Social Organization
There are five major social classes in the Venezuelan society. Those five classes are extremely poor, working poor, lower middle class, upper middle class, and the rich. Around 58% of the population is in the extremely poor class. 23% are in the working poor class. 15% are in the lower middle class. Lastly, 4% of the population is in the upper middle class or rich class (360doc). Family is also a very important part of Venezuelan culture. The extended families of citizens in Venezuela live close by or even in the same house sometimes. The majority of families live with only their immediate family rather than their extended family (Morelock, 2014). The make-up of citizens is primarily Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, and other indigenous people (Kwintessential, 2014). Customs and Traditions In Venezuela, people greet one another with a handshake, a smile, and a the right greeting depending on the time of day. When they are in groups of people of more than two, a person always introduces themselves to the oldest person first. They always address a person by their professional title along with their last name. Unlike most Americans, Venezuelans don't leave a group without saying good-bye to every person individually. Other customs include sending flowers in advance to an event you were invited to, hand-writing "thank you" letters, and opening a gift immediately after you receive it. One thing to be aware of is that Venezuelans never give people handkerchiefs. This is because they are thought of as unlucky. When Venezuelans have dinner parties, the guest normally arrives 15-30 minutes later than they were told to come. This is so that they don't seem selfish by arriving early or on time. At dinners, Venezuelans dress modestly with a little bit of flair. If someone offers a Venezuelan coffee, they will never reject it. Table manners in Venezuela are the same as in other countries for the most part. At restaurants, they wait for instruction from a waiter or waitress on where to sit, hold their knife in the right hand and their fork in the left, and have their hands visible without putting their elbows on the table. Before eating, one must wait for all other people to be seated at the table, or until the host tells them to begin eating. The host always toasts first. While a Venezuelan is eating, a napkin is placed on their lap, and all food is eaten with utensils. When they are finished eating, they leave a small portion of food on their plate because it is considered to be polite. The food in Venezuela is influenced heavily by Spanish, Italian, and French culture. Each region of Venezuela has different kinds of food. There are a plethora of fish and different seafoods on the coast. In the Andean region, food dishes consist of sausage, meat, and trout fish. The Amazon region has very diverse types of food compared to the rest of the country. People often eat turtles, monkey birds, tapirs, and even ants. Some of the traditional dishes that are served throughout Venezuela are the Arepa, a cornmeal cake, the Cachapa, a thick pancake, the Casabe, a type of bread made of yucca, and Empanadas, which are deep fried and stuffed corn flour patties (SouthAmericaCL, 2014). Venezuela has adopted many sports and activities from other countries. One of those activities is bullfighting. This is a dangerous sport, therefore Venezuelans have tried hard not to adopt it. Venezuela has also adopted American sports, such as baseball and football (soccer). Other sports include kayaking and rafting in the Orinoco River, which is located in Venezuela. Skiing and mountain climbing are also very popular along the mountain ranges of Venezuela (Martz, 2014). The people of Venezuela celebrate a large variety of holidays. Some of the most important national holidays are New Year's Day, Caracazo Remembrance Day (1 and 2), Carnival, Declaration of Independence, Labor Day, Carabobo Battle Day, Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Day, Independence Day, Indigenous Resistance's Day, All Soul's Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve (Time and Date, 2014). The dress of Venezuelans has been influenced greatly by Spanish culture. Women wear long and decorative skirts, along with a blouse that hangs off of their shoulders. Sometimes a long dress with decoration is worn by women. The dresses usually have ruffles on them, and women often put flowers in their hair. Men wear white or off white "Liqui Liquis". This is a traditional costume for the men in Venezuela. The colors of clothing and fabrics are diversely colored in Venezuela (Nazir, 2014). Arts and Literature The role of art and literature in Venezuela is huge. It shapes the perspectives and opinions of the citizens in Venezuela. The main theme of art used to be religious, but in modern day Venezuela it is modernism. Some of the most well-known artists in Venezuela are Arturo Michelena and Armando Reveron. Arturo Michelena was very famous for his portraits and figure paintings (Roques.com, 2011). Some of his most famous pieces are "La Vara Rota", "El Panteon de los Heroes", and many more (Inspirational Artworks, 2010). The style of literature is primarily influenced by Spanish culture. One of the most famous writers in Venezuela was Andres Bello. Andres Bello wrote the "Civil Code of Chile", which took him 20 years to write. Although he died in 1865, his writing still influences modern day Latin America (Roques.com, 2011). Art and literature has been used in Venezuela throughout all of its history. It's been used on paintings, buildings, books, clothing, and it has significantly effected the perspective of the Venezuelan people. Art portrays what is important to Venezuelan culture, as well as what is popular. Literature brings out peoples' opinions and can eventually spark riots and protests. Art and literature is a powerful element of culture that will always be around. Religion In Venezuela, the primarily dominant religion around the country is Roman Catholic. Citizens who are not Roman Catholic are mostly Protestant or Atheist (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2014). Although it is written in the constitution that all people are to have religious freedom in Venezuela, there are still issues regarding religion. Citizens that practice Roman Catholicism have undergone attacks on their churches, problems with their ministries, and have even had government interference within their religion (USCCB, 2012). Religion is a major contributor to culture. It effects social organization by splitting people up into different religious groups. It even splits people into different division within the same religion. Religion can also determine what kind of customs and traditions people have. For example, people who practice Roman Catholicism go to church and have certain procedures that they must perform at church and in every day life. Religion can also effect the clothing that people wear and the food that people eat. Roman Catholics feast on certain occasions, then they have a fasting period in which they cannot eat specific foods (Hammond, 2010). Religion effects government very drastically. The government must be extremely careful when dealing with religion. The government of Venezuela has had many issues with the religious groups of their country, such as interfering with the Roman Catholics and not enforcing religious freedom laws. In 