Venezuela

Course:
SOCIOLOGY OF INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

Prof. Francesco Ramella

Students:
Sofia Mastrokoukou
Massimiliano Scali
Alda Tollumi

Historical Background

Political
Analysis

Economical
Analysis

Social
Analysis

Site: http://venezuelaanalysis.weebly.com/

 Nationality: noun: Venezuelan(s), adjective: Venezuelan

Languages: Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects
Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%
Population: 28,868,486 (July 2014 est.)
Government: Federal Republic
(World Bank 2015)

Historical background I
Revisiting the Legacy of Venezuelan Oil:
Independency: 1821
Antonio Guzman Blanco: 1870-1888 (developing on infrastructure, expanding
agriculture and welcoming foreign investment)

General Juan Vicente Gmez: 1908-1935

Major oil exporter

Since 1959: Venezuela one of the most stable democracies of the world

1970s: Oil boom

1976: Carlos Andres Perez nationalized foreign-owned
oil and steel companies, offering compensation
1999: Hugo Chvez era begins
2013-: Nicolas Maduro

Historical background II
The Hugo Chvez Era begins:
1997-2007:Fifth
Republic Movement
2007: United Socialist
Party of Venezuela
(PSUV)

1999: took office

July 1999: New
Constitution

2000: Plan Bolivar

(Bolivarian Missions)
Pro- Pais: which would
involve the armed forces
working in the capacity of
social service

Pro- Patria: which would

have the military helping
local communities help
themselves

Pro- Nacion: which

would help the country to
a more self-sufficient
economy that can
sustain itself

Chvez's political ideology 1

Democracy is impossible in a capitalist system. Capitalism is
the realm of injustice and a tyranny of the richest against
the poorest. Rousseau said: Between the powerful and the
weak all freedom is oppressed. Only the rule of law sets you
free. That's why the only way to save the world is through
socialism, a democratic socialism...[Democracy is not just
turning up to vote every five or four years], it's much more
than that, it's a way of life, it's giving power to the
people...it is not the government of the rich over the people,
which is what's happening in almost all the so-called
democratic Western capitalist countries.

Hugo Chvez, June 2010

Chvez's political ideology 2

Propagated what he called socialism for the 21st century.

Defined his political position as Bolivarianism.

Chvez's connection to Marxism was a complex one, though he had

described himself as a Marxist on some occasions.

Foreign policy 1

Chvez refocused Venezuelan

foreign policy on Latin
American economic and
social integration by enacting
bilateral trade and reciprocal
aid agreements, including his
so-called "oil diplomacy".
During Hugo Chvez's
presidency, relations between
Venezuela and Cuba
improved dramatically.

Foreign policy 2

Chvez developed strong ties with

the government of Iran.

Internationally, Chvez aligned

himself with the MarxistLeninist governments of Fidel
and then Ral Castro in Cuba
and the socialist governments
of Evo Morales in Bolivia,
Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and
Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua; his
presidency was seen as a part
of the socialist "pink tide"
sweeping Latin America.

Criticism

Under his regime the country had "suffered a tragic setback

regarding democratic standards, suffering a continuous,
persistent and deliberate process of demolishing institutions
and destroying democracy, which has never before been
experienced in the constitutional history of the country.
Allan R. Brewer-Caras

Other academics have argued that the opposite was true, and
that the Chvez government is in fact more democratic than
previous ones because of the increased checks and balances
introduced by the 1999 constitution and the introduction of
workers' councils.

Nicolas Maduro (2013-)

Policies:
-CRIME=>Safe Homeland Program, a massive police and military
campaing to build security in the country.

-ECONOMY=>Continued the existing economic policies of his

predecessor Hugo Chavez.
Maduro's Venezuela faced a high inflation rate and large shortages of
goods.
-FOREIGN POLICY=> relations with China and USA.

Maduro and his Social Happiness

Ministry

Coordination of all the mission programs created by Hugo Chavez in order

to alliveate poverty.

The pursuit of social happiness also forms part of the governments plan
for social and economic development from 2013 2019, including
concrete goals such as the eradication of poverty and hunger.
International Media criticisms: The country has inflation of almost 50%
and suffers from chronic shortages of basic goods such as staple foods and
toilet roll.

Economic context

Guidelines / Key points

Role of the oil
Inflation
International economic context

Oil production

Nominal real oil prices

Export

Aluminium

Bauxite

Coffee

Cars

Tabacco

Nickel

Gold

Steel

Iron

GDP

Inflation rate

Venezuela GDP composition

Population below poverty line

Demographic trends

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 74.39 years

Urbanization: urban population: 93.5% of total population (2011), rate of urbanization:

1.7% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
social structure and oil camps

Net Migration Rate (2010-2015): 0.3 migrants/1,000 population

Immigrants (2013): 3.9%
Ethnic groups: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people

Oil boom and racial hierarchies

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write, total population: 95.5% (2009
est.)
Missions
Health expenditures: 5.2% of GDP (2011)
Missions

Life expectancy

Social Structure
hacendandos

Urbanization level
The pace of
urbanization between
1940 and 1970 was the
most rapid in Latin
America.

