Atlas / Comparisons / Chavismo vs Khomeinism
Chavismo and Khomeinism
Measured distance across six axes
The same broad family. They agree within three points on AU, SC, CH. They diverge by eight points or more on CU.
Axis by axis
| Axis | PSUV | Velayat-e faqih | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −08 | −03 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +02 | +10 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +09 | +09 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +08 | +08 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +03 | +09 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +04 | +07 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
PSUV · CU +02
Coded mildly traditional: socially conservative on family and church relative to the Latin American left.
- Documented act or statuteAbortion remains criminalised and same-sex marriage unrecognised after twenty-five years in power.
Velayat-e faqih · CU +10
At the ceiling: compulsory dress, gender segregation and clerical authority over personal law.
- Documented act or statuteThe 2022–23 protests followed a death in morality police custody and were met with mass arrests and executions.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Chavismo
1999– · Venezuela
Bolivarian socialism of the twenty-first century, anti-imperialism, popular power organised from above.
Khomeinism
1979– · Iran
Guardianship of the jurist: sovereignty belongs to God and is exercised by a supreme clerical authority over an elected government.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas