Annotated Bibliography Problem: Rapidly Increasing Rate of Inflation in Venezuela Reinhart, Carmen M., and Miguel Angel Santos. “From Financial Repression To External Distress: The Case Of Venezuela.” Emerging Markets Finance & Trade 52.2 (2016): 255-284.… More
How Happy are People in Venezuela?
Living in a rapidly changing society, we often get into a certain flow of something without realizing it. In my life, for example, I do almost the same routine every day of the week: I wake up around 7:30, take a shower, wash my face, brush my teeth, attend my classes, finish homework, watch Netflix, sleep, and then repeat it again the next day for the weekdays. On the weekends, I usually go out with friends to eat, travel, or just talk about our week. Rarely do I think about my personal happiness, let alone the happiness of the an entire nation! I was unaware that the United Nations created a World Happiness Report since 2012. It’s pretty cool that many countries are ranked on happiness based on different factors within the particular country, including Venezuela.
There are several factors in the study where the happiness in a particular country is calculated. These factors are the overall GDP, availability of social support, the average person’s life expectancy/ health, overall freedom, generosity (that is, to charities/ communities), the citizen’s perception(s) of government and/or business corruption, and whether or not a citizen feels happy or sad given by these factors. With this in mind, the rank that Venezuela received was happiness scale total of 6.810 in the world, making Venezuela the 23rd happiest place on the earth. Even after the global recession from 2005-2007, there was minimal change in happiness that affected the 2012-2014 happiness result, dropping its score by approximately 0.037 points on the happiness scale.
There are different reasons onto why Venezuela is one of the few South American countries that are rated around the top 20 (23 in this case)…
Venezuelans love Venezuela for a number of reasons: government health care, livable tropical climates, education, health/ food related works, various scenery, and oil deposits used for national and international trade. Venezuela is also a big tourist attraction, so the country gets a large profit from tourist visits. Despite these reasons, the overall happiness in Venezuela is slowly deteriorating due to a variety of reasons. President Maduro has created the Vice Ministry for the Supreme Social Happiness of the Venezuelan People. This new government position is aimed to help lower poverty rates, create community development programs, welfare programs for the poor, and focus on the advancement of happiness in Venezuela. At a glance, these policies for this new government position sounds really good and is another way the government can help aid its citizens increase their overall happiness. However, many citizens are very skeptical of this new Vice Ministry, as they are scared of the idea that the government is in control of a country’s entire happiness- fear that the program will fail and the happiness scale will decrease significantly. On top of that, the country’s government is facing accusations of drug trafficking exported by some of the First Lady’s (Cilia Flores) relatives into the US. The country has also been experiencing national food shortages…
I feel that the distinction between happiness/ joy and sadness/ anger in Venezuela is (at the moment) evenly split. There’s no doubt that the country’s citizens are happy in Venezuela because of the cheerful environment/cities, government programs, and sense of community. At the same time, however, Venezuela is facing many political and governmental problems that could be detrimental to the overall happiness in Venezuela.
Until Next Time!
-Alex C.
Sources: World Happiness Report 2014: http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WHR15.pdf Venezuela's Department of Happiness Criticized: http://www.npr.org/2014/01/06/260119015/venezuelas-department-of-happiness-criticized Drug Trafficking: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/12098427/Venezuelas-First-Lady-criticises-America-for-kidnapping-her-relatives-and-charging-them-with-trafficking.html The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/21/venezuela-protests-guide_n_4831785.html
Mouthwatering Venezuelan food
¡Muy Delicioso!
History and Influence
There’s no doubt that the food choices in Venezuela are very diverse. Many of their current foods today derived from European descent, particularly Spain, France, Italy, and even Portugal. Not only that, but the Americas (mainly Native Americans in North America), Caribbean islands, and West African cultures have really shaped the foods known to Venezuelans today. In this blog, I will discuss the diverse foods that make Venezuela unique from other countries.
Throughout my research, I have concluded that many Venezuelan meals mainly consist of corn products, wheat products, poultry, red meat, and pastas, while desserts mainly consist of eggs, wheat, and coconut. These food products are also seen from different parts of the Americas, such as Mexico or Columbia, and Europe, such as Spain or Italy. Again, this is because many Venezuelan foods are a combination of American and European influence.
Popular Main Dishes
There are many popular main dishes in Venezuela, however, I will only mention two dishes that really popped out for me. The first dish I chose is the Pabellón Criollo (left picture), which is a really simple, but flavorful, dish. This dish was inspired by Caribbean influence with a twist. The main components of the dish are rice and beans. The components that makes the dish unique are the shredded beef and beans made in a stew or broth. As a final touch, a plantain is added to add a sweet flavor and texture to the entire dish. Occasionally, a fried egg will also be added to the meal. This dish consists of many flavors, carbs, proteins, and sugars to get anyone throughout the day.
