Venezuelas Significance in the World - Research Paper Example

VENEZUELA Introduction Venezuela is a strategic land that has an economic, political and cultural significance in the world. The country carries certain unique characteristics of its own. Venezuelans society is the mixture of lots of ethnic groups. There are White people, pardos and black people. Hence there is no particular physical stereotype of Venezuelan like generally we have in Europe, Africa or Asian countries like China or Japan. Venezuela is located on the north coast of South America and can boast of being the largest producer of international beauty queens. 80% of Venezuelan export is based on oil and one of the major industries in Venezuela is beauty industry. Like most of the other cultures on the earth, Venezuela is also a very much patriarchal society. Men and Women have equal status by law. Various laws of constitution have tried to preserve the rights of women. Among them are right of equal pay for equal work (article 91), right of violence free life (International Convention against Discrimination against Women (article 21), and right to protection and public assistance during maternity (article 76). Many policies have been passed that promotes gender equality and women benefits. Regardless of the legal provision, the status of women is not up to the mark in Venezuela. Culturally yet the mindset of considering woman inferior is still there in Venezuelan society. The modern trend of gender equality coming from North American culture is still striving to be the part of socially and culturally accepted gender norms in conventional scenario of gender discrimination. Though legally women are equal, they cannot enjoy the equality and liberty while living their life. The differences are still there in form of wage earning and sexual freedom. The Venezuelan girls and women are very much conscious about the traditional norms of female beauty. One more major aspect on which the paper throws a light is the censorship in Venezuela. On paper or by constitutional provision the press is free or every citizen has a freedom to express their thoughts or expressions fearlessly but still the government has imposed restrictions on media. The paper thus discusses the censorship issues in Venezuela. The paper also studies the educational system of Venezuela and the global status of the country and the new trend in education. The paper further discusses about the family and values and their influence on the individual life. In short the paper is the thorough research on Venezuela, one of the smallest but significant countries on the world map. Key words: Venezuela, Gender role, women rights, censorship, marriage, education, family. 1. Stereotypes: The stereotype is perpetuating certain idea or beliefs about something or someone. The stereotype is the representation or interpretation of the certain group of people made by the other people or community. The stereotype sometimes becomes the identity of the person or the region. The Venezuelan stereotypes are both positive and negative. The stereotype which may be called Geographical stereotype and that is Venezuela is a country with many rivers, and tropical jungles. It is actually half knowledge of the people about Venezuela. In reality, it is not the land of just rivers and jungles, but it has deserts, snow peaked mountains, beaches, planes and a very good urbanized regions also. In short Venezuela is a land with Geographical diversity, which is rarely found in other countries. Normally it is a general positive stereotype that the people from Venezuela are very energetic and happy and they are very much obsessed for baseball. More than two decades Venezuelan baseball has been a successful story. So this stereotype is right. One more stereotype about Venezuelans is that they like party and dance. They are happiest people in the world and they have kept the Guinness Record of the Happiest Country in the world. Probably it is because of their strong family bondage and family oriented culture. Further it is also Venezuelan stereotype that they are very kind and supportive to the foreigners. Venezuela is also known as the country of beautiful women. It is to some extent true. It is because of the number of international titles Venezuelan women have received in various international beauty contests. The negative stereotype blames Venezuelans for being disorganized and not following the street rule, driving rules and they are also blamed for being unpunctual. After all stereotypes are the exaggerated beliefs about a person or a community, which is not always true. Stereotype cannot be the part of research as it is based on hearsay and they have no evidence. A good research needs a thorough and unbiased study. Considering the fact, here the researcher tries to produce some authentic evidences on the above mentioned factors of Venezuela. The researcher also has tried to find out the authenticity of the stereotypes about Venezuela. 2. Gender Role: The role or work in Spanish colonization was based on gender in Venezuela. When the predominant group was nomad, the Caribbean, their workforce was divided by sexes. While men hunted and fished, women harvested, collected fruits, made textiles and built utensils for the households. It means that the gender role has been a long time issues in the countries like Venezuela. The awareness of gender equality started imbibing among Venezuelan women after 1960. If may be influence of the Second-wave feminism started in United States. The gender role in Venezuela can be divided into different segments: social, political and economic. 