VENEZUELA: Famous Soap Opera Reflects Racism

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Aug 14 1996 (IPS) - The government of Venezuela denied there were racial divisions in the nation, only to be told by a member of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Prejudice that one of the nation’s most famous soap operas proves otherwise.

The Venezuelan embassy official, Naudy Suarez Figueroa, told the UN that mestizos formed the bulk of the population, and that “a sort of racial ‘milky coffee’ is predominant.”

However, in Bulgaria, the population was captivated by the beauty of the protagonist of the 149-episode serial “Casandra,” the actress Coraima Torres, said Bulgarian expert and committee member Ivan Garvalov.

“The actress is certainly beautiful, but she hasn’t so much as a grain of coffee, she’s pure milk,” he said.

Though the soap operas are fiction, he said, the reference to “Casandra” is justified as it reflects “a panorama of the Venezuela of today, not just Caracas, but many other places.”

The series presents the white sectors “as the cream of society and their relation with the gypsies, who are the victims of racial discrimination,” said Garvalov.

The Venezuelan government presented a report on the measures it is applying to fulfill the UN Convention against Racial Discrimination, wherein it admitted that discrimination might exist, but that there were no legally imposed barriers.

However, Regis de Gouttes noted that the Venezuelan legal code did not include any type of penalty for racist acts, except a ban on propaganda or ideological organisations based on concepts of race.

The committee member in charge of the Venezuelan report, Ecuadoran expert Luis Valencia Rodriguez, said the legal system did not offer compensation to the victims of racial discrimination either.

Valencia cited a report prepared for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which recognises equal treatment for both local and foreign workers on recruitment.

On the other hand, the same document mentions that foreign workers are received with “certain sentiments of xenophobia, common to other receptor societies during periods of economic crisis and unemployment.”

He said work opportunities in Venezuela habitually attracted people from other Andean nations, especially Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

The population survey of 1981, said Valencia, indicated there were 1.075 million foreign born people. At present the total national population is above 20 million people.

One of the main criticisms of the Venezuelan document was the government reticence to present a breakdown of the population according to ethnic group.

Valencia said reports in the US Department of State said there were 315,000 indigenous people from 25 different ethnic groups living in Venezuela in 1995.

De Gouttes read out declarations from the National Indigenous Council of Venezuela which complained of the vast amount of discrimination which continues to be suffered by the nation’s indigenous populations.

He said they had been discriminated against in the administration of justice, in health services, in education and teaching. He also said the death rate was disproportionately high amongst the native groups.

Valencia also mentioned the internationally notorious cases, like the incursion of gunmen paid by landowners in the state of Zulia, or the invasion of Brazilian gold miners who round up the Yanomami tribes, as cited in reports from Amnesty International.

The Nigerian representative, Hamzat Ahmadu asked why black Venezuelans are only ever heard of as footballers or baseball players, or in the boxing ring, adding that black faces were not seen in the army, the police, or the diplomatic service.

Suarez Figueroa accepted that until 1958 “dark skinned pupils were practically absent” from the Venezuelan military academies.

Also “there were no black bishops” in the Church heirarchy in a mainly Catholic nation until the nineties.

The 18-member committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will be looking at studies presented by 26 nations before sessions end on Aug. 23.