Another popular dish in Venezuela is the Cachapa (right picture), mainly served in Venezuela and Columbia. The Cachapa is usually made of corn (in addition to sugar, salt, and oil), but can also be made out of wheat. In relation to what we Americans eat today on a daily basis, the Carpacha is almost like a pancake, except much more thicker than the pancakes we are used to. To it all off, this pancake is folded to enclose an ingredient of your choice. Most of the time the pancake will consist of queso de mano (handmade cheese), chicharrón (fried pork), or even jam. As long as the ingredient tastes good with the cachapa, the possibilities are endless. These are usually sold by street vendors, making it a day to day product perfect for breakfast, brunch, early lunch, or a simple snack!
Heavenly Desserts
I really enjoyed searching up different Venezuelan desserts because I really love desserts, especially those with Spanish influence. As a Filipino, I grew up eating many Filipino desserts that were heavily influenced by Spanish desserts. Long story short, the Philippines was conquered by the Spanish around the early to mid 1500s. During this age, many of the Philippine customs were heavily influenced by Spanish different customs. Anyways, I really enjoy Spanish-related desserts and I hope that you do too!
The first dessert I will discuss is the Bestios de Coco (left), which is basically a simple cookie with coconut covering the outside of the cookie. Occasionally, there are small bits of chocolate chips added to the cookie (almost like a the Samoa Girl Scout cookie!). Some Venezuelans also call them “chocolate kisses,” do to their small size and shape.
A second dessert that I found interesting is the Bien Me Sabe (right), which means “it tastes good to me!” This dessert is a coconut layered cake mixed with cream and meringue. To put it in relation with what we eat today, it is similar to the Spanish Tres Leches cake, but with coconut and meringue. The cake is usually used for special occasions, such as birthday parties or Christmas parties. For the most part, they’re served chilled and are very moist and rich with flavor. This is a “must try” for tourists visiting Venezuela!
How to make Bestios de Coco
Here’s a simple and flavorful Venezuelan dessert you can make with your friends (copy and pasted from The Latin Kitchen by Carolyng Gomes)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 2/3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large egg yolks
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. In a large bowl combine coconut, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt. Whisk until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Melt butter and whisk into the coconut mixture. Lightly whisk egg yolks and add to dry coconut mixture.
- Using your hands, mix until a dough forms.
- Scoop, using a tablespoon, then press dough between palms and form balls.
- Place balls on prepared baking sheet and bake until cookies are golden and crisp on the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Transfer besitos to a cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.
- ENJOY!!!
Until Next Time!
¡Hasta Luego!
-Alex C.
Sources: Typical Venezuelan Food: http://www.southamerica.cl/Venezuela/Food.htm Pabellón Criollo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pabell%C3%B3n_criollo Cachapa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cachapa Bien Me Sabe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cachapa Bien Me Sabe (2): http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/Bien-Me-Sabe-Venezuelan-Coconut-Cream-Cake.htm Bestios de Coco: http://thelatinkitchen.com/r/recipe/besitos-de-coco
Breathtaking Venezuelan Clothing
¡Feliz Viernez!
Venezuela has always been known for their exquisite fashion choices, composed of various colors, sizes, and fabrics that are arranged for both men and women, boys and girls. Venezuelan fashion consists of an array of beautiful traditional clothing for various dancing to modern-day clothing used for everyday use. Today, I will discuss the wonderful fashion styles that make Venezuela unique.
Let’s first begin with the traditional clothing of Venezuela.
First of all, Venezuelan clothing was highly influenced by Spain, France, and several other countries/ cultures. This was during the Spanish conquest, years after Christopher Columbus’ accidental discovery of the Americas in 1492. Because of this age of conquest, many of Venezuela’s traditional clothing closely resembles those of Spanish traditional clothing. This can be seen from the pictures of Spanish and Venezuelan traditional clothing depicted below. The two dresses are, for the most part, similar. They are both long, contain frills, and appear to be custom made. Of course, there is an obvious difference between the Spanish Flamenco dress (left) and the one of the traditional clothing of Venezuela (right). But, in general, many immigrants/ Spanish conquerors have greatly influenced traditional clothing of Venezuela.
Now, here’s a basic rundown of a traditional outfit of Venezuela.
