In April 2001, President Hugo Chávez tasked then-Vice President Diosdado Cabello and Miguel Rodríguez Torres to create and finance community organizations that would share local interests to Chávez so his government could lend resources and gain political support. Such support from the government made Chávez's opponents skeptical of any claims of autonomy. The circles were created as state-sanctioned groups that were to be the "principle organizing unit of popular power" and were announced by Chávez as "a great human network" that was created to defend the Bolivarian Revolution. Some circles were modeled after the Dignity Battalions that were created by Omar Torríjos and Manuel Noriega in Panama since Chávez admired the model when stationed there during his military career. The founding documents of Venezuela's Bolivarian Circles state that "the Supreme leader of Bolivarian Circles will be the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" and that "the national and international headquarters for the registration of Bolivarian Circles will be the Palace of Miraflores". Many of the Bolivarian Circles were given combat training and weapons, with some of their leaders being trained in Cuba. According to Lina Ron, a Chávez supporter and head of her own Bolivarian Circle, La Piedrita, thousands of circles deeply loyal to Chávez were "armed to the teeth". Chávez denied allegations of funding and the circles use of weapons.
Works
Domestic
In January 2002, Bolivarian Circles were reported to have blocked the entrance of the newspaper office El Nacional for over an hour. Numerous journalists have been threatened, berated, and abused physically and verbally, particularly by people that identified with the Bolivarian Circles. Bolivarian Circles also took part in demonstrations which that became violent against the 2002 coup attempt. Shortly after the coup attempt in a May 2002 cable from the US Embassy in Caracas, there were concerned reports of members of Bolivarian Circles receiving new motorcycles, Nike brand clothing and that members of the Bolivarian Circles became armed, causing panic in neighborhoods. Numbers of Bolivarian Circles also increased significantly that month according to Diosdado Cabello, with number rising from 80,000 to 130,000. According to private intelligence agency company Stratfor, Bolivarian Circles were also the parent organization of colectivos in Venezuela.
Political works
A study by two Brigham Young University scholars stated that Bolivarian circles embodied democratic values, in addition to "a charismatic mode of linkage to Chávez"; they performed valuable social work, but also often reinforced "clientelistic relations between Chávez and the voters, and they did not significantly enhance the level of pluralism in the broader civil society."
International
Pro-Chávez Bolivarian circles exist in other countries and are widespread in Europe, North America, and Australia.
Canada
In a June 2014 publication by the Center for a Secure Free Society, it was stated that even though some Bolivarian Circles in Canada had disbanded, some are growing and they are even attempting to merge with the UK-based Hands Off Venezuela group. During the 2014 Venezuelan protests, circles in Canada protested in the streets and near embassies to show support for the Venezuelan government.
United States
In the United States, there were about 15 Bolivarian Circles throughout the United States in 2005. In an article by The Miami Herald, the circles were present in cities such as Cincinnati, Boston, Miami, Salt Lake City, Knoxville and Milwaukee, with the largest organization in Miami having about 185 members.
Oath
In 2001, Chávez swore in all official Bolivarian Circles at the first national reunion under the following oath, which was adapted from Bolívar's own oath on the hill of Monte Sacro in 1805:
