Conflicts and Cleavage in Venezuela

By D. Ron Singh

‘There are two related crises in today’s world. The first and most visible is the population-environment crises. The second, more subtle but equally lethal, is humankind’s relationship to its extensions, institutions, ideas, as well as the relationships among the many individuals and groups that inhabit the globe…’
                                                                                                                               Edward T. Hall (1976)

INTRODUCTION
The unprecedented movement of peoples within their own borders (e.g., rural-urban migration) and across frontiers (e.g., moving from one country to another) is perhaps one of the greatest transformations of humankind in the 20th century. But population movement is not a new phenomenon; it was born out of human history, and has grown by leaps and bounds in the last century. In the Caribbean economies (including continental Guyana), a huge number of the present generation comprise offspring of people who were transplanted from different racial and cultural environments, i.e., from many parts of Asia (mainly India and China), and Africa. Until emancipation (in the1830s), population movements were mainly inward, as they formed the labor force of these Caribbean economies. Since emancipation, there have been active population movements within countries, between countries, and to North America and Europe (Foner 2001, Roopnarine, et al 2005). In recent decades, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and other European countries have had huge increases in their immigrant families (UN Commission on Population Development 1997). But while there is a multitude of studies done on immigrant families in the industrialized world, there is a paucity of data on immigrant families in the developing economies. Venezuela, for example, has experienced demographic changes, due in part to an influx of immigrants, the majority of whom were from neighboring Latin American countries (e.g., Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, etc.). With such population movements, an increasing number of people are surrounded by immigrants whose cultures and lifestyles contrast sharply with their own. Thus, we live in a world of sudden changes, massive cultural collisions, profound multi-ethnicity, and plethora of possible group identities (Shah 1994). Such diversity, which may be politically, economically or humanely desirable or even necessary, is not without its challenges for individuals and groups from both, the donor and the host societies.

Much of human history has witnessed struggles and conflicts, conquest and oppression, and even genocide. Despite the interconnectedness of people and the worldwide sharing of knowledge in today’s world, through the huge advances in various facets of human life, through technology and modern ways of communicating and interacting, many people continue to follow a biologically driven tendency to be suspicious of those who are not part of their group. In postmodern information societies, it would seem that people have chosen to focus on their differences rather than their similarities. Recognizing people according to predetermined variables is a universal cultural trait (Perry & Perry 2006). In societies characterized by people of diverse ethnic origins, there is a display of racial and ethnic behaviors, stemming from biological factors or physical appearances, and cultural characteristics. The media-world seems replete with evidence that many societies were founded, and are to this day polarized, on the basis of race and ethnicity. Additionally, the history of colonization provides overwhelming evidence of how manipulation of people, punitive expeditions or denial of basic social services and human rights, laid firm foundations for conflicts-in-waiting when colonial administration gave way to independent governments (Oucho 1996). In essence, the psychology of domination and denial of basic human rights have impacted the lives of millions of people in human communities across the globe.

Clearly, the dynamics of racial and ethnic differences have played their part in creating and sustaining conflicts in numerous societies, and such conflicts have had devastating psycho-social and economic impacts to varying degrees on families and children who lived through those experiences. But despite the disintegration and/or displacement of families and groups, many have been able to solidify their ethnic or group cohesion, holding steadfastly to their cultural-ethnic similarities to mobilize ethnic cleavage and solidarity.

(For complete discussion on the topic, see Ronald Singh, Conflicts and Cleavage in Venezuela. In Prem Misir (Ed.), Ethnic Cleavage & Closure in the Caribbean Diaspora: Essays on Race, Ethnicity & Class. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2007.)