caracas on issues like UN votes about Russia [4].
4. Cuba — one-party Communist state and ALBA co-founder
Cuba is presented in the sources as the original ALBA partner with Venezuela (ALBA launched by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004) and as a long-standing one-party state that has both ideological and material ties to the governments of Venezuela and to leftist movements across the region [2] [3]. The reporting frames Cuba as the regional anchor of socialist cooperation that underpinned ALBA’s formation [2] [3].
5. Vietnam — not found in current reporting
The supplied search results do not include material on Vietnam’s ruling party or dates of rule. Available sources do not mention Vietnam’s governing party or when it assumed power, so I cannot responsibly assert specifics from these documents (not found in current reporting).
6. Regional context and competing viewpoints
The sources show two competing lenses: regional-alignment descriptions (ALBA, Pink Tide) that emphasize ideological cooperation among Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua [2] [5], and critical voices that label those governments authoritarian or “dictatorial,” accusing them of repressing opposition and concentrating power [6] [7] [8]. For instance, ALBA and allied governments publicly support one another at international bodies [4] [9], while opinion pieces and activist groups describe those same governments as authoritarian, cite arrests and exiles, and call for democratic restoration [6] [8]. Both threads appear in the sample sources and should be weighed by readers.
7. Limitations and what these sources don’t say
The supplied documents do not give a comprehensive, up-to-date institutional timeline for every country asked (not found in current reporting for Vietnam). They also mix encyclopedic background (ALBA, Wikipedia, Britannica) with opinion and advocacy pieces that characterize political legitimacy very differently [2] [10] [6] [8]. Where concrete dates appear in these sources they mainly mark ALBA accession years (Bolivia 2006; Nicaragua 2007) or election results (Venezuela 2025 vote totals) rather than formal constitutional changes; readers should consult country-specific electoral and constitutional records for precise start-dates of particular administrations beyond what these sources document [2] [1].
If you want, I can follow up by searching for authoritative, country-level profiles (e.g., national constitutions, official electoral authorities, or up-to-date factbooks) to produce exact start-dates for each ruling party’s continuous control.