AFRO-VENEZUELANS
AND THE
ANTI- RACIST STRUGGLE IN VENEZUELA
Afro-Venezuelans are more
hopeful than ever about the social and political transformation occurring in
their country today. Largely carried
out in the name of the Bolivarian revolution, most reforms are aimed at
addressing poverty, lack of education, inadequate health care, and
disenfranchisement, all results of centuries of institutionalized racism and
political and social exclusion.
The Legacy of Slavery
It is estimated that 62,000
Africans were forced into servitude and brought to Venezuela as slaves in the
18th and 19th centuries.
Most of them were sent to areas that served as centers of the slave
trade, particularly the central coastal states. In 1854, slavery was abolished and slave owners were paid by the
government to set over 13 million slaves free.[1]
Much like the history of the United States, freedom did not translate into
equality.
In the 20th
century, plagued by dictators, martial law, and corruption, racism in Venezuela
flourished. In 1961 Indigenous
communities were recognized in the constitution, albeit very superficially,
while Afro-Venezuelans were excluded altogether. In part this was due to the way that racial politics operated in
Latin America.
Counter to the U.S.’
definition of blackness that categorized those of African descent as anyone
with a drop of black blood in their veins and was based on ones appearance as
non-white, Venezuelan racial identity rested largely on the idea that pure
Afro-Venezuelans didn’t really exist.
Instead the majority of the population, including indigenous and
Afro-Venezuelan communities, were considered mestizos-a mixture of African,
Indigenous, and Spanish peoples. While
certainly many Latin Americans claim this ancestry, many more don’t. Despite this, today the majority of
Venezuelans claim to be mestizo, the identity adopted as Venezuela’s national
identity. The age-old adage “we’re all
equal” is commonly expressed with the claim that racism doesn’t exist in
Venezuela. This may account for why
even in the most recent 2000 constitution Afro-Venezuelans were not officially
recognized.
Toward Official
Recognition
Beginning in 1998 with the election
of President Chavez who was the first President ever to claim and honor his
indigenous and African ancestry, massive reforms were instituted to address
many of the problems that affected the Afro-Venezuelan community.
It is estimated that Afro-Venezuelans
today make up about 10-15% of the entire population.[2] However, official statistics are lacking due
to past census polls that made no reference to the black race. In 2004 however, a network of
Afro-Venezuelan organizations proposed three questions to be included in the
upcoming census that would identify the number, location, and make up of those
identifying themselves as Afro-Venezuelans. Typical of the new administration’s
posture toward oppressed groups, The Ministry of Planning and the National
Institute of Statistics welcomed the proposal and officially accepted it,
marking a huge victory for those concerned with the rights of
Afro-Venezuelans. For the first time
ever in the coming years Afro-Venezuelans will be officially studied and counted.
The Impact of the
Bolivarian Revolution
The most basic
of human and social rights will also be extended to them. Throughout
Venezuela’s history, poor and rural citizens have lacked access to even the
most basic health care or educational opportunities. Considering that cities and states with the largest Afro-Venezuelan populations face the highest
levels of poverty, the recent social missions instituted by the Chavez administration
have had a huge impact.
Education
Just ten years ago, Venezuela’s
illiteracy rate was nearly 9%, representing about 2 million people, primarily
in rural indigenous communities and poor inner-city families. Today, thanks to massive literacy campaigns
more than one and a half million adults have been taught to read and write in
the past three years and many more are going back to school. Through subsidized education programs for
primary, high school, and college age students the Venezuelan masses are
partaking in education at increasing rates.
Once too costly for most, education is now viewed as a right for all
including drop outs and previously illiterate adults.
Health Care
Access to health services had been the most
dramatic divide in Venezuela in recent generations. The vast majority of Venezuelans had not had easy access to
medical treatment. A new Constitution,
passed by referendum in 2000, became the first in Latin America to guarantee all
citizens the fundamental right to basic health care. In order to meet this goal, Venezuela entered into a unique
partnership with the government of Cuba, which provides 20,000 medical
professionals to treat Venezuela’s most needy. In the past five years,
thousands of community health clinics have been established throughout the
country. More than
60 percent of the Venezuelan population today receive some form of
government-sponsored health care, and the results have been inspiring. Between 1996 and 2002, infant mortality
rates decreased by 38 percent.
Today Venezuela has one of the lowest postnatal
mortality rates in Latin America, and is on track to reach the United Nations
Millennium Development health goals by 2015.
Political
Participation
Since the
campaign’s inception in 2003, electoral participation has grown tremendously in
presidential elections and over 18 and a half million people have been issued
new ID cards or updated their old ones.[4]
Afro-Venezuelans
have not only exercised their right to vote but also their right to run for and
hold political office. Under the Chavez
administration Afro-Venezuelans have been elected and appointed to high level
government posts. Never heard of
before, currently an Afro-Venezuelan is a member of the President’s Cabinet and
many more occupy important posts as ambassadors and assemblyman.
Relations with Africa & the
Caribbean
Venezuela has
prioritized its relations with Africa by expanding diplomatic relations on the
continent and opening embassies in numerous countries including Burkina Faso,
Mali, Morocco, Congo, Angola, and many more.
In total 18 missions are due to be opened in the next few years. Cooperative energy agreements have also been
signed with many of these nations and health and literacy programs are in the
works.
In the Caribbean many
countries have been adversely affected by high oil prices. In response to this in 2005 the Venezuelan
government initiated PETROCARIBE to ease the energy burden on the
Caribbean by eliminating the middleman and directly providing countries with
oil at market prices made affordable through the use of
A significant part of
PETROCARIBE is aimed at aiding member countries in developing their energy
infrastructure, improving the diversity of their energy sources, and increasing
their energy efficiency. There are also
plans to create the Alba-Caribe Fund which will gather the savings produced
from these long-term financing agreements.
The Fund will then be used to promote overall economic and social
development in member countries, ensuring that benefits derived from this
initiative substantially contribute to the fight against poverty, unemployment,
illiteracy, and lack of health care in member countries.
The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated
to informing the American public about contemporary Venezuela, and receives its
funding from the government of Venezuela.
Further information is available from the FARA office of the Department
of Justice in Washington, DC.