Figure 1.--. |
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Venezuela and Colombia are the two most northerly South Amerivan countries. The country is divided into several areas. There is a narrow coastal strip. Inland there is a mountneous or hilly area with a great deal of agricultural, well watered land. South of this is the llanos are flat plsain drained by the Orionono River, one of South America's great rivers. In the extreme south and the east there is Amazonian jungle. Venezuela and Colombia were the first South American areas reached by the Spanish, the primary motivation was slave raiding. The Native American peoples were largely wiped out, just as in Caribbean. The only survivors fled inlasnd to rempte Amazonian areas. Here a small numbers of Native Americans still live today. Africans were brought in as slaves to provide the work force. This ocurred in the early colonial period. As a result, Native Americans have played only a minor role in Venezuelan history. Modern Venezuelans are a mixture of Native Americans, Spanish colonists and African slaves. The country is predominately Catholic with a Protestant minority. There is also a small Jewish community with President Chavez has targeted. The country's economy in the 20th century has been dominated by the oil industry. his brought great wealth which was not very well distributed. President Chavez is seeking to build a socialist and is leveling out incomes, but as in Cuba the primary impact has been to generally reduce the overall standard of living. Venezelan boys' clothes once varied substantially by class. As a result of the oil income, many middle-class families were affluent and able to afford stylish Western clothing.
The small Europeanm elite wore clothes influenced by European countries. Wealthy boys might wear styles like Eton suits. Poor boys in the country wore more localy developed styles--simple garments more suited to the tropical climate. Since the 1950s American casual styles have become increasingly important. While boys from wealthy have much more extensive wardrobes, there is now less difference in the styles that they wear. Ouur infoirmnation on Venezuela is very limited. We do have a Christmas page. Hopefully, Venezuelan readers will provide usmore information about their country.
Venezuela and Colombia are the two most northerly South Amerivan countries. The country is divided into several areas. There is a narrow coastal strip. Inland there is a mountneous or centel highlands hilly area with a great deal of agricultural, well watered land. This is in fact the tail of the Andes and Venezuelan is sometimes described as an Andean country, but culturally the country seems more Caribbean. South of the mountains or central highlands is the llanos are flat plsain drained by the Orionono River, one of South America's great rivers. In the extreme south and the east there is Amazonian jungle.
Venezuela was populated by many different Native American groups. There were three main groups: the Carib, Arawak, and the Chibcha.Experts now differ on the pre-Conuest population and the level of cultutre. Christopher Columbus was the first European to see Venezuela which he encountered on his Third Voyage (1498). He landed on the Paria Peninsula in western Venezuela. He also explored the Orionoco Delta in eastern Venezuela. He concluded that he had reached more than another Caribbean island, but still did not believe he had reached Asia. Venezuela proved to be a backwater of the Spanish colonial Empire. The Spanish did not find the gold and silver that made Mexico and Peru so important. Administratively it was part of Nuevo Granada. For three centuries in languished within the Spanish colonial empire. It proved to be a hot bed of the independence movement, it part because Simon Bolívar was born there. Despite repeated stbacks he the independence movement in the north. In a famed march across the Andes, he achieved his first success, liberating Colombia (1819). This was followed by Vnezuela (1821), and Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (1825). Bolívar's dream was a united Gran Colombia, but this could not withstand regional differences. Gran Colombia split up into modern Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The independent history of Venezuela was not a tranquil one. Venezuela was racked with civil strife, wars, dictatorships, and economic mismanagement. raged in the country well into the next century. Though some dictators sought real reform, most milked their positions for personal gain. The illdefined border resulted in a serious proble with Britain over the border ith British Guiana (modern Guyana) (1840s). That dispute is still not fully resolved. The discoveryof oil in the Gulf of Maricaibo provided an important new resource (early 20th century). The country continued to be plagued with dictators. The oil wealth went primarily to the ruling oligarchy. Romulo Betancourt led a popular revolt ushering in anew concern with democracy expressed within a new constitution (1947). Venezuela held its first real democratic election--the respected novelist Romulo Gallegos. He did not, however, serve out his term. Another in a long-line of dictators seized power--Perez Jimenez. Democracy was slowly taking route. Venezueal achieved its first non-violent presidential succession (1963). The rise in oil prices during the 1970s greatly increased oil revenue. While democratic governments used the oil revenue better than the dictators, Venezuela did not develop a vibant econonomy. The county was increasingly dependent on oil. Whatever the price of oil, oil exports alone can not provide a decent life for all Venezuelans. And the country's poor received little benefit from the oil-based econoy. The drop in oil prices (late-1980s) hit Venezuela hard setting off domestic turbulence. Riots in Caracas were put down vilontely. Two attempted coups occurred (1992). One of the coup instigators, Col Hugo Chavez, was later to win election as president running a populist campaign. He is turing Venezuela a Socialist state and is intent on making himself Venezuela's permanent president.
