Bolivarian missions

Venezuelan social programs enacted by Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro
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The Bolivarian missions are a series of over thirty social programs implemented under the administration of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez[1][2] and continued by Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro. The programs focus on helping the most disadvantaged social sectors and guaranteeing essential rights such as health, education and food.[3] The created missions created include Mission Robinson (literacy), Mission Barrio Adentro (free medical coverage), and Mission Mercal (affordable food).[4]

Using increasing oil prices of the early 2000s and funds not seen in Venezuela since the 1980s,[1] Chávez created the "Bolivarian missions" in 2003, which were initially short-term projects dedicated to alleviating the largest socioeconomic problems facing Venezuela at the time.[2] After enjoying political success, Chávez made the missions his central priority for his administration, directly overseeing their operations and increasing funding during electoral campaigns.[2]

The development and promotion of economic resources, originating from the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), generated a political floor for the governmental management of that time, but that "as the years went by, many social missions lost their social perspective and focused their axis of action on political activities" characterized by discretionality and information opacity.[3]

Types

Education

Electoral

Food and nutrition

Healthcare

Housing

Identification

Indigenous rights

Land reform

Rural development

Science

Socioeconomic transformation

Civilian militia

Culture

International assistance

Cuba

Many of these programs involve importing expertise from abroad; Venezuela is providing Cuba with 53,000 barrels (8,000 m3) of below-market-rate oil a day in exchange for the service of thousands of physicians, teachers, sports trainers, and other skilled professionals.[10]

In February 2010 seven Cuban doctors who defected to the US introduced an indictment against the governments of Cuba and Venezuela and the oil company PDVSA for what they considered was a conspiracy to force them to work under conditions of "modern slaves" as payment for the Cuban government' debt.[11] In 2014, it was reported by Miami NGO, Solidarity Without Borders, that at least 700 Cuban medical personnel had left Venezuela in the past year and that up to hundreds of Cuban personnel had asked for advice on how to escape from Venezuela weekly.[12] Solidarity Without Borders also stated that Cuban personnel cannot refuse to work, cannot express complaints and suffer with blackmail from threats against their family in Cuba.[12]

Impact

The development and promotion of economic resources, originating from the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), generated a political floor for the governmental management of that time, but that "as the years went by, many social missions lost their social perspective and focused their axis of action on political activities" characterized by discretionality and information opacity.[3]

The Bolivarian missions have been praised for their effect on poverty, education and health, and are described as "ways to combat extreme forms of exclusion" and "the mainstay of progress in the fight against poverty."[4]

On the other hand, the Chávez government overspent on social spending without saving enough for economic distress, which Venezuela experienced shortly before and after Hugo Chávez's death and during the economic policy of the Nicolás Maduro government.[13] Poverty, inflation and shortages then began to increase.[13]

A multi-university study in 2015 questioned the effectiveness of the Bolivarian missions, showing that only 10% of Venezuelans studied benefited from the missions.[14] Of that 10%, almost half were not affected from poverty.[14] According to El Universal, experts stated that the missions actually worsened economic conditions in the country.[15]

Health care

Mission Barrio Adentro, one of the flagship Bolivarian Missions of the widest social impact, drew praise from the Latin American branch of the World Health Organization[16] and UNICEF.[17]

Barrio Adentro, however, has been criticized for poor working conditions of Cuban workers,[12] funding irregularities,[18] and an estimated 80% of Barrio Adentro establishments abandoned with some structures filled with trash or becoming unintentional shelters for the homeless.[19][20]

The infant mortality rate went down 5.9% between 1999 and 2013.[21][22] The Gini coefficient fell from 47.8 in 1999 to 44.8 in 2006.[23][24] The government earmarked 44.6% of the 2007 budget for social investment, with 1999–2007 averaging 12.8% of GDP.[25][better source needed]

Poverty

During the Chávez's presidency, poverty fell from 49.4% in 1999 to 30.2% in 2006 and extreme poverty went down from 21.7% to 9.9% in the same period according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).[4] However, the ECLAC showed a nearly 7% jump in poverty in 2013, from 25.4% in 2012 increasing to 32.1% in 2013.[26]

In a multi-university study by the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and the Simon Bolivar University (USB), a comparison to the Venezuelan government's National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that overall poverty trends eventually reversed and increased between 1999 and 2015, rising from approximately 45% in 1999 to 48.4% in 2015 according to the study performed by universities.[15] Months later, the same universities found that 73% of Venezuelan households lived in poverty, with poverty increasing over 24% in about one year.[27]

Sustainability of missions

From the beginning of the Bolivarian missions and past Chávez's death, the sustainability of the missions was questioned.[1][13][14] The Bolivarian government's over dependence on oil funds for large populist policies led to overspending on social programs and strict government policies created difficulties for Venezuela's import reliant businesses.[1][13][14] Foreign Policy described Chávez's Venezuela as "one of the worst cases of the Dutch disease in the world" due to the Bolivarian government's large dependence on oil sales and its lavish spending to please voters.[28]

