inspired by the Cuban Revolution, the party became much more radical and launched a guerrilla war against the newly elected AD government led by Rómulo Betancourt, causing it to be outlawed once more. The PCV guerrilla effort was unable to mobilize substantial support from the Venezuelan peasantry, which largely supported Betancourt's reformism, and was unable to mount a serious military challenge to the new regime. Disillusioned with the guerrilla experience, the majority of PCV members split away from the party in 1971 to enter electoral politics as part of the reformist Movement toward Socialism (MAS). At the same time, a much smaller group of activists split off to form the trade-union based party La Causa Radical, better known as Causa R, a forerunner of today's Patria Para Todos party. Remaining communist fighters were later given a general amnesty by President Rafael Caldera as part of his "pacificacion" process. In the following years, the PCV became a marginal force in Venezuelan politics. The party received 0.7% of the national vote in the 1973 elections, 0.5% in the 1978 election, 1% in 1983, and 0.3% in both the 1988 and 1993 elections: with its high-water mark coming in 1983, with 67,681 votes. In the 1993 presidential elections, the PCV endorsed Rafael Caldera, a member of the Convergencia alliance. PCV broke with President Caldera in 1996. During the Bolivarian era In the presidential elections of 1998, the PCV backed Hugo Chávez adding 81,979 votes (1.25% of the national vote) to Chávez's total of 3,673,685 votes. In the 2006 presidential election, the PCV ticket received 2.9% of the National vote, contributing a haul of 342,227 to Chávez's total of 7,309,080 votes. These results make PCV the 4th largest party in the Chávez coalition. In the presidential elections of 2012, PCV again backed Chavez. Its ticket contributed 3.28% of the National vote, making PCV the second largest party in the Chavez coalition. The PCV won 1.6% in the 2013 municipal elections, up from 1.4% in the 2008 municipal elections. The PCV has articulated its belief that the transition to socialism in Venezuela will be slow and evolutionary. The party was a small but vocal part of the Chávez governing coalition. Following the December 2005 legislative election, eight PCV members were elected as deputies to the National Assembly: Roberto Hernández Diluvina Cabello Germán Ferrer Oscar Figuera Edgar Lucena Chiche Manaure Omar Marcano David Velásquez In the