There are gender-specific clothing in traditional Venezuelan outfits. According to an article by Melanie Radzicki McManus, she states that females’ “traditional outfits consist of long dresses with full, flowing skirts” that usually have “floral print” all from “Spanish and Caribbean influence.” Like the Venezuelan outfit above, female dresses usually have “ruffles, and women usually put flowers in their hair.” As previously mentioned, these traditional types of clothing were heavily influenced from the Spanish culture during the Spanish conquest of the Americas. On the other hand, males would “wear white, beige, cream, or ecru coloured ‘the Liqui Liqui’ made of linen or cotton” according to another article by The Lovely Planet. These were the different outfits that were heavily influenced by Spanish and Caribbean culture.
Here’s an example of traditional Venezuelan clothing for Men and Women during the traditional dance: “Joropo”
(Video Starts at 1:17)
Before these different forms of European and Caribbean influence, however, tribal women wore different types of clothing. These women often would “favor shorter skirts, beads, and cropped tops. Men would have a variety of campesino attire.
It was pretty challenging for me to find modern-day attire for contemporary Venezuela (especially since majority of their day-to-day clothing are of Western culture), however I have found a couple of blogs that help give a taste of contemporary clothing for kids, preteens, teenagers, and young adults in Venezuela.
For males, I have found that their clothing are compose of an overall dark color, contrasted by a bright color. For example, the picture below shows a man wearing dark clothing and as well as a bold orange to exaggerate the look and make him look different (Picture below). This would be for daily attire, such as going to school, going shopping, and/or casually going to the city with friends. This is just one of the popular (casual) styles in Venezuela for men.
For contemporary Venezuelan females, their daily outfits are usually simple types of clothing with their own personal twist/flare. Since Venezuela is in located near the South American tropics, most of their clothing is light and very short. From the blogger, María Carolina Chan, her outfits are usually bright,short, and simple. There are usually accent colors that give variation to her clothing (like black on white or white on black… as shown below). These are the types of clothing and styles Venezuelans wear in today’s world…
Well, that’s all for now!
¡Hasta Luego!
-Alex C.
Sources:
Spanish Colonization of America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas
Traditional Wear: http://www.thelovelyplanet.net/traditional-dress-of-venezuela-not-complicated-but-decorated/
Traditional Wear (Melanie Radzicki McManus): http://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/national-traditions/venezuelan-tradition2.htm
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg_mTS8bd7o
Camera Old Style Blog: http://cameraoldstyle.blogspot.com/2015/11/sporty-style.html
Very Lady Like Blog: http://veryladylike.com/falling-for-fall/
Catholicism in Venezuela
¡HOLA!
The most major, and influential, religion in Venezuela is Catholicism. According to the CIA World Fact Book, approximately 96% of Venezuelans practice Catholicism. Over the years, Catholic Venezuelans have practiced both traditional and contemporary forms of the religion. This includes families attending mass on Sundays to attending a Christmas mass with roller skates. Although Catholicism has influenced Venezuelans for generations, it was introduced among them many, many years ago.
This all began about one year after Christopher Columbus came to America. Around 1493, the Catholic church missionaries traveled to Central and South American countries, such as Venezuela, to spread the Catholic faith. These missionaries consisted of Franciscans (this group was prominent in Venezuela), Dominicans, Augustinians, and Jesuits. This went on for several years, with the help of the Southern American government. At the time, regions (consisting of areas near Venezuela and Brazil) were colonized under the control of the Spanish and Portuguese. Under their control, the governments aided the spread of Catholicism throughout the land and converted many people. This aid remained until the late 1700s, when the Spanish and Portuguese governments saw the Jesuit’s growing power as a threat. The government attempted to overrule the Jesuits, but it backfired as people became rioting for the Catholic church since this was their main religious belief. The church’s rule continued to influence many Southern American countries until the 20th century, where the South American governments were finally able to take full control of their regions.
In modern-day Venezuela, there are several traditions that are both similar and different from global Catholic traditions. A similar global tradition Venezuela practices is Madi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” the day before the 40 day Lenten season. This is a time where Catholics eat a lot of meats, candies, and other fattening foods before fasting for Lent. Going to a Catholic school from 1st to 8th grade, I personally remember many Madi Gras festivities that happened every year. My school would introduce several popular cultural foods and conduct pot lucks to celebrate before entering the fasting, Lenten season. A country tradition only Venezuelans (for the most part), specifically those from Caracas, roller skate to Christmas masses. Christmas in Venezuela does not begin on Christmas day, but instead on December 16. Starting on December 16, Catholic Venezuelans attend early masses every morning until December 24, a practice called “Misas de Aguinaldo.” This tradition is so sacred that citizens light firecrackers and ring bells to wake people up to attend mass. During this time, almost everyone is in a good mood while roller skating to church (I mean, who wouldn’t love to roller skate with family and friends in general), that’s something you don’t see everyday. On Christmas Eve, the final day of “Misas de Aguinaldo,” many Catholic Venezuelans consider this to be a very sacred day (called “Nochebuena”) where families attend a midnight mass, “Misa de Gallo,” and then attend a large feast afterwards. This includes special holiday foods such as hallacas, pan de jamón, and dulce de lechoza. In addition to these Christmas festivities, many Catholic Venezuelans have Christmas trees and a classic Nativity Scene (a “nacimiento”).
