Venezuelan Driver Milka Duno Accelerates with Ease

Venezuelan race car driver Milka Duno is burning up the ovals. A sophomore competitor in the IndyCar series, she is currently ranked 26th among 41 drivers, and appears to be progressing fast. Milka is one of three women set to compete in the Indy 500 this Memorial Day weekend.

Believe it or not, Milka has also made an impression in Hollywood. She graced the red carpet last Saturday at the premiere of the new movie Speed Racer, in which she plays the role of the eccentric Russian driver Kellie “Gearbox” Kalinkov.

Duno’s own story is amazing — she is a trained Naval Engineer and holds four master’s degrees. She first hopped in a race car only a decade ago, and just for fun.

Now that we’ve got your motor running, check out Milka’s career stats and read about her record-setting successes. And keep an eye out for her children’s book, Go, Milka, Go!

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International Dance Day has Venezuela Spinning

Today, April 29th, events are taking place in Venezuela to celebrate International Dance Day. This particular art form holds a special place in the hearts of Venezuelan people, who seldom turn down a chance to grab a partner and show off their steps.

Ballet performances are being featured at the massive Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas. It was built in the 1970s and since then has housed Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the group recently brought to world attention by conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The theater gets its name from one of Venezuela’s most famous female musicians, Teresa Carreño, a gifted classical pianist and composer who began at an early age by tickling the ivories at the White House of Abraham Lincoln when she was only ten.

Here are some highlights from ballet performances at the Teresa Carreño Theater:

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New Talent for the Tigers: Armando Galarraga

Have you heard about Armando Galarraga yet? If not, you were bound to soon. He is the newest pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and one of Venezuela’s youngest and most promising new recruits in Major League Baseball.

Galarraga’s fastball has helped deliver several victories for the Tigers already this season. Off the field, he is known for performing card tricks in the clubhouse. One team mate called it “David Blane stuff.” Read about the pitcher and his many talents today in the Detroit Free Press.

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Venezuela Back in the Saddle on Colombia Peace Effort

Venezuela continues to be a source of hope for people around the world who are pushing for peace in Colombia. Two successful hostage releases were brokered this year by President Chavez, and even though that process was derailed, the country continues to advocate for a negotiated settlement to the conflict.

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico (pictured at right, on horseback) is in Venezuela today to discuss the case of three U.S. defense contractors held captive in Colombia since 2002. The men are Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves, and Thomas Howes.

Governor Richardson told reporters in Caracas, “I think President Chavez can help and can play a role in this issue.” He added that he had been asked by the families of the hostages to intervene on their behalf.

To read related news articles, click here and here.

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Venezuela Promotes Reading

Venezuela celebrated World Book Day last Wednesday, April 23rd. Events in Caracas included readings of poems by Miguel Otero Silva (1908-1985) and a lecture by one of Venezuela’s most famous living poets, Ramón Palomares.

Now, the cultural center funded by the state oil company PDVSA is hosting a book fair at which hundreds of titles ranging from popular fiction to educational texts will be available to the public at low costs.

The idea behind the book fair is to democratize access to cultural production in Venezuela. Article 98 of the constitution reads: “Cultural creation is free. This freedom includes the right to invest in, produce and disseminate creative, scientific, technical and humanistic work.”

Several state programs have been created in Venezuela to promote reading and education, such as the literacy program Mision Robinson and the book publisher El Perro y la Rana. Last year, a university in Merida began sending mobile libraries out to rural communities using mules! Read a BBC article here.

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Venezuela’s Blooming Beauties: Orchids

We brought you Venezuela’s national bird. We brought you its best-known literary traditions. And also some other, lesser known traditions. Now, it’s time to find out about the national flower.

The Cattleya Orchid, also known as the “Easter Orchid” and “Flor de Mayo,” blooms during the months of April and May. Its spiritual significance makes it a feature of parades during Semana Santa, the week before Easter.

This showy orchid can be white, pink, purple, red or practically any color in between. It was declared Venezuela’s national flower in 1951, and can still be seen in the wild in many parts of the country, particularly in the coastal mountain range and on the slopes of the Venezuelan Andes.

Of course, the flower is also honored in popular culture in Venezuela: to listen to a folk song by composer Otilio Galíndez called “Flor de Mayo,” click here.