Social stucture
changed
Oil camps

The impact
of oil

Revisiting the Legacy

of Venezuelan Oil
Delineating the Social Impact
of Foreign Exploration for Oil

The cultural side-effects of Venezuelas

oil industry

Miguel Tinker Salas is one of the nation's

foremost authorities on political and social
issues confronting Latin America

Oil camps
reinforcing racial hierarchies
By the 1960s, nearly 25%
of Venezuelans lived in or
near an oil camp.
These camps constituted,
therefore, a reference
point for a large part of
Venezuelan society.

Corruption Score

The discovery of oil had worsened political corruption, and by the late 1970s, Juan Pablo
Prez Alfonso's description of oil as "the Devil's excrement" had become a common
expression in Venezuela.

Gini Index

39 (2011)
49.5 (1998)

Missions

Missions
Facts and Figures from 1999-2013
7,5 million people currently registered on the education missions.
Between 1999 and 2008, the number of children receiving free lunches in school rose
from 252,284 to 4,055,135.
UNESCO confirms 98% literacy in Venezuela.
Against Poverty- Health Insurance
According to government figures, 216,492 seniors other 30,000 ,among them pregnant
teenagers, poor children under 17 and discapacitated people of all ages have already
benefited from the missions.

The missions should be committed to social transformation, but theyve

become an instrument of the Chavist revolution, of socialism, complains
Leopoldo Lopez, former mayor of Chacao and member of the Popular Will
party.
We need to administrate for all Venezuelans, including the richer, and not
only for a segment of the population.

Maduros era I

Nicolas Maduro's government characterized the

protests
as
an
undemocratic
coup
d'etat attempt orchestrated by "fascist"
opposition leaders and the United States;

Maduros era II

Conclusions
Which will be the future of Venezuela?

1999-2015
1999 SCORES
STATUS
Partly Free
FREEDOM RATING

2015 SCORES
STATUS
Partly Free
FREEDOM RATING

(1 = BEST, 7 = WORST)

(1 = BEST, 7 = WORST)

4.0
CIVIL LIBERTIES

5.0
CIVIL LIBERTIES

(1 = BEST, 7 = WORST)

(1 = BEST, 7 = WORST)

4
POLITICAL RIGHTS

5
POLITICAL RIGHTS

(1 = BEST, 7 = WORST)

(1 = BEST, 7 = WORST)

In Venezuela, a person is murdered every 21 minutes.

According to the most recent official statistics, law enforcement agents allegedly
killed 7,998 people between January 2000 and the first third of 2009.

Proposal
A new developmental state which
places greater emphasis on the
embeddedness of the state and
society and focuses on the most
dynamic and innovative high
technology sectors. (Ramella, 2015)

High selective
meritocratic recruitment
and long-term career
rewards.
corporate
coherence and
autonomy

References

Alocucin del Seor Presidente de la Republica Hugo Rafael Chvez Fras en el saln elptico del
Palacio Federal Legislativo. Caracas, Venezuela. July 5th, 1999.
Blanco, Carlos. 2002. Revolucin y Desilusin- La Venezuela de Hugo Chvez. Madrid: Catarata.
Coppedge, Michael: Venezuela: Conservative Representation without Conservative Parties.
Working paper, June 1999.
Domnguez, Freddy. 1999. Chvez: La Revolucin Pacifica y Democrtica. Caracas: Editorial
Panapo
Ellner, Steve. 2001. The Radical Potential of Chavismo in Venezuela. The First Year and a Half in
Power Latin American Perspectives. 120(128/5): 5-32.
Faria, Hugo: 6 Propuestas para rehacer a Venezuela. 1999.
Garca Mendoza, Oscar: Comentarios al Borde del Caos. 1999.
Gott, Richard. 2000. In The Shadow of The Libertador. New York: Verso
-Keller, Alfredo: Survey on the scenes of 2002.
-International Monetary Fund. 1999. Venezuela: Statistical Appendix. October 7, 1999. Available at
<http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=3225.0> Accessed 7 May, 2002.
Mainwaring Scott and Scully, Timothy R: Building Democratic Institutions. 1995.
Medina, Medofilo: El Elegido. 2001
Naim, Moiss. Fwd: M.Naim. Entrevista sobre Chvez [El Pas Madrid]. E-mail. 02/25/02
Santodomingo, Roger: La Conspiracion 98. 1999.
Vsquez, A Venezuelan Recipe for Poverty and Corruption. Dec. 14, 1999
Vivas, Leonardo: Chavez. 1999.
Zakaria, Fareed. 2003. The Future of Freedom. New York: W.W. Norton and Company