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Consequences Of U.S. Intervention In Socialist Latin America, William Chao

Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to show the harmful effects of contemporary interventionist attempts by the United States on socialist Latin American countries such as Cuba and Venezuela. The United States continues to meddle with the politics and economies of various countries with the goal of establishing a new government that is favorable to the capitalist practices of the United States. By looking at two key moments: the Covid-19 outbreak in Cuba and the aftermath of the 2018 Venezuelan presidential elections, it becomes clear to see the damage done by harsh embargoes and U.S. support of use for military violence against the …

How Immigration Policy Affects Migratory Flows And Immigrant Experiences: A Comparative Analysis Of Policy Impacts On Northern Triangle And Venezuelan Immigrants In The United States, Audrey Lynn Mcdonough

Honors Theses

In the past two decades, the US has experienced a large influx of immigrants from Venezuela and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Due to these unprecedented increases, there has been numerous notable shifts in Immigration control policy between the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Generally, policies under Obama were favorable and reflected pro-immigrant rhetoric. Meanwhile, Trump took a drastic turn toward restrictionist, unfavorable policies. This study aims to examine the impact of immigration policy on migratory flows and the immigrant experience in the US. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, I examine data …

Music Pedagogy In Venezuela’S Plains: Making Space In Alma Llanera, Elaine Sandoval

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation argues that the process of institutionalizing traditional música llanera (plains region music) education in Venezuela is informed by a hierarchical spatialization of the capital, Caracas, and the historically agricultural- and livestock-producing region known as the llanos, or the plains. Drawing on Lefebvre’s The Production of Space (1991), I argue that the representations of space that have defined the llanos region and música llanera often obscure the lived space of music-making and dwelling in the llanos. This dissertation is based on fieldwork in Guárico state between 2016-2018, where I observed the state-funded Alma Llanera program, which had been …

The São Paulo Forum’S Armed Forces Agenda: Examining Venezuela And Brazil, David J. Guenni Bravo

MSU Graduate Theses

The São Paulo Forum (SPF) is a resilient ideological alliance that provides extremist public policy recommendations to formal political parties, social movements, and insurgent groups throughout the Western Hemisphere. Based on substantial evidence, this research project asserts that the SPF has successfully influenced the national security and defense policies of states in the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region. Analysis of two significant cases in South America shows that, after being elected to high office, SPF affiliates and their political parties/platforms sought transformation of their countries’ national security and defense sectors to conform to SPF positions. Given its extensive influence …

"Prevention Through Deterrence" Against Citizens: The Venezuela-Colombia Border During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Human Rights Implications, Andreina Negretti Benito

Honors Theses

This thesis analyses the human rights implications of the measures taken by the Venezuelan government at the Venezuelan-Colombian border during the COVID-19 pandemic. I will argue that the goal of these measures is preventing or impeding the return of citizens through "deterrence techniques" that have been historically used by other countries. This case's importance relies on the fact that, unlike other cases, the Venezuelan government uses these "techniques" against its own nationals, rather than against unwanted immigrants. The first chapter will provide an overview of the theoretical framework concerning migration, arguments regarding open borders, and human rights protections. This will …

Contemporary Human Displacement: A Comparative Analysis Of Syria, Yemen, Honduras, And Venezuela, Rav Carlotti

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What is causing the surge in human displacement around the world? Large-scale displacement in Syria, Yemen, Honduras, and Venezuela has generated unprecedented humanitarian crises in Latin America and the Middle East as millions of displaced people end up as refugees or immigrants. Humanitarian organizations like the UNHCR and host countries have had their resources overextended by these ongoing crises, and there is no end in sight. This thesis shows that contemporary human displacement is rooted in the increasing inability of governments to manage their societies amid great political demands and socio-economics strains. These causes are difficult to tackle because they …

The Political Impact Of Evangelical Churches In Latin America: Case Studies Of Brazil And Venezuela, Isabella Castro

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis analyzes the impact of the Evangelical movement on politics in Latin America, through case studies on of revolutionary leftist Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and far right Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Both the Chávez and Bolsonaro political machineries reached out to the Evangelical movement and aligned themselves with new social and political actors associated with this movement. Though these two leaders promised very different programs, they both successfully sought the support of leaders and members of the Evangelical movement. The contradictory context of these two cases in terms of political platforms, their shared association with the Evangelical church, generates …

