Enduring Legacy

Salas Miguel Tinker Salas Tinker

Description

Oil has played a major role in Venezuela's economy since the first gusher was discovered along Lake Maracaibo in 1922. As Miguel Tinker Salas demonstrates, oil has also transformed the country's social, cultural, and political landscapes. In The Enduring Legacy, Tinker Salas traces the history of the oil industry's rise in Venezuela from the beginning of the twentieth century, paying particular attention to the experiences and perceptions of industry employees, both foreign and Venezuelan. He reveals how class ambitions and corporate interests combined to reshape many Venezuelans' ideas of citizenship. Middle-class Venezuelans embraced the oil industry from the start, anticipating that it would transform the country by introducing modern technology, sparking economic development, and breaking the landed elites' stranglehold. Eventually Venezuelan employees of the industry found that their benefits, including relatively high salaries, fueled loyalty to the oil companies. That loyalty sometimes trumped allegiance to the nation-state.North American and British petroleum companies, seeking to maintain their stakes in Venezuela, promoted the idea that their interests were synonymous with national development. They set up oil camps-residential communities to house their workers-that brought Venezuelan employees together with workers from the United States and Britain, and eventually with Chinese, West Indian, and Mexican migrants as well. Through the camps, the companies offered not just housing but also schooling, leisure activities, and acculturation into a structured, corporate way of life. Tinker Salas contends that these practices shaped the heart and soul of generations of Venezuelans whom the industry provided with access to a middle-class lifestyle. His interest in how oil suffused the consciousness of Venezuela is personal: Tinker Salas was born and raised in one of its oil camps.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Cultural studies
• 20th century
• Latin America
• History of the Americas
• Venezuela

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 11 mai 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822392231
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Enduring Legacy

AMERICAN ENCOUNTERS/GLOBAL INTERACTIONS A series edited by Gilbert M. Josep and Emily S. Rosenberg

his series aims to stimulate critical perspectives and fres interpretive frameworks for scolarsip on te istory of te imposing global presence of te United States. Its primary concerns include te deployment and contestation of power, te construction and deconstruction of cultural and politi- cal borders, te fluid meanings of intercultural encounters, and te complex interplay between te global and te local. American Encounters seeks to strengten dialogue and col- laboration between istorians of U.S. international relations and area studies specialists. he series encourages scolarsip based on multiarcival istorical researc. At te same time, it supports a recogni- tion of te representational caracter of all stories about te past and promotes critical inquiry into issues of subjectivity and narrative. In te process, American Encounters strives to understand te context in wic meanings related to nations, cultures, and political economy are continually produced, callenged, and resaped.

The Enduring Legacy

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M I G UE L T I N K E R S A L A S

Duke University Press Duram and London 2 0 0 9

©  Duke University Press

All rigts reserved.

Printed in te United States of America on acid-free paperb

Designed by Heater Hensley

Typeset in Adobe Caslon by Acorn International, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on te last printed page of tis book.

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Contents

Preface

I N T R O D U C T I O N Oil, Culture, and Society

C H A P T E R 1 A Tropical Mediterranean: Lake Maracaibo at te Turn of te Century

C H A P T E R 2 he Searc for Black Gold

C H A P T E R 3 La Ruta Petrolera: Learning to Live wit Oil

C H A P T E R 4 Oil, Race, Labor, and Nationalism

C H A P T E R 5 Our Tropical Outpost: Gender and te Senior Staff Camps

C H A P T E R 6 he Oil Industry and Civil Society

C H A P T E R 7 Oil and Politics: An Enduring Relation

C O N C L U S I O N An Enduring Legacy

Notes

Bibliograpy

Index

Preface

espite its profound importance in Venezuelan society, the D rich tapestry of social and cultural relations engendered by the oil industry has not been the subject ofsignificant scolarly at- tention. Existing scolarsip on Venezuelan oil tends to be divided between studies tat take a traditional approac to production and economics and nationalistic studies, bot of wic largely ignore 1 te lived experiences of employees and workers. he literature typically fails to sow ow te evolution of te foreign-controlled enterprises resaped te lives of tose employed by tem and ow oil influenced te social and political environment. he andful of works tat do mention life in te oilfields range from romanticized celebrations of te “best days of our lives” to condemnations of te experience as te agent of a new “colonizing” order. Also com- mon are portrayals of te oil industry as “agents of modernization” tat introduced advanced western social practices to a backward 2 population. None of tese approaces adequately captures te complexity of te residential compounds were workers lived or te lasting impact of te oil industry on te nation. In a country in wic te majority of te population was rural and depended on agriculture for subsistence, oil production fundamentally altered te sociocultural landscape. As in oter parts of Latin America, te economic activities of foreign enterprises often produced unexpected social, cultural, and racial outcomes.he construction of te Panama Canal in te early decades of te twentiet century spurred te migration of tou- 3 sands of Afro-Caribbean people to te istmus. he expansion of

