Venezuela’s Chigüire – The World’s Cutest Rodent

Venezuela’s plains region is home to the capybara (in Spanish, chigüire), which is the world’s largest rodent. These herbivores can weigh up to 100 pounds and live most of their lives in water. When they are born, they actually swim better than they walk, according to a zookeeper in Parque del Este in Caracas.

Sadly, chigüires are sometimes hunted and eaten for Easter dinner despite the fact that, during Lent, there is a religious prohibition against eating meat. During the time of colonization, the native chigüire was misrepresented to the Catholic church by the Spanish conquistadors, who wrote to the church officials for permission to eat the animal, which was unknown in Europe. The Spaniards said that chigüis lived in the water and resembled fish, conveniently leaving the hair and four feet out of the description.

By and large, chigüires are friends, not food, and people in the llanos keep them as pets. Recently,  the chigüire has become a subject for popular art, and can be found on t-shirts and logos everywhere in Venezuela.

Spanish-speakers will enjoy a popular sytirical news blog in Venezuela known as El Chigüire Bipolar.

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Venezuela Beats Colombia in World Cup Qualifying Match

Venezuela defeated Colombia yesterday in the South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. The game was played in Cachamay Stadium in Puerto Ordaz, located the eastern state of Bolivar.

Colombia was one player short at the end of the game, due to a yellow card. The Venezuelan team took advantage of their extra man to win the game 2 – 0.

Substitute striker Nicolas Fedor, seen at left, was the first to score. Left-footed midfielder Juan Arango delivered the second goal on a free kick late in the game. Venezuela is currently in 8th place, just behind Colombia.

The vinotinto is keeping the dream alive! Stay tuned as they play Bolivia in June. Read a New York Times article about yesterday’s game.

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Venezuela Recognized for Protecting the Amazon

Venezuela is the nation with the 10th-largest amount of biodiversity in the world. Efforts to protect that biodiversity are highlighted in a new study by RAISG, or La Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georreferenciada.

According to the study, Venezuela has the second-highest proportion of its Amazon region protected. The Amazonian basin covers an astounding 3 million square miles in South America, overlapping several different countries and encompassing a population of perhaps 33 million. Venezuela has already protected 71.5% of its share — second only to Ecuador’s 79.7%, and far ahead of Colombia, Brazil, and Peru.

RAISG measured Indigenous territory and other protected lands, which are generally the best conserved. Venezuela has 43 national parks. A respect for nature is enshrined in the constitution of Venezuela under a chapter that guarantees all citizens the right to a safe and healthy environment.

Since the Amazon Rainforest is often called the “lungs” of South America, we can breathe a little easier thanks to Venezuela.

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Venezuelan Woman Promotes Intercultural Education

Intercultural education will soon become a reality in Venezuela, if Professor Angela Diaz has anything to do with it.

She spoke at at a public event today in Washington sponsored by TransAfrica Forum. Diaz has been making her way around the U.S. capital,  speaking at Howard University and meeting Members of Congress to discuss the Afro-Venezuelan experience.

Diaz is a member of the Network of Afro-Venezuelan Organizations (La Red de Organizaciones Afrovenezolanas), has worked tirelessly over the past decade to help create a more inclusive education system. Like the U.S., Afro-descendants and Indigenous peoples in Venezuela have been too often distorted or omitted from public school curricula. Due to the work of people like Diaz, Venezuelan students will learn about all the ethnic groups that built the South American continent.

The new inclusive curriculum has been implemented in 17 states so far. Part of the process involves inviting community elders into the schools to teach.  In one school, grandparents taught students how to make a fish recipe, which is stuffed in a plantain leaf. Fish is a vital resource for residents along the Caribbean coast, many of whom identify as Afro-Venezuelan. Along with the recipe, the children learned about history, culture, art, and the environment. Sharing ancestral knowledge is the key to transmitting what has been left out of the history books.

Diaz emphasized that students are inspired when they can see themselves and their communities represented in their lessons. See more of Professor Diaz’s work with Fundación Curduvare.

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Venezuela Affirms Commitment to Human Rights

Today, the World Jewish Congress welcomed the commitment of Latin American Leaders to condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination.

President Chavez of Venezuela, along with Presidents Lula da Silva of Brazil and Fernandez of Argentina signed a joint declaration promising to

renew their commitment to continue working at national, regional and international level to fortify the mechanisms of promotion and protection of the human rights, in order to assure their total respect irrespective of race, color, sex, religion, or political opinions

The President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder (pictured at right) called the signing of the declaration “an important and very welcome step” that could serve as an example to the rest of the world.

Click here to read the press release.

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Hey! Look Over Here! Latin America is Making History!

Representatives from 33 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean just finished meeting in Brazil. By all accounts, the atmosphere was convivial.

Believe it or not, this “Rio Group” summit marked first time that such a large regional event has occurred without the presence of the United States. So what does this mean for the hemisphere? It depends on who you ask.