It was very interesting researching these Catholic topics about Venezuela. As a Catholic, I wasn’t aware of these really fun religious activities Venezuelans practice, such as roller skating to Christmas. I would be extremely excited if I had the opportunity to roller skate to church. This has shown me how many cultural differences different regions of the world practice.
Until next time!
¡Hasta Luego!
-Alex
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Sources
History of Venezuelan Catholicism: https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10541.24.154.0/religion/roman-catholicism/a-brief-history-of-catholicism-in-latin-america
History of Venezuela: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15327a.htm
General Facts: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ve.html
Facts About Religion: http://www.country-data.com/frd/cs/vetoc.html
Holiday Facts: http://www.hoteltravel.com/venezuela/guides/festivals.htm
Holiday Traditions: http://www.worldholidaytraditions.com/countries/venezuela.aspx
Christmas Traditions: http://www.latinpost.com/articles/4882/20131217/christmas-latin-christmas-caracas-venezuela-venezuela-misas-de-aguinaldo-roller-skating-on-christmas.htm
The Zika Virus Kills Three in Venezuela
¡Buenas Noches!
As many of you already know, the Zika virus is becoming a major epidemic in many South American, African, and Southeast Asian countries since January 22, 2016. Recently, in Venezuela, there has been a recent outbreak of the Zika virus, resulting in 319 cases, 4,700 suspected cases, and three deaths as of Thursday, February 11. But before I dive into this topic, let me first discuss what this Zika virus is.
The Zika virus is believed to have emerge from the Zika forest in Uganda after scientists found rhesus monkeys with sylvatic yellow fever in 1947. About 5 years later, the first person in Uganda was reported to have a newly discovered disease, from Zika virus, in 1952. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Zika virus spreads onto humans through Aedes species mosquitoes that are infected with the virus. A person infected with the virus will begin to feel symptoms within 2-5 days that include, but not limited to, fever, rashes, joint pains, red/irritated eyes, malaise, and headaches. Although a person will feel these symptoms within 2-5 days, only 1 in 5 infected people actually feel these symptoms. The rest do not feel any pains at all. Since the bigest recent outbreak in January 2016, scientists noticed that the virus is highly correlated to causing Guillain-Barré Syndrome and microcephaly. In a nutshell, the Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a disease that causes a person’s immune system to mistaken nerve cells as pathogens, thus destroying them. Microcephaly is a disorder where newborn children have underdeveloped heads and brains. The largest outbreaks of the Zika virus, in recent years, have been 2013 and 2015.
More Quick Facts about the Zika Virus According to BBC News
The Zika virus has managed to travel from the African country of Uganda to the South American country of Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela stated that there have been 319 cases of the Zika virus in Venezuela, and the Venezuelan Health Minister, Luisana Melo, found that about 4,700 Venezuelan citizens have been suspected of having the virus, and 3 dead as of yesterday. Currently, there are health workers in populated areas of Venezuela attempting to eradicate the the mosquitoes through fumigation.
There has been a recent controversy between Venezuelan doctors and the Venezuelan Ministry of Health. An independent organization in Venezuela believes that the Venezuelan Ministry of Health’s report was inaccurate, stating that “a rise in cases of acute fever in the past six months…could correspond to 400,000 cases of Zika,” instead of the 4,700 suspects reported by the government. Former Venezuelan Health Minister and current worker for the Network to Defend National Epidemiology, Jose Oletta, is concerned about the Venezuelan Ministry of Health discontinuing the publication of statistics on the Venezuelan epidemic diseases, such as the Zika virus. He explains that the Venezuelan health system is weak and, without epidemic statistics, makes it harder for doctors and the public to be aware of how big the outbreak really is. There were no comments from the health ministry on this report.
