5/25/2014
VenEconomy: Forced Path towards ‘New Man’ Continues in Venezuela
From the Editors of VenEconomy
Nicolás Maduro, as did Hugo Chávez back in his days, is advancing undaunted in the deepening of the so-called “Socialism of the 21st century,” now embodied in the “Plan for the Homeland” conceived at first by Chávez a few years ago. This is a sort of bible followed closely by all supporters of the chavo-madurismo in each subject, area or sector, and with which they have torn Venezuela to pieces.
Nothing and no one in Venezuela has been safe from the negative effects of this advance toward the implementation of a Castro-communist political system. Today, these effects are visible in the economy, in agribusiness, in the oil sector, housing, trade activities and so forth.
Yet, there are other vital areas where the “revolutionary” corrosion has been rapidly spreading without most Venezuelans being fully aware of what this may represent for the future of the country. This because the effects of ideology and indoctrination that have engulfed the entire Venezuelan educational system will only be felt in the long term, when the “new man,” one with a conscience, values and “revolutionary” principles, becomes a reality. And that’s what the Venezuelan government has been working on since 2000, when Marxist sociologist Carlos Lanz launched his much-criticized National Educational Project (PEN).
Over the last fifteen years, the Castro-Chavista regime has been progressing slowly and skillfully in permeating the educational system of Venezuelans through guidelines and concepts of the Revolution with the aim of creating this so-called “new man,” who is crucial for the sustainability of the “Plan for the Homeland.” As Adán Chávez, Governor of Barinas state and brother of the late president, put it sometime in 2007, “The essence of the Revolution is education”; and it was him who kicked off the process of a “transformative education that will fight today’s colonial capitalist education.” And both Chávez and Maduro have stuck to the following principle once defended by Aristóbulo Istúriz, now Governor of Anzoátegui state, back in his days as Minister of Education: “The State should train citizens in accordance with its political theory, in accordance with its vision of a Republic.”
This goal was present long before Chávez came to power, when he spoke about a “structural transformation of the ideological-cultural component, as an essential part of a second phase of a proposal Chávez had for Venezuela,” as quoted in the book “The Commander Speaks” on page 558. As recalled by Maureen Ardila in her article “The new man behind the wheel of the third engine” published by VenEconomy in its monthly edition of March 2007, Chávez had proposed in that document (submitted two months before he was elected president for the first time in December of 1998) that among the five “poles of balance” needed to transform Venezuela were the dissemination of “national values” not yet defined and education as matters of high priority to achieve social balance.
Direct attacks against Venezuela’s educational system stepped up during the years 2001 and 2003, including the private sector of education, universities and trade unions, and forced interventions at experimental universities as a result of a “budget fence” imposed by the Government. At the same time, it gave the “Bolivarian education” a boost through decrees, a reform in the Education Act and other legal devices.
And now the so-called “National Consultation for the Educational Quality” is in full development since April 29 in more than 29,000 schools nationwide, whose objective is to shape education in the image and likeness of the socialist model of a country containing the “Plan for the Homeland.”
A pattern already seen by Venezuelans would be repeating here. This is a quasi-dictatorship that maintains the appearance of a democracy, in which elections are rigged and not free.
This “consultation” also seems to consist of a case in which appearances of a popular consultation are maintained, but the outcome is predetermined. If not, how can it be explained that the Government’s “new” school textbooks were already released and are being distributed everywhere?
VenEconomy has been a leading provider of consultancy on financial, political and economic data in Venezuela since 1982.
Click here to read this in Spanish
VenEconomy: Forced Path towards ‘New Man’ Continues in Venezuela
From the Editors of VenEconomy
Nicolás Maduro, as did Hugo Chávez back in his days, is advancing undaunted in the deepening of the so-called “Socialism of the 21st century,” now embodied in the “Plan for the Homeland” conceived at first by Chávez a few years ago. This is a sort of bible followed closely by all supporters of the chavo-madurismo in each subject, area or sector, and with which they have torn Venezuela to pieces.
Nothing and no one in Venezuela has been safe from the negative effects of this advance toward the implementation of a Castro-communist political system. Today, these effects are visible in the economy, in agribusiness, in the oil sector, housing, trade activities and so forth.
Yet, there are other vital areas where the “revolutionary” corrosion has been rapidly spreading without most Venezuelans being fully aware of what this may represent for the future of the country. This because the effects of ideology and indoctrination that have engulfed the entire Venezuelan educational system will only be felt in the long term, when the “new man,” one with a conscience, values and “revolutionary” principles, becomes a reality. And that’s what the Venezuelan government has been working on since 2000, when Marxist sociologist Carlos Lanz launched his much-criticized National Educational Project (PEN).Over the last fifteen years, the Castro-Chavista regime has been progressing slowly and skillfully in permeating the educational system of Venezuelans through guidelines and concepts of the Revolution with the aim of creating this so-called “new man,” who is crucial for the sustainability of the “Plan for the Homeland.” As Adán Chávez, Governor of Barinas state and brother of the late president, put it sometime in 2007, “The essence of the Revolution is education”; and it was him who kicked off the process of a “transformative education that will fight today’s colonial capitalist education.” And both Chávez and Maduro have stuck to the following principle once defended by Aristóbulo Istúriz, now Governor of Anzoátegui state, back in his days as Minister of Education: “The State should train citizens in accordance with its political theory, in accordance with its vision of a Republic.”
This goal was present long before Chávez came to power, when he spoke about a “structural transformation of the ideological-cultural component, as an essential part of a second phase of a proposal Chávez had for Venezuela,” as quoted in the book “The Commander Speaks” on page 558. As recalled by Maureen Ardila in her article “The new man behind the wheel of the third engine” published by VenEconomy in its monthly edition of March 2007, Chávez had proposed in that document (submitted two months before he was elected president for the first time in December of 1998) that among the five “poles of balance” needed to transform Venezuela were the dissemination of “national values” not yet defined and education as matters of high priority to achieve social balance.
Direct attacks against Venezuela’s educational system stepped up during the years 2001 and 2003, including the private sector of education, universities and trade unions, and forced interventions at experimental universities as a result of a “budget fence” imposed by the Government. At the same time, it gave the “Bolivarian education” a boost through decrees, a reform in the Education Act and other legal devices.
And now the so-called “National Consultation for the Educational Quality” is in full development since April 29 in more than 29,000 schools nationwide, whose objective is to shape education in the image and likeness of the socialist model of a country containing the “Plan for the Homeland.”
A pattern already seen by Venezuelans would be repeating here. This is a quasi-dictatorship that maintains the appearance of a democracy, in which elections are rigged and not free.
This “consultation” also seems to consist of a case in which appearances of a popular consultation are maintained, but the outcome is predetermined. If not, how can it be explained that the Government’s “new” school textbooks were already released and are being distributed everywhere?
VenEconomy has been a leading provider of consultancy on financial, political and economic data in Venezuela since 1982.
Click here to read this in Spanish
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