Modern Venezuelans are a mixture of Native Americans, Spanish colonists and African slaves. Most of the European colonists were of course Spanish because Venezuela was a Spanish colony fir three centuries. There were small numbers of other Europeans that settled in Venezuela. Unlike the other Andean countries, Native Americans are a very small part of the Venezuelan population. There was limited intermarriage before the Native American population collapsed (16th century). The Native Amerivans not in contact with the Spanish because they lived in remote Amazonian areas survived. Their numbers may have been augmented by Native Americans fleeing the Spanish. A small numbers of Native Americans still live in remote areas today.
Many of the slaves did not come directly from Africa, but from primarily from the Caribbean islands. They were, however, a more limited portion of the population than on many islands. And as with the Native Americans, relations accross racial groups occurred. Blacks are concentrated in coastal areas. They were not imported in the same numbers as the Caribbean islands, in part plantation sugar culture was not as important as on the Caribbean islands.
We have just begun to collect information on boys' activities. Of course until fairly recently, most boys worked, either on farms or in the city. This began to chznge only in the 1920s when the oil money started flowing and Venezuela began to build a major public school system. Today the the primary children's activity is school. Sport is very popular in Venezuela. The most popular sport is football (soccer). As elsewhere in the Caribbean, baseball is also popular. The country is predominately Catholic with a Protestant minority. There is also a small Jewish community with President Chavez has targeted. We do have a Christmas page. Some boys participated in youth groups, primarily the Scouts. The YMCA operated summer camps.
The country's economy in the 20th century has been dominated by the oil industry. his brought great wealth which was not very well distributed. President Chavez is seeking to build a socialist and is leveling out incomes, but as in Cuba the primary impact has been to generally reduce the overall standard of living. Venezelan boys' clothes once varied substantially by class. As a result of the oil income, many middle-class families were affluent and able to afford stylish Western clothing.
The small Europeanm elite wore clothes influenced by European countries. Wealthy boys might wear styles like Eton suits. Poor boys in the country wore more localy developed styles--simple garments more suited to the tropical climate. Since the 1950s American casual styles have become increasingly important. While boys from wealthy have much more extensive wardrobes, there is now less difference in the styles that they wear. Our infoirmnation on Venezuela is very limited.
We do not know much about Venezuelan movies or television. We know that President Chavez hasc steadily seized control of media outlets to control the flow of information. We note that River Phoenix spent his early years in Venezuela with his parents. They gave up psychedelic drugs to join a born again Christian group, the Children of God. His parents took the name Phoenix and gave their children names right out of the whole earth catalog: Rainbow, Leaf, Liberty, and Summer. They were strict vegetarians, shunning all meats and dairy products. River started playing the guitar at 5 and he and his sisters would serenade tourists with religious songs to make a little money. They lived on a beach in a hut and contended with rats and flying cockroaches. He was very religious and memorized long Bible passages. The family returned from Venezuela in 1977.
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