2.1. Political Factors: Till 1980s Venezuelan women lived a confined life and they were restricted by law and the social systems. At that time, the women were not allowed to own property or sign any documents without the approval of their husband. The man was on the top in family hierarchy. 1970s witnessed the acute poverty among the women. The gender roles are many times influenced by the urban and rural environment. Traditionally the roles of men and women are different. Women are supposed to perform domestic work and they can accept jobs which are related to domestic services. The feminist movement started in Venezuela after UNs declaration on Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the declaration of International Womens Year in 1974. The oil boom in 70s resulted into the allocation of funds for Comision Feminina Asesora de la Presidencia (COFEAPRE), a state agency for women in 1974. It was the period of economic boom and it led to improving the condition of women in the country. The women were given access to education and professional and career opportunities. “Womens participation in higher education, for example, increased from 44 percent of all graduates in 1974 to 54 percent of all graduates in 1984. The growth in womens participation in higher education during that period brought with it an increased number of women in professional positions, such as law, business, and politics.” (Nichols Morse 2010) According to the new constitution formed in December 1999, the women were entitled complete citizenship and the laws were made against gender discrimination, sexual harassment and domestic violence. A revolutionary decision taken by the state was to offer wages to the housewives as housework is also an economically productive activity. With this regard article 88 says “The State guarantees the equality and equitable treatment of men and women in the exercise of the right to work. The state recognizes work at home as an economic activity that creates added value and produces social welfare and wealth. Homemakers are entitled to Social Security in accordance with law.” Thus their 24 hours home job was considered and valued by the government. Under the presidentship of Hugo Chávez, women were offered high ranked post in politics, judiciary and administrative system of Venezuela. Political participation by women in the National Assembly has roughly tripled in the last decade. According to the NGO International IDEA, in 1997, just 6% of lawmakers were women, while under the Chávez administration they have accounted for 16-19% (IDEA 2011) Women have become a major force in electoral politics in Venezuela, where 96.5% of adults are registered to vote and voter turnout has been very high in recent years, reaching the 80.1% in the last presidential elections in 2012. Women make up 50% of the electorate. (IDEA 2008) Venezuela has the third longest paid maternity leave in the world after Canada and Norway. The new Labor Law of 2012 gives women a total of 26 weeks (about six months), while men have two weeks, and it also requires employers to provide new mothers with job security and facilities for child care and nursing. 2.2. Social Factors: Even though many laws support the equal status of women, yet socially the status is not accepted in the society completely. The woman yet is seen as a sex object, or sometimes they are kept in constraints of some myths. Venezuela is known as the world’s most beauty-crazed country. Miss Venezuela is a national beauty pageant. It is a cultural symbol of the nation. If we study the statistics in beauty pageant, Venezuela is on the top position with five Miss Worlds, Four Miss Universes and many more beauty queens in different international beauty contests. The physical beauty and outward appearance are given excessive importance that the real human values and inner beauty is shadowed. Michelle Roche, while telling her own experience about the obsession of Venezuelan people for outward appearance, shares her own experience. “All over the place, I felt women looking at me, measuring my thighs and disapproving of my hips – feeling pity for that oversized-me.” She further says, “My grandmother prays to the Virgin Mary that I be as “beautiful” and thin as I was before.” (Roche Michelle) The social conventional approach of looking at woman as a sex object is replaced by the capitalist approach, where the female body is still the object of marketing commodity. As stated by Jessie Blanco “In the case of Venezuela women are entrapped within an imaginary and semi mythological concept of "beauty" - as talked of by Naomi Wolf - a product of marketising beauty contests, fixated on image and its exportation. This is the shape of the global suffering of women in global systems of patriarchy and capitalism, symbolic violence with an import stamp.” (Blanco 2009) In beauty industry however both men and women are active. Venezuela arranges the beauty pageants for both men and women. The female beauty was dominating but after the spread of different media, the men also started making it as a priority in their standards. In social life, the women are vulnerable and seem to be docile due to the strong cultural and social norms. Though the women frequently have to face domestic violence, rape, or sexual harassment. They do not seek help from police because they have a feeling of shame and social stigma. There are many technical and behavioural obstacle discourage women to raise voice against their humiliation and unjust. Women and children trafficking are also prevalent in Venezuela. 