The AP reports that President Lula da Silva of Brazil said:

In the middle of an unprecedented global crisis, our countries are discovering that they aren’t part of the problem,” Mr. da Silva said. “They can and should be fundamental players in the solution […]

There was a time when our friend Chavez was all alone. Who would have imagined 10 years ago our beloved Evo Morales as president? Would would have thought that a liberation theology bishop could become Paraguay’s president?

President Chavez said:

The important thing is that we are here together, without the patronage of the empire. The way is beginning, a new way – our way from the South.

And of course, Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington had this commentary to add:

This is a healthy development and should not be seen as a rejection of the U.S. On the contrary, Latin America wants to deal with the U.S. and other major world powers, but it wants to do so on more equal terms than in the past.

Read more about the Latin American summit from the AFP and the New York Times, and use the comments section to tell us what you think about the events.

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More Than a Pancake: Venezuelan Cachapas

Thanks to the Miami Herald today, we have a lesson in how to make the Venezuelan dish called the cachapa. This is a savory pancake made of corn that is eaten with mild white cheese and makes a tasty snack. The recipe that appears in the Herald is from the book The South American Table.

In Venezuela, the best cachapas are usually grilled to a golden brown on a large, flat budare like the one pictured here.

The cachapa is said to come from Venezuela’s indigenous heritage, particularly in the interior of the country. Corn was an important staple food for many Native American communities.

It is also the main ingredient in another Venezuelan snack that remains popular today; the singular arepa.

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Pushing Regional Unity, Venezuela Hosts 3rd ALBA Summit

Last week, over Thanksgiving, it’s safe to say that some Latin Americans may have given thanks for increased cooperation among countries in the region.

Venezuela hosted a summit of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for the America) last Wednesday in Caracas which brought together the leaders of member countries Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba, and Dominica. Also in attendance was President Correa of Ecuador.

Among the initiatives proposed by Venezuela was the creation of a common currency. President Chavez said it could act as “a monetary zone of solidarity-based commercial exchange” to reduce dependence on the U.S. and financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

Read news articles here and here, or check out the ALBA declaration issued November 26th in Spanish here.

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Venezuela Helping Paraguay

With the people of Paraguay still celebrating last Friday’s swearing-in of the new President and former “Bishop of the Poor” Fernando Lugo, a dozen new accords signed between that country and Venezuela are making the future look even brighter.

Presidents Chavez and Lugo (pictured at right, singing) signed 12 accords. One of them is designed to help Paraguay avoid energy shortages. The Venezuelan oil company PDVSA will send 23,500 gallons of oil per day to the small country in order to “guarantee the energy sovereignty of Paraguay.”

Also included in the deal is a one-time supply of diesel fuel — an amount of 440,476 barrels — to stave off shortages that are plaguing Paraguay.

Cooperation on energy issues in the Americas has been a top policy priority for the Chavez administration. As one of the world’s largest exporters of oil, Venezuela has been able to lend a hand to needy people in countries from Argentina to the U.S.

This news shows that cross-border cooperation on energy pays off! To read more from PDVSA’s website in Spanish, click here, or for an English-language AP story, click here.

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Venezuela Hosts Anti-Imperialist Indigenous Conference

Last week, Venezuela hosted the first Congress of Indian and Anti-Imperialist Warriors of the Americas (Congreso Indoamerica Joven de Guerreros Contra la Miseria y el Imperialismo).

Sure, the title is a mouthful, but the focus of the congress was clear: to bring together Indigenous leaders throughout the region who are committed to equality and justice.

18 different Indigenous delegations from the Americas were present in Venezuela. Three of those hailed from the United States. Present to represent their people were Chairman Joseph Brings Plenty of the Cheyenne River Sioux, Carl Wassilie of the Alaska Intertribal Council, and Heather Thompson of the National Congress of American Indian. Venezuela alone was represented by 1,500 delegates from diverse native groups.

The events coincided with World Indigenous Peoples Day. President Chavez spoke at the closing ceremony of the Congress last Monday at the Municipal Theater in Caracas. He announced: “A peaceful revolution is developing in South America; a peaceful, moral, and indigenous revolution.”

President Chavez even suggested that South America should change its name to Indian America! Thoughts? Comments are open.

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Venezuela Proposes Global Alternative Media Network

Last week, Venezuela hosted the 7th Conference of Information Ministers of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. The event brought representatives from 80 countries together to discuss common projects.

One of these was a proposal from Venezuela to create a Non-Aligned News Network (NNN). The network would provide news from and for the 118 countries that make up what is known as the “Global South.” Often, countries in the developing world must rely on news produced abroad, but the new initiative could break their dependence on foreign media.

Venezuelan Communication Minister Andres Izarra explained that the purpose of the initiative is to “balance information and democratize the presence of the countries of the South in worldwide communication.”

To read more, click here and here.

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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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