Tatiana Magaña
Professor Friedman
Latin American Politics
7 December 2011
Women’s Struggles in a Socialist Venezuela Venezuela has overcome many obstacles, and triumphs as a country that always been full of oppression on the people. With years of oppression and marginalization, a new president in 1998 came into power, this President is Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez was able to win the presidency, perhaps because he has been viewed as a people’s man. Chavez has made it very clear that he is for socialism, and not for a neoliberal Venezuela, “Es el neoliberalismo el camino? Sí, el camino al Infierno. Ese es el camino al Infierno” - Hugo Chávez. Hugo Chavez has set out a plan for his socialist government, this plan has been designed to finally put an end to all the oppression the many lower class marginalized groups have faced over the decades. However, it is very evident that putting this plan into action has proved a lot more difficult than Chavez and his administration thought it would. For this reason, it is clear that for social justice, and the democratization of this country have been widely affected, and not for the good. As Chavez has changed the agenda, but in the view from social justice and democracy, he has lacked to really implement change for the better, and this is why we still see a high number of marginalized groups that are fighting constantly for more rights. Women have continued to fight in the name of social justice and democracy to pave a way for all the women that are oppressed. If we view Venezuela from the view of the plans put into place by Chavez, we see amazing proposals for a democratic and better country. However, the issue lies deeper, and that has led me to ask why women’s groups are still fighting, and perhaps more than before, for rights and more inclusion in society and the government as a whole? If we begin with the Presidency of Hugo Chavez, we can get a bit more background on why he has been such a prominent president and has changed the view of Venezuela for his term. Chavez relied heavily on a strategy he used to become president, and that is being a people’s man. He made it clear when he was running, that he was a man that was all about the people of Venezuela and that in fact, he too comes from that background. He made it a point to highlight that he was a man, “cafe con leche” and very much a “criollo.” He has reached out to many of the groups that have been oppressed, and really set forth that he was for social justice, and that he was really going to implement new structures and laws that were for these groups. One major group, is perhaps the women of Venezuela. Since women has always been put into typical gender roles, where they are used to being quiet, and where they do all the house work, while the man goes out into the cold world, and brings back the revenue for the family. However, these roles have been fought for by women, and even the simplest, which is respect for women. Hugo Chavez has made it clear that he is for women’s rights, and that he will really implement new plans for protection, and to get rid of the gender inequality in his country. "Sin la verdadera liberación de la mujer sería imposible la liberación plena de los pueblos, soy un convencido de que un auténtico socialista debe ser también un auténtico feminista" [Without the true liberation of women a full liberation of the people would be impossible. I am convinced that an authentic socialist also ought to be an authentic feminist.] Hugo Chávez. However, the problem is whether he is complying with this. Many women do not see Hugo Chavez really going forth with his promises as a president. It is clear that, Chavez has laid down the foundation, but has not been able to find a way to really implement the agendas. This has made many women angry and weary of his politics. Women all over the country continue to fight for inclusion in this country. They have begun to really show that this country, is clearly doing something wrong. What is astonishing regarding this issue, is the Venezuela has since been seen as one of the most gender equal countries in Latin America. “Some of the policies created that have restored women’s role in Venezuelan society include the creation of the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Bank of Development for Women (Banmujer), the Organic Law for Women’s Right to a Violence-Free Life, the National Institution of Women, and programs like Mission Madres del Barrio, which has offered Venezuelan women a more decent life.” (AVN 2011). As all of these new policies have been implemented and new organizations have been made in the name of women. It is easy to see this country from an international standpoint, and really praise all the achievements. However, we will not take the easy route, but rather dig deeper, as the bigger picture shows us that women are still unhappy with inclusion and are feeling that social justice in their name is weak. As Chavez used right’s for women, to really gain women’s votes at the time of his election, he really seemed promising. “Given the use of images of black and poor women in Chavez's television campaigns; his creation of programs such as Barrio Adentro and Mision Ribas related to concerns that affect women, such as health and education; and the general politicization of the population in this movement, it is not surprising that women from the barrios have become major protagonists in the current urban social movements in Venezuela.” (Fernandes 2007, 97). These have done a great deal for the women in Venezuela, as they have helped on many issues that they have been facing. These types of programs have also focused on giving back and providing more funds for the poor women in the county, as Chavez believes in a socialist Venezuela. “Chavez’s administration introduced a parallel social service infrastructure of misiones in 2003 which have incorporated large numbers of poor and working-class women as recipients, volunteers or employees; since 2001 the Women’s Bank has offered micro-loans for poor entrepreneurs.” (Friedman 2009, 419). He has made what looks like, amazing proposals for women and really has tried to get women involved. However, when looking at women’s participation within these organizations that he created, it is a bit questionable whether these are designed just for women because most of these organizations have shown that they are heavily male dominated, and run by men. More efforts are needed under these organizations because they have not put a stop to violence and discrimination on women. As many of these do deal with giving funding to mothers, and other poor women in the country, they exclude women from running these, and taking charge. “Amnesty International has reported that a woman dies of gender violence every ten days in Caracas and that in 2008, over 100 thousand complaints of domestic violence were reported to authorities. Local organizations inform that only 1 out of 9 women who are victimized by violence actually report it.” (Ellis 2011). Another area that really has frustrated many women, is that Venezuela has also invested a lot in advertisements that include a “Europeanized” Venezuelan women. “In fact, Venezuela’s beauty obsession has become so widespread that it has made the nation the largest per capita consumer of cosmetics in the world as an entire one-fifth of the average citizen’s income is spent on beauty products.” (Ellis 2011). This emphasis on a superficial beauty has really brought many young girls to think that they need