2.3. Economic Factors: Traditionally male and female have a typical gender based task. Men hold the jobs that are physically demanding while women hold the household jobs. But the impact of Bolivarianism political ideology, the women received a respectable status in Venezuelan politics. It further helped to enhance the economic and social status of women and their traditional roles have changed or expanded. They are active bread winners and thus the financial supporters of the family. They are taking education. Considering the fact that women are more vulnerable to poverty than men, state – funded social programs are developed by Chavez government. The funds have been allotted for mothers of children who are living in extreme poverty. The unemployed parents are given a minimum wage of $100 per month per child up to three children. The teenage mothers and disabled dependent also get benefit of the fund. Several laws in Venezuela protect the economic right of the women. For example the 2001 Law on Land and Agricultural Development has offered a status of the head of household. They have also been given the right to lead Agricultural projects and property right. The womens Development Bank (BanMujer) in Venezuela has been providing free financial services, microcrdits and training to women especially from low income and underprivileged women. BanMujer has conducted more than 16000 training sessions which benefited more than 178000 citizens. Further BanMujer has created 20000 different jobs. Thus the women have been given equal status by law. Article 21 states, “All persons are equal before the law and consequently: No discrimination based on sex, creed or social standing shall be permitted, nor, in general, any discrimination with the intent or effect of nullifying or impairing upon the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on equal terms, of the right and liberties of every individual.” 2. Women Rights: After the end of the dictatorship of Perez Jimenez in 1958, Venezuela started its journey towards democracy. In the earlier constitution of 196, men and women were officially equal before law but still the women remained devoid of its political social and economic privilege. Consistent efforts of women for their rights were done by Venezuelan feminists. In 1967, after United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the awareness was developed regarding Womens rights. 1974 was the year declared by United Nations as the International Womens Year. Series of international conferences on womens issues were sponsored by United Nations. Till1985. Hence it is the period known as Womens Decade. The international laws for women were the major motivation for Venezuelan feminists. They took advantage of the global scenario and put forward womens issues to public and government. They started forcing government to draft policies regarding womens rights and their welfare. Though the economic expansion was on the top of the priority list of then President Carlos Andrés Pérez (1973-1978), he allotted significant amount of fund for social welfare. Consequently the first state agency for women were established, which is known as Comisión Feminina Asesora de la Presidencia (COFEAPRE) The women gathered together in 1974 and formed first Venezuelan Congress for Women. The Economic fall of 1980 after the collapse of oil prices, governments ambitious economic project “La Grand Venezuela” also collapsed and so the funds allotted for womens development also started decreasing. In 1985, the women organization called Coordinator of Women’s Non-Governmental Organizations (CONG) gave a platform to women. The greatest achievement of this organization was their contribution in drafting the 1990 Reform of Labour law. 1985 – 86 was the period of economic crisis and the poverty rate of Venezuela increased by 60% as compared to the year 1981. This resulted into the decline of the standard of living and women were vulnerable to this critical condition. Women from middle classes and working classes were facing acute financial problems. The period between 1992 and 1998 was the crucial period in the history of Womens Rights. The feminist bureaucracies played a key role in the fight for womens rights though social norms were not that much supportive to them. In 1993, the Law of Equal Opportunity for Women was passed. In 1997 the Suffrage Law was passed in which 30% of party candidates should be women. In 1998, the Law of Violence against Women and the Family was also approved. The staunch follower of Bolivarianian ideology President Hugo Chavez, women had a significant contribution in politics with four out of five branches in government. Currently they are in charge of the branches such as judiciary, Citizens branch and National Electoral Council Chávez called for a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution that would serve as the catalyst to change the stagnant, exclusionary fabric of Venezuelan society. Thousands of women including, feminists, former guerrillas, housewives, professionals, and members of organizations such as Women for Venezuela and United Women Leaders formed the Constitutional Front of Women of the Fifth Republic Movement (FCMMVR), (Wagner 2005) Under the non-sexist Magna-Carta the Venezuelan constitution has offered total social, political and economic rights to the citizens irrespective of their gender. It has also given full equality to men and women. Despite various laws to protect womens freedom and dignity, the society is still in its traditional mode. The discrimination problem has not completely been eradicated from the society. 