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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.