to idolize a lighter complexion woman, and that they need to conform to a Western look, and that they must change to be beautiful. This seems sort of contradictive coming from a country where they pride themselves on the people. Especially seeing that Hugo Chavez himself, prides himself on being “cafe con leche” and not being a “white” president as many have seen in the past. This has also been a controversial topic, because so much money has been invested into this business. This has led to many young girls feeling that they need plastic surgery. This in turn actually causes more of a gap between the wealthy elite and poor people, because it is obvious that the wealthy are the only that would be able to afford this type of enhancement. As many women felt that they were being excluded from positions, and that they did not have an opportunity in the male dominated systems. Women were oppressed for such a long time, and felt that it would be completely different with the new presidency of Hugo Chavez. He definitely let women know that he was on their side, and that really won a lot of women over, but many did not expect for the organizations to be male dominated. This helped many women in a different way, however. Many women began to really voice the problems that they were facing in Venezuela. “Even though men hold leadership roles in the misiones, there is evidence that women’s participation in such opportunities can lead to their empowerment.” (Friedman 2009, 421). This has really brought many more women together, and those that would have never spoken up before, are now beginning to. “A specific governmental women’s institution, Inamujer, has sought to raise feminist consciousness through educational programmes and workshops with aims to provide democratisation within families, to strengthen women’s active role in the Venezuelan society and to reform gender-sensitive social security laws, ensuring that feminists are included in the legislative writing.” (Rantala 2009, 12). INAMUJER is one of these organizations that really wants to bring women together, but this organization may have an ineffective ending. “INAMUJER, which remains part of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, has an unclear fate, becoming yet another example of how state feminism is subject to the whims of executives.” (Friedman 2009, 422). This shows that many of the government run programs, have not been able to complete as much as the women have wanted and have fallen because of it. Many women have separated themselves from these typical organizations, to really create a foundation where they can have a voice. Women have begun to form separate groups, from those that are mass organizations, and aren’t doing enough. “Instead of forming either mass organizations or independent movements, barrio women in Venezuela work in the context of local community organizations, some of which have long histories.” (Fernandes 2007, 301). Barrio women are able to work together to help within their own communities, and to really display the struggles of their people. However, they also are at risk, and this is because of institutionalization of mass groups and incorporating other smaller ones into the bigger picture. Violence and social inequality against women, does continue throughout Venezuela. This is something that is not seen by many outside and that is because many plans, like the misiones, and laws have been put out. From an international standpoint, Venezuela has achieved a lot over the decade, and there has been much done for women. As some statistics some, it is that Venezuela is one of the most gender equal countries in Latin America. This is easy to show, since these organizations have been put into place, but even those that are run by women, have shown that they cannot succeed with what they set out to do. Violence against women, as well as, discrimination is very evident in the society. With actions to stop this, nothing has been fully implemented where it is being addressed completely. “However, despite high hopes and improved basic services, social inequality and violence have remained wide problems.” (Rantala 2009, 12). Many women are still faced with a large amount of violence inflicted on them. The reason that many are still struggling to fight the violence that they endure, while living in Venezuela, is because the plan that Chavez has set out, has not actually been implemented to the fullest. As Chavez did in fact create many opportunities for women and the new programs, “the social programmes have been guaranteed only by presidential decrees and can thus disappear.” (Rantala 2009, 13). This very same attitude Chavez has for the misiones, and programs, is one that is very common, and will be seen more often. “The Venezuela Supreme Court ruling from May 9th annulled sections of the Law on Violence against Women and Family, which impeded an aggressor from visiting the home or workplace of a victim, and allowed an aggressor to be held without warrant or “judicial authorization” for up to seventy-two hours.” (Fox 2006). The reason given was that, “these articles violated the presumption of innocence and the aggressor’s right to defense.” This really brought a lot of frustration and anger to the women of Venezuela, as they were told by Chavez that they would have their rights protected. This is very common of Chavez to do, as he has always laid down a plan, but has never done enough to actually make the steps and take the actions. He has also always made sure he was able to take away anything that he has implemented or planned. LGBT groups have also began to push for a more just country. Gay people have also been facing a lot of violence and really want to be included in the constitution, “Gay bashings are a big problem in Venezuela. “Out of all the violent bashings that occur and are reported, 5% are gay bashings.”” (Farrell and Evans 2006). These movements in Venezuela have taken extreme measures, and continue to write out bills, and protest all the way at the capital demanding, The network is also requesting the approval of an antidiscrimination law that punishes violations of human rights of people of gender diversity and eliminates, in all current legislation, all aspects of laws that deny, or limit, rights of people of diverse sexuality.” (Farrell and Evans 2006). Venezuela continues to be under Chavez’ rule, a socialist country. This is what he feels he must do in order to have a country where the poor have a voice, and have the ability to more resources, that were once only for the wealthy. In doing so Chavez has created many promises, organizations, and misiones to help fund and really give help to those in need. He has used his whit, and background to be the “people’s man” and many continue to fall for his charm. It is not so much a problem that he has chosen to implement new ways to help the people. but the problem lies deeper. The issue at hand is that he is not going about democratic means to enforce social justice. Instead he has continued to marginalize certain groups in the country, much like the women’s movements. Since many people have begun to feel the repercussions of the Chavez administration’s lack of attention and help, they are all standing up. Women have begun to really show that they must have a voice in society, and that they will continue to protest and fight for their rights. We can all hope to see a legitimate love for the feminist and women’s movements from Chavez, but unfortunately he has shown that he cannot complete a plan nor keep his promises.

