Caracas, Venezuela – James Suggett is a twenty-something gringo
who grew up in Sacramento, graduated from the University of California
at San Diego and landed in Venezuela two years ago, as a member
of the World Festival of Youth. He became interested in
the revolution occurring in Venezuela and decided to stay on
to work in the social programs President Hugo Chavez’s government
instituted to help the poor.
In contrast, I am in Venezuela as a member of a delegation organized
by Global Exchange. Global Exchange is a San Francisco-based
outfit that coordinates reality tours, giving people the chance
to explore the impact of corporate globalization and U.S. foreign
policies around the world.
James had been tagging along with the delegation for a couple
of days when we had the opportunity to sit and chat in the court
yard of a barrio in Caracas. Since James had taught in
one of the new or non-traditional universities in Venezuela,
I asked him why Chavez has made a commitment to create 26 new
universities over the next 12 years, to serve half a million
students.
“In order to get into the regular universities, you have
to have family members who have been to college,” he explained. “You
take an objective exam to enter but the children of poor families
do not have the training to compete with the kids from elite
families. Their parents haven’t been to college. They
don’t have the test-taking, language or math skills to compete. Even
finishing high school is a problem here.”
“Tuition is not a barrier,” I asked.
“The university is cheap – in many instances the government
will pay you to go. Students receive a monthly stipend
from the government to pay for food and incidentals.”
“So a university education is a subsidy for the middle classes,” I
reckoned. “They can afford to support a family member for
five extra years.”
“Now that Chavez is expanding the education system, the elite
are getting frustrated,” James continued. “Students, who
are children of the elite, are protesting for what they call
university autonomy. In the university town that I live
in, Merida, it is not uncommon to see the streets blocked off
with burning tires and sometimes violent protests.”
“These students contend that the new or pseudo universities
are a socialist front for the Chavez government. They argue
that they’ve worked hard to get where they are and now the state
is giving away degrees to individuals who can’t perform.”
James is concerned that when people in the United States see
Venezuelan students holding street signs and protesting against
the university, all they see are students who are critical of
socialism or pro-democracy students confronting a brutal dictatorship. “It
is exactly the opposite,” he says. “These are students
who are defending their privilege. These are groups of
students who truly believe that they are in the university because
of a free and fair system.”
Listening I was struck by the fact that Affirmative Action is
a global issue. Indeed, Venezuela is not alone; Supreme
Court Justice John Roberts’ recent opinion notwithstanding, places
as varied as France, India, China, Malaysia and Sub Saharan Africa
have acknowledged that to transform longstanding relationships
of dominance across their societies, they’ve got to do something
more than treat people like “individuals.”
Dr. John Berteaux, PhD is an assistant professor of philosophy
at California
State University Monterey Bay. Click
here to contact Dr. Berteaux.