The Origin Of Usurpation And Tyranny: Nonagentic Anti-Imperialism Of The Twenty-First Century And The Legacy Of Chavismo, Juan Bustillo

International Studies (MA) Theses

As Venezuela’s Chavista regime presides over the country’s descent into Latin America’s worst refugee and humanitarian crisis in modern times, a mass exodus of nearly five million Venezuelans since 2015, the rhetoric of Western anti-imperialists and the regime itself has absolved it of any responsibility for the crisis and the increasing authoritarianism that led to it by abdicating the regime's agency to act according to its own free will. This paper develops the discursive concept of nonagentic anti-imperialism, a rhetoric that effectively absolves self-declared anti-imperialist regimes, from Castro’s Cuba to Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka, of human rights abuses and democratic erosions …

From Valladolid To Venezuela : The Legacy Of Las Casas, Vitoria, And Sepúlveda In The Current Venezuelan Crisis., C. Evan Clark

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the current Venezuelan crisis and the international legal questions it has posed concerning sovereignty, the responsibility to protect, and international efforts to influence a state’s internal politics. In particular, the thesis expounds the historical and theoretical context behind international legal principles that governments, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have invoked in favor of Juan Guaidó or Nicolás Maduro. The thesis’s analysis centers around its examination of the parallels between the international legal principles that relate to the Venezuelan crisis and the political and ethical arguments of the sixteenth-century Spanish social reformer Bartolomé de las Casas and …

The Colombo-Venezuelan Border Through The Lens Of The Colombian Press, Diego Rafael Grossmann

Honors Projects

The Colombo-Venezuelan Border Through the Lens of the Colombian Press examines the dominant Colombian press coverage of crises of sovereignty at the Colombo-Venezuelan border, Venezuelan migration, and the February 2019 attempt to introduce humanitarian aid into Venezuela, as seen in El Espectador and El Tiempo’s coverage from the period of August 2018-November 2019. Through theories of nations and power, this thesis reveals the divergent editorial lines and dominant narratives within each newspaper’s construction of the relation between the Colombian and Venezuelan nations, states, and their people. The study details how both newspapers construct different “truths” through divergent constructions of …

Venezuelan Refugee Crisis: A Consequence Of U.S. Economic Sanctions, Joel Alexander Lopez

Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies Honors Program

Significant trends of outward migration from Venezuela date back to the 1998 election of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. These migratory trends may be attributed to a number of reasons such as political corruption, economic mismanagement and hyper-dependency on oil. Venezuelans have since fled from the political turmoil and extreme economic recession that continues to ravage their country and impoverish their families at an alarming rate. However, it was not until the year 2017 that migration in Venezuela skyrocketed into the state of crisis it is in today.

Examining The Link Between Press Freedom And Politics., Megan Wollerton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Freedom of the press is a hallmark of liberal democracy. Denying this civil liberty emboldens a government to exert an undue degree of influence over its citizens. By comparing the media discourse in a democratic country to the media discourse in an authoritarian country, one could reasonably expect to identify unique language markers, which shed light on their divergent political climates. This study specifically sourced articles from the Venezuelan publication El Universal and the Costa Rican publication The Tico Times. The author then analyzed every article related to politics published by both newspapers in March 2014 and in March …

Laughing In The Face Of Oppression: The Nature Of Political Satire Under Different Types Of Political Regimes, Victoria Villavicencio Pérez

Honors Program Theses

This research examines how different types of political regimes shape the nature of the political satire produced under them. Unlike traditional journalism, the sly character of political humor may enable it to operate with more freedom than other forms of media while still providing social critique. This research examines three different case studies: the United States (democracy), Venezuela (semi-authoritarian), and Cuba (authoritarian) and evaluates their satire on how openly critical it is and what type of censorship it suffers. Through extensive content analysis of satirical work produced within the country, as well as a historical research into the censorship of …

Old News: A Historical Analysis Of Criticism Of Venezuela's Press Freedom, Emilee Lamb

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Three Essays On Economic Stages And Transition, Ricardo R. Fuentes-Ramírez