References

AVN. 2011. “March for Respect and Equality for Gender Diversity Arrives at Venezuelan National Assembly.” July 11. http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6347 (September 27, 2011).

AVN. 2011. “Venezuela: Highest Gender Equality in Latin America.” CORREO DEL ORINOCO INTERNATIONAL, March 11. http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6057 (September 27, 2011).

Ellis, Edward. 2011. “Venezuela Celebrates Women’s Advances, but More Efforts Needed.” CORREO DEL ORINOCO INTERNATIONAL, March 11. http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6058 (September 27, 2011).

Evans, Rachel, and Maurice Farrell. 2006. “Venezuela’s Sexual Revolution Within the Revolution.” GLW, March 11. http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/1673 (September 27, 2011).

Fernandes, Sujatha. 2007. "Barrio Women and Popular Politics in Chávez's Venezuela." Latin American Politics & Society 49 (3) (Summer 2007): 97-127. http://0-search.ebscohost.com.ignacio.usfca.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=poh&AN=26916994&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Fox, Michael. 2006. “Venezuelan Women Protest Court Decision to Annul Section of Law on Violence Against Women.” venezuelanalysis.com, June 13. http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6057 (September 27, 2011).

Friedman, Elisabeth Jay. 2009. "Gender, Sexuality and the Latin American Left: Testing the Transformation." Third World Quarterly 30 (2) (03): 415-33. http://0-search.ebscohost.com.ignacio.usfca.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=poh&AN=36677868&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Rantala, Hanna K. 2009. "What Are the Gender Implications of the Bolivarian Revolution?Liberation, Equality and Gender in Present-Day Venezuela." POLIS Journal 2 (Winter 2009): 1-46. http://www.polis.leeds.ac.uk/assets/files/students/student-journal/ma-winter-09/katriina-rantala-winter-09.pdf