The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Venezuela, officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Venezuela before 2000, declared its independence on July 5, 1811. The country is located on the northern coast of South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south and Colombia to the west.
Venezuela has a total area of 916,500 square kilometres and a population of 28.7 million, about 60% of which is under 30. A majority, 67%, of Venezuelans are of mixed Spanish and Native American descent, while 21% are whites of Spanish, Italian and other descent, 10% are of African descent and 2% are Native Americans. The country is home to over three million foreigners, mostly immigrants from Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Venezuela's capital, Caracas, was founded in 1567. According to the 2009 census, the city had the population of six million. Other major cities are Maracaibo (with a population of 1.2 million), Barquisimeto (one million), Valencia (840,000) and Barcelona (450,000), which is a major port.
The country's current Constitution was adopted by popular referendum on December 15, 1999. Venezuela is a federal republic divided into 23 states, a capital district and federal dependencies (72 islands).
The country's official language is Spanish. Ninety percent of the population is Roman Catholic. The national currency is the bolivar fuerte. In January 2010, the government introduced a two-tiered, fixed exchange rate pegged to the US dollar at 2.60 bolivares fuertes per dollar for foods and healthcare products imported by state-owned companies and 4.30 bolivares fuertes per dollar for other products. The bolivar fuerte is also fixed to the euro at 3.64 bolivar fuertes per euro.
The major national holidays are the Beginning of the Independence Movement, celebrated on April 19, the Battle of Carabobo on June 24, Independence Day on July 5, Simon Bolivar's birthday on July 24, and the Day of Indigenous Resistance on October 12.
A government headed by the president holds executive power in Venezuela. The president is elected for six-year terms through direct election and faces no term limits.
Venezuela current president, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, was re-elected on December 3, 2006 and took the office on January 10, 2007. Vice presidents and cabinet members are appointed by the president. The current vice president of the Republic, Elias Jaua Milano, is also the Minister of Agriculture and Lands. The current Foreign Minister is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Directly elected governors hold executive power in the states.
Venezuela's legislative power is vested in its unicameral parliament, the National Assembly. The parliament is comprised of 167 deputies, who are elected by a combination of popular direct and secret ballot for a five-year period and may be re-elected for unlimited number of successive periods. Ninety-seven deputies each represent 1.1% of the electorate, while three deputies represent each state and the capital district regardless of population (for a total of 72 deputies), and another three seats are reserved for representatives of indigenous peoples. The parliamentary elections in December 2005 resulted in all seats being won by parties supporting President Hugo Chavez, namely the Fifth Republic Movement, which later became the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, or PSUV), Fatherland for All (Patria Para Todos, or PPT), the Communist Party of Venezuela (Partido Comunista de Venezuela, or PCV) and a breakaway faction of PODEMOS, an abbreviation for Por la Democracia (‘For Social Democracy') that literally means ‘We Can'. This situation arose when opposition parties boycotted the election. The National Assembly Speaker is Cilia Flores.
The major oppositional parties are A New Era, Social Christian Party of Venezuela (COPEI), PODEMOS, Justice First, and Democratic Action.
The highest judicial body is the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, whose current president is Luisa Estela Morales.
Venezuela's armed forces number about 129,000 soldiers and include the Venezuelan National Militia, which has some 140,000 volunteers who serve at their place of residence or work.
Since President Hugo Chavez took office in 1999, the Venezuelan government has pursued a policy of large-scale government reform. Major achievements of the so-called Bolivarian government include considerable progress on social issues and decreasing poverty among large segments of the populations. This policy is implemented by providing financial aid to the poor, (such as benefits and food stamps), building a network of stores to distribute food at lower prices, establishing the Corporation of Socialist Markets, or COMERSO, and implementing special programmes, called missions, that seek to improve healthcare, secondary and higher education, and citizens' literacy. Moreover, since 2004 the government has introduced centralised control of prices on 400 types of ‘social' goods.
Venezuela is traditionally considered one of the leading economic powers in the region. The country boasts vast mineral resources, including oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, coal and bauxites. The local economy is dominated by oil production and refining, a state-owned sector that provides over 90% of the country's export revenues.
Along with oil and petroleum products, Venezuela exports aluminium, iron ore, chemical products and coffee. The country's imports include vehicles, equipment, food, spare parts and medicines. Venezuela meets only 18% of its internal demand for agricultural products and food. The country's major trading partners are the United States, Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, as well as Central American and Caribbean countries.
In an effort to stabilise the economic situation, the Venezuelan government has been gradually increasing the government's presence in strategically important sectors of the economy, including through a policy of large-scale nationalisation of major manufacturing facilities.
In 2009, the national gross domestic product decreased by 2.9%; while in 2008 and 2007 it grew by 4.9% and 8.4% respectively. Trade volume fell by 8.2%.
The country's oil production fell by 6.1% last year, while non-oil production fell by 1.9%. The average price of a Venezuelan basket of crude oil and refined products was $57.02 per barrel in 2009, while the oil and petroleum products export revenue plummeted by 35.3%, as compared to 2008. This occurred due to both a decrease in oil prices and OPEC's reduced oil production quotas for Venezuela, which were cut by 129,000 barrels in 2008 and by 189,000 barrels in 2009.
Exports excluding petroleum products also fell by $3.33 billion, or 44.7%, last year.
Only telecommunications and construction sectors saw growth of 10.1% and 3.1%, respectively.
Unemployment decreased from 8.1% in 2007 to 7.5% and 7.2% in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Inflation at the end of 2009 was 25.1% (as compared to 30.9% in 2008), which is the highest among Latin American countries. The poverty rate is 24.2%, as compared to 31.5% in 2008. 7.6% of Venezuelans live in extreme poverty, as compared to 9.1% in 2008.
The Chavez government's domestic policy is centred around promoting the ideas of the ‘Bolivarian Revolution' and building ‘socialism in the 21st century'. The government has also given special attention to the establishment of communes to serve as active components of the system of local government, as well as social enterprises and people's cooperatives intended to improve the living conditions of the poor.
Venezuela's foreign policy emphasises strengthening national sovereignty and working to establish a multi-polar world order while increasing the country's influence in Latin America and the Caribbean through the promotion of the ideas of Bolivarian Revolution.
The Chavez government also supports the inviolability of territorial integrity and the non-use of military force to settle international conflict and disputes.
Energy policy is a major foreign policy tool for Venezuela. Caracas actively uses preferential pricing for oil, mostly within the Petrocaribe oil alliance, to boost the Chavez government's international status in the region. Positioning itself as a local economic leader, the country provides large-scale humanitarian and financial aid to other countries, both within the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) and through bilateral cooperation, and promotes the establishment of new joint investment funds and supranational companies.
In September 2009, the Venezuelan government formally recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
President Chavez has made particular efforts to strengthen long-term political, trade, economic, military, scientific, technological and cultural ties with Russia, and considers the country a major strategic partner. The Intergovernmental Russian-Venezuelan High Level Commission plays an important role, contributing significantly to the strengthening of economic ties between the two countries.