copper mines in Sonora, Mexico, stimulatedsignificant national and inter- 4 national migration to te area. he labor policies of te United Fruit Com- 5 pany in Cuba, Costa Rica, and Honduras produced similar results. In eac instance laborers found tat corporate and political interests sougt to ex- pand te labor pool, reduce wages, and exploit racial and social distinctions. In Venezuela te oil industry attracted Cinese, West Indians, and Mex- icans, and teir presence was also manipulated by political and economic interests. In particular, te arrival of West Indians of African descent from Trinidad alarmed élites and te middle class, for wom a discussion of Black immigrants embodied racist concerns about Venezuela’s own popula- tion of African eritage. Wit few exceptions, traditional scolarsip as also ignored te con- tentious racial climate tat initially framed labor relations in te oil fields. he subtext for tis omission is a nationalist agenda tat igligts te rac- ist views of foreigners wile pretending tat Venezuela is racially unified. Wile it is true tat te presence of wites from te United States, were segregation was in effect, intensified te distinction between foreigners and locals, élites and te middle class eld equally insidious views toward indig- enous people, Afro-Venezuelan immigrants, and Afro–West Indian immi- 6 grants. he development of Venezuela’s oil industry provides an opportunity to assess te overlapping contradictions tat Afro-Caribbean immigration generated in tis formerly agrarian nation were matters of race ad been mostly dictated by élite interests. he ways in wic te class expectations engendered by te industry saped te views of various social classes, and te pivotal role of te oil companies in te political process, ave also received insufficient attention. Instead most studies ave focused on Venezuela’s struggle against foreign companies for control of its subsoil, or te institutional and corporate struc- tures involved in petroleum production. Most of tese accounts provide a general cronology or broad overview of tese complex and contradictory 7 developments. In addition, te oil companies influenced te literature by 8 funding and originating publications tat were sympatetic to teir views. Oter accounts focus almost exclusively on te significant labor strikes tat occurred in  and , defining te labor movement in terms of its politi- cal impact at te expense of accounts of workers’ lives. Past union and polit- ical leaders, social democrats, and communists suc as Valmore Rodríguez,

viii Preface

Jesús Prieto Soto, and Rodolfo Quintero have written very divergent ac-  counts of their activities. Quintero remains among the few scholars who 1 have attempted to address the social consequences of oil production. For the most part, Venezuelan labor histories have emphasized the struggles of workers against the regime of Juan Vicente Gómez, the political parties that vied for control of the movement, and the democratic period that began in 11 te s. On tis subject, work by scolars in te United States as proved no more revealing. During te s and s teir study of Venezuelan is- tory and politics in te United States followed a well-worn pat, reflecting te traditional temes tat framed teir istoriograpy of Latin America. Not viewed as one of te “important” countries, Venezuela was studied wit muc te same metods applied earlier to Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, countries tat were of strategic geopolitical importance to te United States and terefore dominated te study of te region. Consequently, despite te importance of oil during tis period, istorians focused on traditional topics suc as te figure of te caudillo, te military, te nature of Venezuelan rela- 12 tions wit Wasington, and te role of slavery. he political, cultural, and social concerns of te United States became te lens troug wic Ven- ezuela (like most of Latin America) was studied.he examination of slavery and race, as Jon Lombardi acknowledged in a speec to te Venezuelan National Academy of History in , “rested on te ope tat te Latin American experience, properly understood, could clarify a United States 13 economic, social, and political dilemma . and Latin America in” Venezuela general offered a way to understand and assess developments in te United States. he literature of te s produced two important generalist works, one by Lombardi and te oter by Judit Ewell; as te first overviews of Venezuelan istory since te work of Edwin Lieuwen and te Venezuelan 14 Guillermo Morón in , tese filled an important lacuna. During tis same decade, regional and micro-studies assumed new importance in te 15 field of Latin American istory, and Venezuela was no exception. In addi- tion, social istory and new interdisciplinary metodologies found expres- sion in te study of colonial Venezuela and te assessment of land tenure 16 systems, social relations, and coffee production. Brian McBet provided a compreensive examination of oil policy during te Gómez era, and

Preface ix