Focus on the missions was increased during political campaigns in Venezuela, with Chávez often overspending to fund their popularity.[2] Following elections, government interest in the missions would then decline and their effectiveness would be negatively affected.[2] The lack of institutional organization–many missions had existing government services that only increased costs–and the "revolutionary" approach which often caused inefficient improvisation would eventually jeopardize the sustainability of the missions.[2]

As a result of Chávez's policies, the durability of Bolivarian missions was put to the test shortly before and after Chávez's death, when poverty increased, inflation rose and widespread shortages in Venezuela occurred, with such effects growing especially into the presidency of Nicolas Maduro.[13][14][28] In 2014, Venezuela entered an economic recession.[29] Estimates of poverty by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Luis Pedro España, a sociologist at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, show an increase in poverty.[30] ECLAC showed a 2013 poverty rate of 32% while Pedro España calculated a 2015 rate of 48% with a poverty rate of 70% possible by the end of 2015.[30] According to Venezuelan NGO PROVEA, by the end of 2015, there would be the same number of Venezuelans living in poverty as there was in 2000, reversing the advancements against poverty by Hugo Chávez.[30]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Heritage, Andrew (December 2002). Financial Times World Desk Reference. Dorling Kindersley. pp. 618–621. ISBN 9780789488053.
  2. ^ a b c d e f López Maya, Margarita (2016). El ocaso del chavismo: Venezuela 2005–2015. pp. 354–358. ISBN 9788417014254.
  3. ^ a b c "Bases de Misiones Sociales: Una estrategia electoral" [Social Missions Bases: An Electoral Strategy]. Transparencia Venezuela (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Justo, Marcelo (27 January 2009). "Entre los números y la realidad" (in Spanish). BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  5. ^ “We Want to Change Human Interaction with Nature”. Archived 27 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 18 August 2006.
  6. ^ "Venezuela Training 400,000 in Open Source :: OSDir.com :: Open Source, Linux News & Software". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2006. Accessed 18 August 2006.
  7. ^ Mission Science Grants 5,000 Scholarships. Archived 9 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 18 August 2006.
  8. ^ Chávez anunció núcleos endógenos militares para la resistencia. El Universal (18 January 2006) (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Ceaser, M. (BBC, 1 July 2005). "Chavez's 'citizen militias' on the march". Retrieved 27 June 2006.
  10. ^ Bruce, Iain. Venezuela shuns IMF advice on oil money. BBC News (24 November 2004).
  11. ^ "Siete médicos cubanos demandan a Cuba y Venezuela por "esclavitud moderna" en Noticias24.com". Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  12. ^ a b c Vinogradoff, Ludmila (13 November 2014). "16 November 2014". ABC (Spanish). Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  13. ^ a b c d e Siegel, Robert (25 December 2014). "For Venezuela, Drop in Global Oil Prices Could Be Catastrophic". NPR. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d e Scharfenberg, Ewald (1 February 2015). "Volver a ser pobre en Venezuela". El Pais. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  15. ^ a b María Rodríguez, Carmen (4 March 2015). "Dos años de crisis elevaron la pobreza a niveles de 1998". El Universal. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  16. ^ WHO: República Bolivariana de Venezuela: Cumpliendo las Metas del Milenio Archived 18 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine – A report on Venezuela's objectives and progress regarding the UN Millennium Development Goals.
  17. ^ UNICEF: Venezuela’s Barrio Adentro: A Model of Universal Primary Health Care Archived 4 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Alonso, Juan (19 April 2014). "Contraloría detectó vicios en obras de Barrio Adentro III". El Universal. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  19. ^ "El 80% de los módulos de Barrio Adentro del país está cerrado". La Patilla. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  20. ^ Matheus, Ricardo. Abandonados 70% de módulos de BA Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Diario 2001 (29 July 2007).
  21. ^ Keppel, Stephen (17 January 2013). "5 Ways Hugo Chavez Has Destroyed the Venezuelan Economy". ABC News. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  22. ^ "Millennium Development Goals Indicators". United Nations. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  23. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) 1995–1999". World Bank. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  24. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) 2005–2009". World Bank. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  25. ^ Perdomo, Eucaris (Panorama 24 October 2006). Economía venezolana ha crecido un 12,5% en últimos 12 trimestres[permanent dead link](in Spanish) Retrieved 24 October 2006 [dead link]
  26. ^ "La pobreza en Venezuela aumentó a 32,1%, según la Cepal". La Patilla. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  27. ^ "Study: Poverty in Venezuela at 73 percent of households". The Washington Post. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  28. ^ a b Corrales, Javier (7 March 2013). "The House That Chavez Built". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  29. ^ Pons, Corina; Cawthorne, Andrew (30 December 2014). "Recession-hit Venezuela vows New Year reforms, foes scoff". Reuters. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  30. ^ a b c Gallagher, J. J. (25 March 2015). "Venezuela: Does an increase in poverty signal threat to government?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

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