2011, acts of vandalism on religious sites, such as synagogues, churches, and mosques, were not prosecuted by Venezuela's government. The government's failure to enforce the law caused Venezuela to be put on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's list. Although, this is not the first time Venezuela has been placed on this list. It is the third time (Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs). This can give the government a bad reputation, which can eventually lead to public protests and violence. Lastly, religion effects the economy by setting limits and boundaries on the role of the government, meaning it can determine what laws the government passes, the kind of services they provide, and it can even prevent the government from domination by setting boundaries. Government Venezuela has a Federal Republic government. A Federal Republic has five branches of government: Executive, Judicial, Legislative, Electoral, and Citizen. The Executive branch is run by the President (Nicolás Maduro). The President is able to serve two terms if re-elected, with each term lasting six years. The Judicial branch has Magistrates that are elected for a 12 year term by the National Assembly. The Legislative branch consists of 165 members whom are elected by the citizens. They serve 5 year terms. Three seats are reserved for the people of Venezuela. The Electoral branch members are elected by the National Assembly and serve a seven-year term. The Electoral branch runs and monitors all elections. The Citizen branch is made up of an Attorney General, a Comptroller General, and the Defender of the People. It makes sure that citizens and government officials obey the laws. In Venezuela, there are two main political parties: the United Socialist Party and the Communist Party. (Venezuela Analysis Team). The relationship between the Venezuelan government and the citizens of Venezuela is fairly bad. There have been many protests towards Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela. Recently in 2014, citizens in Venezuela have protested against the crime epidemic. They have blocked streets in Caracas with common objects, set fire to trash, and thrown rocks and pebbles at the law officials. In retaliation to this, government law officers have spread tear gas, targeted the public with water cannons, and exploded petrol bombs (Gupta, 2014). The government of Venezuela has high levels of corruption. The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has tried to make a change to the Constitution that would allow him to be reelected as president unlimited times. Although the reform was not passed, he is still making efforts to become dictator of Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has three different levels of corruption. The first being grand corruption. An example of grand corruption is in 2000-2002, the military ran social programs that benefitted the managers of the program rather than the public. One program, called the Central Social Fund, gave a grant of nearly $500,000 to a wife of one of the managers. The second level of corruption is bureaucratic corruption. An example of bureaucratic corruption is in 2006, a scandal involving the Minister of the Interior or a magistrate. The Minister of the Interior accused Luis Velazquez Àlvaray, a magistrate, of taking funds for the public in order to build a Court. In retaliation to this, Luis Velazquez Àlvaray accused two Ministers of the Interior, the Vice President, and the National Assembly President of leading a gang that protected drug traffickers. Lastly, the third level of corruption is systemic corruption. An example of systemic corruption is drug trafficking. In the past 10 years, drugs from Colombia, South America have been getting into Venezuela. This is because there are no border controls, therefore, drug traffickers have no fear of being caught or arrested (Coronel, 2008). There have been a few major things happening in Venezuela recently. One of those events being the announcement by President Nicolas Maduro of the increased border restrictions in attempt to stop drug trafficking into Venezuela and Columbia. Drugs are smuggled into both Venezuela and Columbia, which causes some people not to have their basic needs, such as food. One of the restrictions they are enforcing is not allowing cars or trucks carrying any goods through the border at night. Another major event that has taken place is that Barack Obama, the President of the United States, signed a legislation to demand sanctions on government officials in Venezuela. In response to this, Nicolas Maduro rejected Obama's signing of the sanctions (Telesur, 2014). A third pressing issue is the significant decrease in oil prices. Just six months ago, barrels of oil cost nearly $100.00. Now, in December, barrels of oil have gone down about 40% and are now $57.53. This is decreasing the income of major oil companies in Venezuela, which causes there to be not enough foreign money to import goods to Venezuela (BBC News, 2014). Economy Venezuela has a mixed economy, which means it has characteristics of socialism and capitalism. Some of the main exports that Venezuela has are their natural resources, such as petroleum, bauxite, aluminum, minerals, chemicals, and agricultural products. Their exporting partners throughout the world are the United States, China, India, Netherlands Antilles, and Cuba. The U.S. and China receive the most exports from Venezuela; the U.S. buying 39.2% of their exports and China buying 14.3% of their exports. Venezuela receives large amounts of imports from countries around the world. Their imports are agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery/equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and iron/steel products. Venezuela's imports come from the U.S., Chine, Brazil, and Columbia. The role that Venezuela plays in global trade is huge. Venezuela has many of the largest petroleum reserves in the world. Venezuela also trades many of their natural resources, such as mineral, agricultural products, and aluminum. Since Venezuela has large amounts of oil, many countries depend on it for their oil exports, therefore, Venezuela is a major contributor to global trade. Venezuela is a fairly wealthy country because of the cost of petroleum, but many citizens in Venezuela are poor. This is because of government corruption. The government of Venezuela has "taken" money from the people and public funds, therefore, many citizens are in poverty. Another economic issue is the decrease of oil prices. Since oil is about 95% of Venezuela's exports and half of the government's income, it puts a strain on the economy (Flannery, 2014). Oil prices have gone down significantly since June. Instead of the $100.00 a barrel of oil used to be, a barrel is now down to $57.53. This can put a dent in what the country imports. Due to this decrease in price, Venezuela may not have enough money to import goods into Venezuela (BBC News, 2014). Since the U.S. is Venezuela's most import trade partner, they have maintained a close relationship since 1835. in recent years, the U.S. government has wanted to focus more on common interests, such as counternarcotics, counterterrorism, energy, and commerce, while the Venezuelan trade policies are the complete opposite (Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, 2013). |
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