3. Censorship: According to the article 57 "Everyone has the right to express freely his or her thoughts, ideas or opinions orally, in writing or by any other form of expression, and to use for such purpose any means of communication and diffusion, and no censorship shall be established." according to Article 58, "Everyone has the right to timely, truthful and impartial information, without censorship..." But unfortunately these rights and freedom are on paper. The right of information under article 58 is so much controversial due to its misinterpretation or manipulative interpretation by the government. It is the blame that government is censoring media. The journalists are frequently harassed and intimidated by the government. According to Espacio Publico, attacks which threaten the freedom of expression increased by 22% compared with the year 2011. The media which do not support government have been blocked. The recent example of this is the attack on journalists and reporters during public protest on 12th February 2014. There is an increasing pressure on media from government. The National Commission on Telecommunications (CONATEK) has developed a policy of vigilance and punishment against media that is not keeping its news content favourable to the government. Many news channels have been restricted and the websites such as NTN24 have been blocked from Venezuela. The government also has blocked the social networking site Twitter from February 2014. The citizens cannot upload or see the pictures on Twitter anymore. Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a reporter in his article “Is Venezuelas Government Tightening Its Grip on the Internet?” gives information about the violation of censorship act by government with some recent news. The government has legal authority to block those websites, which it feels, are the threat to the security of the nation or the sites that exhibit the opposite views. Several internet users from Venezuela experienced the blockage of major networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and the news site La Patilla. The content on internet many times is manipulated by the government. While blaming on the presidential decree by former President Hugo Chavez, American Director at Human Rights Watch Jose Miguel said, “The new decree issued would allow the president to block the discussion of topics that are inconvenient for his government, blatantly violating the rights of expression and to information, which are at the heart of a democratic society.” The group of pro-government hackers, called N33 has hijacked a number of journalists. 4. Marriage: The custom like marriage is many times controlled by the elders or the parents. Dating with outside of ones race or social class is generally not entertained. The age of marriage for bride is 14 and for the groom, it is 16 but the couples under 18 must get the consent from their parents before contracting marriage. In Venezuela on and average men get married at the age of 26 and women at the age of 23. The marriage cannot take place if either of the party is not legally free. It means that he or she must be single or divorcee or widow/er. In the presence of the first spouse the marriage is not legal. Marriage between immediate relatives is not valid in Venezuela. Most of the weddings have two marriage ceremonies. Even though the couple gets married in church, they are required to register their marriage with the civic authorities in a separate ceremony. The marriages take place like Catholic tradition. It is very important that the religious ceremony should take place. During marriage ceremony, it is a custom to throw rice as rice symbolizes prosperity. The similar custom is there in Hindu marriages in India. The rice is thrown on bride and groom in Hindu marriages also. In some part of India the petals of flowers such as marigold are thrown on bride and groom. As reported by the United Nations, in Venezuela, premarital sex among young people is common. Teen pregnancy rate is also very high. It is probably the highest rate in South America. According to the report of United Nations, in Venezuela, 134 of every 1000 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 have sexually transmitted diseases. The teen pregnancy rate is higher among the poor people than the middle class. The common-law marriages exist outside of legal or religious marriages continued to be more common in Venezuela. The rate of consensual union is also significant (25%) in Venezuela. Among the educated middle class as well as upper class consensual unions or common-law marriage is less common. In educated urban class especially, the consensual unions are the first stage of formal and legal marriages. In the elite class, the civil and church marriage is necessary. (Gackstetter & Morse2010) Same sex marriage is not legal in Venezuela but the state of Merida permits same sex marriage. Same sex marriage is constitutionally banned under Article 77. According to the definition of marriage under this article, the marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Now a day the marriage system has changed with the influence of American and European culture. Young people socialize, mix up with other people and choose their companions. 