Las cooperativas como estrategia de gestión para el fomento de la economía social en el municipio Maracaibo del estado Zulia. Período: 1999-2006

this study aimed at analyzing cooperatives as management strategies for promoting social economy. the study is framed in the positivist paradigm, has a descriptive, analytical character and the design is non- experimental and trans-sectional. the sample consisted of two-thousand two-hundred and forty-two cooperative partners in the maracaibo municipality, registered in the national superintendence of cooperatives (sunacoop). primary and secondary sources were used to collect information. a questionnaire consisting of twenty (20) items was used, validated by five experts, with a reliability coefficient of 0.84. results revealed that support for social economy organizations, especially cooperatives, is oriented to offering financing, education, training, granting guarantees and integral assistance. most of the favored cooperatives operate in the service sector, are classified as mixed and basically, are small and medium in size. conclusions indicate a tendency in national government policies to promote civil society organizations directed to the social economy, such as cooperatives; however, there are still many spaces to cover-desire for profit, an excess of cooperatives with political tendencies, ignorance of the existing regulations, among others.