Doctoral Dissertations

Cuba and Venezuela have been argued to be examples of state capitalism, populist capitalism, socialism, or simply the ambiguous “mixed economy.” By focusing on these countries as social formations in movement, or in transition, a more adequate understanding is presented. The first essay develops a theory of socialist transition, with focus on the dynamic, rather than static character of socialism. Furthermore, worker cooperatives are analyzed with a focus on the roles they play in the different stages of the transition to socialism. Finally, this framework is utilized to analyze the experience of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. The second essay …

Reimaginando A Bolívar En La Cultura Latinoamericana, Eglee Teresa Rodriguez-Bravo

Wayne State University Dissertations

Since the nineteenth century, the phenomenon of nation-building in Venezuelan society has focused on finding a figure such as Simón Bolívar, who could represent the birth of the nation and the liberal values that the Creole society–Creole refers to people of European stock born in the Spanish colonies–embraced after succeeding in the Emancipation movements. Simón Bolívar plays a central role in the construction of Venezuelan national identity, as well as that of Colombia and other Andean nations. Venezuelan society–the masses and the elite–is devoted to Bolívar’s cult. However, in the 1960s historical practice evolved from “great men” stories to what …

Prisons And Power : Carceral Coloniality In Hybrid Post-Neoliberal Venezuela, Cory Fischer-Hoffman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines contemporary Venezuela’s dual prison system--in which half of the prison population is incarcerated in internally controlled prisons run by armed inmates, and the other half are locked up in the Bolivarian Government’s restricted “New Regime” prisons. The Venezuelan state formation is conceptualized as ‘hybrid post-neoliberal,’ demonstrating how rationalities of a liberal rentier state and neoliberalism, combined with anti-neoliberal logics all act together in competing yet co-existing ways in the post-neoliberal era, which was initiated by the 1999 Bolivarian Revolution. The central question examines the “work” of the prison in the (re)production of power relations and how policies, …

Neoliberalism, Populist Mobilization, And State-Making In Latin America : The Cases Of Mexico And Venezuela, Anibal Francisco Gauna

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Populism, as the Manichean juxtaposition of the elites versus the common citizen ("the People"), has become an entrenched phenomenon of the modern moral order. Political populism, which feeds from and reinforces the “elite vs the people” confrontation in the political arena, has been a recurrent feature of Latin American politics. The present work studies one its strains, say, the successful conflation of populism and the left in Venezuela—and the lack thereof in Mexico. Through process-tracing (George & Bennet 2005) several mechanisms explaining the success of the radical populist (Chavista) movement in Venezuela are identified, while a comparison with Mexico helps …

Women's Mobilization In Latin America: A Case Study Of Venezuela, Brianna Russell

Master's Theses

Abstract

I examine the following elements in regards to women’s mobilization in Latin America and Venezuela from the late 1950s to the present: (a) the influence of the state and economy on times when women mobilized (b) class division within the movement (c) women’s demands during different time periods (d) the ways in which women were successful in working towards gender equality. This thesis reviews the literature on women’s mobilization in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. I find that women mobilized across class lines with the masses to end dictatorships. Women demobilized during transitions to …

Voces Fabuladas Contra Estatuas Míticas: Francisco Herrera Luque Y Su Aproximación Literaria A La Historia Venezolana, Juan Vicente Ayala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis postulates the narrative of Venezuelan psychiatrist and novelist Francisco Herrera Luque as one that demystifies the official historical discourse of his nation.

Our argument is developed through a two-part analysis. First, we present and examine the author's characteristic method, one that he called "fabled history", and the way it deals with elements of Venezuela's historical past. Secondly, we analyze the way Herrera Luque, while crafting an undoubtedly historical narrative, also analyzes many elements of the Venezuelan idiosyncrasy and identity through the illustration of colonial life in the nation, in particular within the oligarchic social class known as mantuanos, …

Short Term Strategies For Long Term Power: The Rise And Potential Fall Of Hugo Chávez, Linden E.S. Schult

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the route to power of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and the methods by which he has remained in power throughout his presidency. Also, it explores the potential for Chávez to lose power, given the current economic and political situation in Venezuela. The importance of the oil industry, Chávez's suppression of the opposition and control of the media, and constitutional changes and reforms are all discussed as keys to Chávez's continuance in power.