In my opinion, I think that the Venezuelan Ministry of Health is making a huge mistake for not posting statistics about epidemic diseases in Venezuela. I believe that if they post accurate statistics about epidemic diseases, both doctors and the public will have a better idea of what they are facing. I believe Brazil, another South American country facing the Zika Virus, is heading in the right path for control over the Zika virus. Brazil has planned a “mega operation” against the virus. They plan to destroy “potential mosquito breeding sites” and to “educate the public about its role in combating the spread of disease.” I feel that this is an excellent idea to implicate because it not only helps eradicate the source of the virus (the mosquitoes), but also helps their citizens control and prevent mosquito bites. I also agree with their tactics, because this is not the first time they’ve dealt with the virus. It was stated in The Guardian that “in 1958, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) declared Brazil free of the Aedes aegyptic mosquito” using similar techniques. Brazil’s only downfall of this technique was the rioting aftermath, rioting for the mass killings of the mosquitoes. However, I believe that the government made a good decision because they were able to kill off the source and prevent infection for a couple of years. Hopefully the Venezuelan government will at least inform their people, just like the Brazilian government, about where they stand with the Zika outbreak.
¡Hasta Luego!
-Alex C.
Here’s a little more information about the Zika Virus with Hank Green
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Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/zika/12153346/Zika-virus-three-die-in-Venezuela.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/02/03/world/americas/ap-zika-the-latest.html?_r=0
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/27/venezuela-doctors-public-statistics-zika-virus-epidemic-fears
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/11/zika-virus-brazil-mosquito-species-combat-threat
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/disease-qa.html
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/zika/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/02/health/zika-forest-viral-birthplace/
Welcome to Venezuela!
¡Bienvenido!
Hello, and welcome to my blog all about Venezuela!
I’m going to go ahead and say that this country was not my first choice, nor was it my second choice. The country, Venezuela, was my third choice. However, I am glad I will conduct research about Venezuela because of a country project I had in sixth grade. My project, at the time, was to pretend to be a tourist researching about our assigned country (Venezuela). This was a year long project, which was presented at the end of the school year, a”cultural assembly,” for the whole school to see.
I remember how difficult, yet entertaining, it was to research Venezuela. We started off by making a list of various facts about our country (like a few below) as well as creating our own personalized suitcase using a pizza box covered in construction paper. In these suitcases, we would placed physical objects from our assigned country based on different tasks from our teacher. My class also got a chance to write to our country’s embassy based in Washington DC. Surprisingly, I was lucky to receive a letter back from the Venezuelan embassy. The embassy sent me brochures, fake money prints, a personalized letter, and a huge map of the country. I was thrilled because I thought the embassy wouldn’t send anything. Towards the end of the year, my teacher arranged the date for our “cultural assembly,” where we displayed our country projects in our school gym. This went on for about two to three days, we presented to every class in the school. I remember making my presentation board and creating a PowerPoint presentation on my laptop that showed several famous areas in Venezuela, such as the relaxing Angel Falls to the busy streets of Caracas. I learned a lot from this project and was lucky to have the chance to observe another culture at a young age.
Although I have learned a lot about Venezuela in sixth grade, I plan to learn much more as the blog topics progress. Not only that, but it’s been over six years since I looked back at my sixth grade country project, so I really don’t remember a lot about Venezuela. I hope to learn a lot more about Venezuela as I post on this blog, observing a different culture from afar.
Here are a few facts about Venezuela~
Location: Northern tip of South America. North of Brazil, east of Columbia, and south of the Caribbean Sea.
Capital: Caracas
Official Language: Spanish
Recognized Languages: Various indigenous dialects
Ethnic Groups: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, and indigenous people
Literacy Rates: 96.3% of citizens aged 15 and up are literate.
Major Religion: Roman Catholic (96% of population)
Recognized Religions: Protestant (2% of population), other (2% of population)
Type of Government: Federal Republic
Geographical Area:
- Climate: Tropical (hot, humid). More prominent in highlands
- Terrain: Venezuela contains a variety of terrains — The Andes Mountains, Maracaibo Lowlands, central plains (llanos), and Guiana Highlands
- Elevation extremes:
- Lowest Point: Caribbean Sea – 0 m
- Highest Point: Pico Bolivar – 5,007 m
- Natural Resources: Petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, diamond
Population: (As of July 2015) Approximately 29,275,460
GDP: (As of 2014) Approximately $538.922 Billion || $17,694 per capita
Here’s a video with more fun facts about Venezuela!
I hope that you enjoyed this blog entry and hope to see you again soon. Until then…
¡Hasta Luego!
-Alex C.
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Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ve.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK9aMXX5neM
~A Taste of Venezuela~ 