Analysis: Social Programs

Felix’s Miracle and the Convenio Cuba-Venezuela

By Michael Fox – Venezuelanalysis.com, Aug 24th 2006

Felix Jose Espinoza Ledesma is a cab driver in Caracas. If not for his large print and the way his eyes squint slightly when he reads an address or a phone number, you would never guess that just over a year and a half ago, he was on his deathbed, his vision nearly completely gone, and barely struggling to stay alive.

Loans to Grants: University Funding Plan for a New Venezuela

By Simone Baribeau - Venezuelanalysis.com, May 25th 2006

No more student loans. No more paperwork. The Venezuelan government’s done away with them. From now on, the process for higher education funding is purely electronic, and those selected by Fundayacucho software go to college for free.

Venezuela Launches Primary Health Program for Extreme Poor

By Michael Fox - Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 22nd 2006

The Venezuelan government, yesterday, began a diagnostic primary health project for the homeless, drug addicts, and at-risk individuals as part of the “Negra Hipolita Mission,” the social program that is aimed at taking care of Venezuelans in situations of critical poverty.

Bach in Venezuela’s Slums

By John Green - Morningstar, Apr 18th 2006

Every child in Venezuela is guaranteed the right to a musical education. Teachers go into schools in the countryside, the slums and the towns and let the children play with instruments. If they show an interest, they are allowed to borrow the instrument of their choice. If they keep up their interest and practice seriously for two years, they are allowed to keep their instrument.

Venezuela Looks to Boost Social Spending

By Jane Monahan - BBC, Dec 19th 2005

Venezuela's populist president, Hugo Chavez, is widely expected to spend more on his government's social programmes, both at home and abroad.

The Battle for Venezuela's Universities

By Kiraz Janicke - Green Left Weekly, Sep 13th 2005

In recent months, the introduction of a new higher education law in Venezuela has sparked a number of demonstrations against President Hugo Chavez’s government by rectors and students from the national autonomous universities, who claim the new law interferes with university autonomy.

A Personal Account of Barrio Adentro...or It is true, socialism does make you feel better!

By Stuart Munckton, Aug 9th 2005

Coming to Venezuela to witness the revolution and the social missions at its heart, I have ended up having a closer view of one of the most important missions - Barrio Adentro (Into the Neighbourhood) - than I might have hoped. Or cared for, for that matter.

Barrio Adentro II: Victim of its Own Success

By Jeroen Kuiper – Venezuelanalysis.com, Jul 28th 2005

Venezuelan health care is moving forward. After spreading primary health care through the Mision Barrio Adentro all over Venezuela in just two years, by constructing thousands of doctor’s offices staffed mainly with Cuban doctors and sports trainers, Venezuela inaugurated the Mision Barrio Adentro II in June this year. An interview with its director, Claudio Letelier.

Oil for Sport in Venezuela

By Jeroen Kuiper – Venezuelanalysis.com, Jul 20th 2005

Thousands of Cuban sports trainers and doctors have been working in Venezuela for two years, in exchange for cheap oil deliveries from Venezuela to the communist island. The sports trainers keep the elderly fit and the young ones away from drugs.

Mercal: Reducing Poverty and Creating National Food Sovereignty in Venezuela

By Sarah Wagner – Venezuelanalysis.com, Jun 24th 2005

Mercal is the new subsidized supermarket and food distribution network that the Venezuelan government set up in the wake of the December 2002 to January 2003 "general strike." It has now become one of the government's most popular and widely used social programs, providing food to over 30% of the population. What is its background and what are its effects?

Venezuela: Illiteracy Free Territory

By Sarah Wagner – Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 21st 2005

The 8th graduation of Mission Robinson, the program to teach Venezuelans to read and write, honored the 32,509 participants of the program and brought Venezuela a step closer to being a "territory free of illiteracy." A report on the program, its context, and its impact.

A People's Health System in Venezuela

By Peter Maybarduk - Multinational Monitor, Dec 1st 2004

Barrio Adentro. It is nearly impossible to travel Venezuela without hearing reference to the government’s highly popular and controversial healthcare initiative that invites Cuban doctors to treat, train and live with working-class Venezuelans in communities across the country.

Prevention and Solidarity: Remedies for Democratizing Health in Venezuela

By Claudia Jardim - Alia2.net, Oct 13th 2004

Venezuela's "Barrio Adentro" (Inside the Barrio) program is applying two previously untried concepts to improving the health of poor Venezuelans: preventive medicine and solidarity from Cuba. While the program is unpopular among Venezuelan doctors, the poor love it.

Inside The Barrio: Venezuelan Health Care Takes Off

By Robin Nieto - Venezuelanalysis.com, Aug 5th 2004

Misión Barrio Adentro, the Chavez government program to provide free health care in the country's poorest neighborhoods, recently celebrated its one year anniversary. It ranks among the most popular of Venezuela's government programs.

Free Neighborhood Clinics Spread Across Venezuela

By Argiris Malapanis - The Militant, May 5th 2004

Barrio Adentro is a government-sponsored program that has brought thousands of volunteer Cuban doctors operating free neighborhood clinics in working-class districts and rural areas across the country where workers and farmers have had little or no access to health care.