5. Education: The standard of education in Venezuela is among the topmost standards in the region. The literacy rate is 93.4% which is very good. Venezuelan government is committed to offer free and compulsory education to every citizen. In Venezuela, nine years of education are compulsory. The academic year starts in September and ends by June-July. Like other underdeveloped or developing country, Venezuela also has the same problem of dropout of children due to poverty. It is estimated that around 20% of the population cannot access formal education. The Venezuelan government is taking efforts on different aspects of education that include the adaptation of curriculum, inclusion of technology, expanding compulsory education and upgradation of teachers qualification. The age to attend the school in Venezuela is six. They complete their primary education till the age of eleven and then promoted to second level of basic education which completes at the age of 14 to 15. Although education is compulsory for every child, some of the children cannot attend the school because they have to work to support their families. The schools in Venezuela have been run in two shifts, either morning or afternoon shifts. In Venezuela, there are more than 90 institutions for higher education. Higher education is free under the 1999 constitution. Venezuela’s education system is centralized and administered by Venezuelan Education Ministry. There are both public and private schools but they have to follow the same standard. The education opportunities which were previously excluded to the poor class have been expanded,. A new Bolivarian University of Venezuela was established in 2003 and the admission was open to all students irrespective of their experience, qualification and nationality. The hot abroad destination for Venezuelan students is United States. The migration rate on education visa from Venezuela to US is significant. Around 9000 Venezuelan scientists are living in the United States. A study released in 2009 by the Latin America Economic System, an intergovernmental economic research institute, found that the outflow of highly skilled labour, aged 25 or older, from Venezuela to OECD countries rose 216 percent between 1990 and 2007, while a 2008 study by Vanderbilt University showed that 47 percent of 18-year-olds said they planned to emigrate in the next three years. (Clark 2013) The students are basically interested in business, Engineering, architecture, technology, agriculture, marine science, health science, education, sport sciences and social sciences or literature and art. 6. Family: Venezuela is a typical patriarchal family. The man is traditionally the bread winner while the woman rears the children and stays at home and does house chore. Macho and chivalry are the general characteristics of Venezuelan man. The role played by the mother is very important in maintaining the social fabric. The families in Venezuela are “extended and matrifocal.” (Marquez 2002) Matrifocal families are often considered “illegitimate” –from legal or moral standpoint – or “atypical.” (Marquez 2002) Most of the families in Venezuela are nuclear families with parents and siblings but the extended kin traditionally dwell nearby. In the families children live with their parents till their mid twenties and when they get married they may move from their family and make their own nuclear family. The family members have a strong bond among themselves and they support each other in their need such as helping them in getting job or accommodating them in their own homes. In traditional families especially children are cared by their parents. Sometimes the extended kin play crucial role in the upbringing of the person. The family plays an important role in establishing the stability in person’s life. Patricia Marquez (2002) states that There is a great difference between what is seen as the ideal family structure and what actually constitutes “family.” She further informs that nuclear family is promoted ideal family. For Venezuelan person, the family is at the centre of his life and he/she spends lot of his free time with family. Family ties especially extended family ties are very important in Venezuela Conclusion: The paper studied Venezuela from various perspectives. First it covered the aspect of stereotype which was discussed with some authentic data. The people have different stereotypes towards Venezuelan people and tradition. The stereotype includes Geographical, cultural, and behavioural, though all of them are not true but they are based on the individual perspectives. The paper then threw light on the social and cultural attributes of Venezuela. Like other countries of the world, Venezuela has also some cultural and social attributes. Its attributes lies in its ethnic diversity. The gender role is discussed by