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Venezuela and ALBA Create Food Security Fund

With concerns about global food security mounting, a group of Latin American leaders including Venezuela’s President Chavez met to create a special fund that would offset future crises.

The food security fund, which is under the auspices of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, begins with $100 million. The investment will be used to guard against shortages of basic foods in member countries Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Cuba.

The ALBA agreement comes just in time; yesterday, the UN World Food Program said that the recent rise in food prices could cause more than 100 million people to suffer from hunger. To read more, click here and here.

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Venezuela: Second-Largest Supplier of Home Runs

Most people know that Venezuela is the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the U.S. But you may not be aware that it has also become the second-largest supplier of baseball talent.

In a year when foreign-born players in Major League Baseball declined overall, Venezuela was the only country to send a more heavy hitters than ever to the U.S.

An L.A. Times blog fills us in: Venezuelan participants in the MLB rose from 50 players to 52 players in 2008. The Detroit Tigers have claimed the, er, lion’s share of the Venezuelan sluggers: pitcher Armando Galarraga, infielders Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillén, and star outfielder Magglio Ordóñez.

Keep an eye on those Tigers, and don’t forget Venezuela’s Johan Santana of the New York Mets, currently the highest-paid pitcher in the major leagues.

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Venezuela Celebrates Earth Day

April 22nd is Earth Day, and Venezuela is gearing up for an entire week of events aimed at honoring the planet and helping to inspire environmental conservation.

In Caracas, “Earth Day Week” begins today with a gathering of university students at the city’s Botanical Garden. The students will voice ideas for saving energy and reducing waste and contamination. The Metropolitan University in Caracas will host various screenings of Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, followed by open discussions.

Venezuelans are taking their concern for the environment to Washington, too; the embassy in the U.S. capital has planned several events in conjunction with environmentalists from all over Latin America. Their work helps us take a step back and consider our impact on the planet.

Want to ‘take a step back’ yourself? The picture above shows Venezuela’s Gulf of Maracaibo as seen from space. Click here for more.

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Venezuelan Music Program ‘El Sistema’ on 60 Minutes

A youth music education program in Venezuela known as “El Sistema” (“the system”) was featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes yesterday. The program has taught hundreds of thousands of youngsters — starting at 2 years of age! — in poor areas of Venezuela to play classical music.

Watch the 60 Minutes broadcast.

The government-funded “Sistema” was started in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu. It has produced stars such as the maverick 27 year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel (known to 60 Minutes viewers as “Gustavo the Great”). Dudamel made his mark conducting the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, and has been chosen to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in 2009.

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Venezuela Helping Haiti

Venezuela is sending more humanitarian aid to Haiti after food riots broke out last week in that country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. President Chavez dispatched a fleet of airplanes yesterday carrying 364 tons of food.

Last year, Venezuela created $20 million development assistance fund for Haiti aimed at investing in education, health care, housing and other basic necessities.

The cost of basic foods has risen across the globe, many countries are affected. Venezuela, a net importer of foodstuffs, also feeling the rise in prices of goods like rice and wheat. Bloomberg reports that President Chavez had warned last year that the shrinking availability of land for food production could spark “global unrest.”

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Venezuelan Music Tip: Reggae Roundup

In musical circles, Venezuela was once known for the llanera ballads of its rural plains. But in today’s urbanized 21st century Venezuela, you are more likely to hear reggae and ska.

These pop sounds are influenced by rock and Caribbean rhythms, and boast lyrics that explore themes relevant to today’s youth: love, partying, politics, racial issues, national pride, and the chaos of city life. Here is a quick guide to some good reggae and ska bands in Venezuela.

Veteran ska group Desorden Público (pictured above) was formed in Caracas in 1985, and has become one of Venezuela’s most famous bands. Mention the song “Allá cayó” to any Latin American rock music fan, and they are sure to know it. Behind the dozen or so albums already released by the group is a philosophy of racial and social equality.

Like Desorden Público, Sin Sospechas writes lyrics that express a strong social consciousness, and their sound is a “musical mestizaje“: a blend of different influences, both local and foreign. Los Mentas bill themselves as “rockabilly,” which sounds like sped-up ska. Their new release is called “Sopa, Seco y Jugo.” Finally, the more laid-back sounding reggae band Papashanty Saundsystem is gaining fans fast, and is on tour in Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico this spring.

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