Indigenous and Afro-Venezuelans Struggles

Venezuela as many other Latin America countries fell under the Spanish rule during the 16th century. Which eventually lead to slave trade occurring, bringing Africans to exploit the occupied land. The colonial power was also in charge of establishing a socio-racial classification, which distributed social power according to a caste system. Such caste system would rank the population according to the amount of Spanish blood they possessed, those with more would rank higher whereas those with less would rank lower. The power of the caste system extended to wealth, property, attire and relationships. Therefore, giving a clear advantage to those closer to the colonial power. Essentially, enacting systematic racism and marginalization of minorities causing long-term effects that have carried on to the 21th century.

On Venezuela today, there is a vast majority of population from European, Indigenous and African descent. Throughout time however, and as practiced by the caste system a European or Western lineage has been regarded as the ideal one. Such that Creole—which refers to European descendants— culture is sought after as a way of social ascension. Which affects the current Afro-Venezuelan and Indigenous population of Venezuela, as they are perceived in a lower standard. Due to this fact, these population are more vulnerable to situations such as racism.

Racism in Venezuela is not as notable as in Western nations, although it exists it is a difficult issue to fight against. This is mainly the situation, due to the fact that it is invisibilize and has gain a more normalized aspect. Nonetheless, there is clear evidence in the country of systematic racism taking place. For instance, most of the black population of the nation currently resides on cities margins, and locations where slave working occurred, reserving the center for the power elites or the Creole population.

In efforts to search for decolonization of the issue and reappropriation of Indigenous and Afro-Venezuela culture there has been festivals such as the Fiesta de San Juan, and the encouragement of cimarronaje which refers to the resistance of a dominant culture and the consciousness of being part of a marginalized group.

VENEZUELA

VENEZUELA: Oppression and Resistance

MARIA SANCHEZ

Work Cited

Venezuela - Spanish Colonial Life, countrystudies.us/venezuela/3.htm.

“Afro-Venezuelans - History and Cultural Relations.” Countries and Their Cultures, www.everyculture.com/South-America/Afro-Venezuelans-History-and-Cultural-Relations.html.

Camacho, Isabel. “Spanish Caste System.” Nuestra Verdad, Nuestra Verdad, 4 Oct. 2020, www.nuestraverdad.com/post/spanish-caste-system.

Venezuelanalysis.com, Cira Pascual Marquina –. “Afro-Venezuelan Culture and Resistance: A Conversation with Ines Perez-Wilke.” Venezuelanalysis.com, 29 Apr. 2021, venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14506.