d'état attempts. Many of these, once liberated, grouped in the political party MVR, under the leadership of Hugo Chávez, who ultimately, after several years in the political wilderness, won the 1998 presidential elections. That election saw the comprehensive defeat of Acción Democrática and COPEI, which had alternated in government for 35 years (from 1959 to 1994), and which now lost their influence on the Venezuelan political scene. Cabinet References See also Rafael Caldera First Presidency of Rafael Caldera Presidents of Venezuela History of Venezuela Rafael Caldera Caldera, Rafael