adding some legal and political data. The traditional gender role has been changing due to the global influence of various feminist movements and the policies regarding gender discrimination. The woman can enjoy full freedom in the framework of law though the society is not that much forward till now. Though Venezuela has a mix culture with the people are European, Indian and African roots, there is a unity and pride among the people about their motherland. According to the ethnicity, the people are divided into different social strata. Venezuelan people are known as easy going and fun-loving. The oil industries as well as the fashion industries are the major industries in Venezuela. The country generates significant revenue as well as global status through these two industries. Venezuela has partially become successful in bringing the underprivileged people especially the women in the mainstream of development and advancement. Many policies, schemes have been launches for the benefits of the women from grassroots. But still the woman is a sex object and her physical beauty is always encashed for benefits by the capitalists. Physical beauty and physical appearance is a social status issue in Venezuela and it has given immense importance. Nepotism, corruption and dictatorship lies within democracy. Of course, these problems are not just Venezuelan but they are all over the world, in every nation and every culture. The youngsters are gaining higher and professional education and migrating. Venezuelan people are basically interested in migrating to United States as it is the main attraction for them. So Venezuela is facing the problem of brain drain. The people from Venezuela are very much family oriented and family values matter a lot for them. The advantage of being a family person, they are always cared and helped by their close and extended family members. It further helps them to be stable mentally. For the healthy mental and social growth of any person the family support is must. That may be one of the reasons why the people are calm and happy in Venezuela. Most of the countries in the world are influenced by the individualism of American society, the Venezuelan society is also not an exception from this influence but yet it has not accepted complete individualism like America. Venezuela is a country that offers individual freedom and liberty. Everyone has a freedom to speak or express the opinions. But the censorship is yet dominating and the government has curtailed the right of speech and expression from the people. Women’s Organizations are strong and influential. As a result, the condition of women is improving rapidly. Their scope has been extended and gender equality is there in laws but still the society is conventional. So there is a conflict between the social and legal aspects. Venezuela’s education system is very organized and the government has become successful in imparting compulsory education to almost all of the citizens. Definitely some positive outcome is seen due to these efforts. Thus regardless of some controversial issues about government, the government is taking efforts to establish equality among its citizens in real sense. Sources: 1. Blanco Jessie “Venezuela has a Womans Face” Venezuela Analysis.com, published in March 4, 2009, Web. 18 March, 2014 http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4260 2. Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S. THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN VENEZUELA. March 2012, Web: 19 March 2014. Venezuela-us.org/live/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/03-07-2012/FS-Women.pdf 3. Lady Gomez, Ciudad CCS “Venezuela’s New Labour Law”, Apr. 30, 2012. Web 18 March 2014 http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/6961 4. Marquez Patricia (2002) “The Street is My Home: Youth and Violence in Caracas, Published by Stanford University Press. P.81 5. Nichols Elizabeth & Morse Kimberly (2010) “Venezuela” published by ABC-CLIO 2010 p. 214 6. ibid p. 216 7. Quota Project, International IDEA, 2011. Web 19 March 2014 http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?country=236 8. Wagner Sarah “Women and Venezuelas Bolivarian Revolution: “History of Venezuelas Womens Movement” venezuelananalysis.com 15 Jan 2005. Web. 19 March 2014 venezuelananalysis.com/analysis/877 9. Llanos Beatriz & Sample Kristen (Feb 29,2008) “30 Years of Democracy: Riding the Wave? Women’s Political Participation in Latin America,” Published by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance ( IDEA,) p. 15. 10. Roche Michelle “Venezuelan Femininity: The Painful Embodiment of Beauty” We. 20 March 2014. www.nyu.edu/pubs/anamesa/archive/fall_2007_culture/venezuelan_femininity.pdf 11. “20,000 Venezuelan Families Receiving Aid Through the Program “Sons of Venezuela,”” Embassy of Venezuela to the U.S., Mar. 5, 2012. http://venezuela-us.org/2012/03/05/20000-venezuelan-families-receiving-aid-through-the-program- %E2%80%9Csons-of-venezuela%E2%80%9D/ 12. translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.noticias24.com%2Fvenezuela%2Fnoticia%2F106667%2Fefe-venezuela-esta-a-la-cabeza-de-embarazos-juveniles-en-suramerica%2F 13. Venezuela: Close Chavez’s New Censorship Office an article published on July 21, 2010. Web.18 March 2014 Website: www.hrw.org/news/2010/07/21/venezuela-close-chavez-s-new-censorship-office Read More