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Venezuela The Middle Class
Most accounts describe the Venezuelan middle class as
the
country's most dynamic and heterogeneous class in terms of
social
and racial origins, and as the greatest comparative
beneficiary
of the process of economic development. Consisting of
small
businessmen, industrialists, teachers, government workers,
professionals, and managerial and technical personnel,
this class
was almost entirely urban. Some professions, such as
teaching and
government service, were traditionally associated with
middle-class status, whereas newer technical professions
have
expanded the options and enhanced mobility within this
class.
Improved educational and job opportunities since the
establishment of democratic government in 1958 have
enabled more
women to enter the labor force, thus either helping
themselves
and/or their families to attain middle-class status. Not
surprisingly, those who passed from the lower to the
middle class
in Venezuela often attributed their changed status to
their
education, and, accordingly, many struggled to send their
children to private schools so that they could move still
farther
up the social ladder.
A few members of the middle class moved into the elite
ranks
through successful business deals or by marriage. It
should be
noted, however, that class antagonism in Venezuela has
been
tempered somewhat as a result of the special efforts made
by
political parties to appeal to and to co-opt middle-class
voters.
As a result, the Venezuelan middle class had reason to
feel much
more politically empowered and significant than did
similar
groups elsewhere in Latin America. Besides the political
parties,
active participation in a variety of social groups and
organizations further strengthened the commitment of this
particular middle class to the overall sociopolitical
system.
Constitutional provisions have helped both the middle
and the
poorer classes fulfill their aspirations in terms of
greater
personal freedom, expanded economic opportunities, and
greater
individual involvement in government. At the core of the
1961
constitution is a commitment to social justice; this
commitment,
in turn, has led to the creation and funding of government
agencies designed to provide to the middle class and to
the poor
many services that had traditionally been reserved to the
wealthy
prior to the 1958 coup. The implementation of many social
justice
goals is all the more remarkable because it occurred not
only
during Democratic Action (Acción Democrática--AD)
governments,
which, by definition, were center-left, but also under
Christian
Democratic (Comité de Organización Política Electoral
Independiente--COPEI) administrations, which were more
centerright in the Venezuelan spectrum.
A short list of government agencies devoted to the
implementation of social justice goals sketched in the
1961
constitution would include the Ministry of Health and
Social
Welfare, which provided free medical care, retirement
benefits,
and pensions to the disabled; and the Ministry of
Education,
which supervised a vast array of goals and programs
intended to
bring literacy, technical, and professional training to
all
Venezuelans
(see Social Welfare
, this ch.). The Venezuelan
presidency itself offered a striking illustration of the
impact
of these social justice goals: since 1958 all presidents
have
come from the middle class, and in some cases they could
claim,
with reason, that they had surmounted rather lowly
beginnings.
Data as of December 1990
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