[Venezuelan Dance Troupe for the Disabled: They Can Still Be Dance Elves]
Preface
When it comes to Venezuela, the last time I heard a big talk about it was in December 2023, when Venezuela suddenly held a referendum on whether to create a new state in Guyana's disputed, oil-rich territory — a matter that did not go through in the end, but it really made the United States nervous and Guyana scared.
[Venezuela's location indication: the most nervous is often Guyana]
With a total area of about 916,000 square kilometers and a total population of about 28 million, Venezuela is located in the north of South America, with Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, Colombia to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the north, with the capital Caracas.
【Location of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela】
Venezuela has the highest proportion of Indo-European people of mixed race at about 58%, and about 29% of whites, about 11% of blacks, and about 2% of Indians, but the official language is Spanish, and one of the manifestations of long-term economic and social difficulties is the decline in the total population: the total population of Venezuela was about 32 million in 2019, and at the end of 2023, according to the estimates of the United Nations World Bank, it will be about 28 million, and the decline in fertility is only one of the reasons, Another reason is the out-migration of the population.
Here are only four representative things such as oil, tourism, food, and beauty pageants, and I will talk to you about another style of Venezuela.
[Capital of Venezuela: Caracas]
First, the most embarrassing oil
If you only look at the proven oil reserves, Venezuela has been ranked first in the world for many years, according to the latest ranking in 2022, it looks like this:
- In first place is Venezuela, with total proven oil reserves of about 303 billion barrels in 2022
- In second place is Saudi Arabia (i.e., Saudi Arabia), with total proven oil reserves of about 267 billion barrels in 2022
- In third place is Iran, with total proven oil reserves of more than 208 billion barrels in 2022
- In fourth place is Iraq, with total proven oil reserves of more than 145 billion barrels in 2022
- In fifth place is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with total proven oil reserves of more than 113 billion barrels in 2022
[Oil is the foundation of Venezuela]
However, there are three most embarrassing aspects of Venezuelan oil:
(1) The vast majority of it belongs to heavy oil, which not only has high refining cost, but also has a narrow application range - low economic value.
(2) Ongoing U.S. sanctions, ongoing economic crisis at home, and mismanagement – most of the oilfield facilities are in a state of decay.
(3) Most of the oil is in the open sea or deep underground – which is not only technically difficult but also expensive to extract.
[In addition to the special oil products, Venezuela's oil also has a difficulty: transportation]
Take 2022 and 2023 as examples:
Due to the phased relaxation of sanctions on Venezuela in oil extraction by the United States, the average production of Venezuelan oil in 2022 is about 720,000 barrels; In 2023, Venezuela will hit a new high in nearly 12 years, with an average oil production of about 783,000 barrels.
For Venezuela itself, it is not only a new high in recent years, but also a breather for economic life. However, as the world's largest proven oil reserves, this production is too low.
[Another difficulty in Venezuelan oil: it can't be sold]
By comparing the Nissan data in 2023, you can see it more intuitively: the first place is the United States, with a daily oil production of more than 12.9 million barrels; No. 2 Russia, with a daily oil output of about 10 million barrels; third place, Saudi Arabia, with a daily oil production of about 9 million barrels; No. 4 Canada, with a daily oil production of more than 5.8 million barrels; In fifth place, Iraq produces more than 4.1 million barrels of oil per day.
[Another difficulty of Venezuelan oil: production cannot go up]
Despite this or that subjective and objective reason, Venezuela's title of the world's largest oil reserves is not only very embarrassing, but also unworthy of the name, as the only economic and social lifeline of the oil industry, from production to sales are actually stuck in the hands of others, it can only be said that Venezuela is really not easy.
[The predicament faced by Venezuelan oil is indeed directly related to sanctions]
Second, the scenery that can't be seen enough
Venezuela's terrain is rich in landscapes, so the scenery is diverse, ranging from dense jungles and steep mountains to pristine vegetation and ancient creatures. There are beautiful blue seas and blue skies, as well as magnificent mountain waterfalls.
【Beautiful and Diverse Venezuela】
For example, Angel Falls
In the southeast of Venezuela is the world's largest waterfall: Angel Falls. The waterfall has a drop of 979 meters and a width of about 150 meters at the bottom. It was first discovered in 1935 by the Spaniard Cardona, who knew the exact location of the Chulenmeru Falls, which belonged to the Chulon River, a tributary of the Caroni River in the Guyana Plateau of the Bolivarian State of Venezuela.
【Venezuela has the world's tallest waterfall: Angel Falls】
However, the waterfall is not accessible by land, and its mysterious majesty can only be seen by plane. It has now developed into a tourist adventure destination, and visitors can reach the vicinity of Angel Waterfall by about an hour and a half of mountain roads.
【Angel Waterfall in Venezuela】
Such extreme landscapes can certainly be found in a variety of literary works, such as Conan Doyle's novel "The Lost World", which describes a hot-tempered professor who leads an expedition deep into a flat-topped mountainous area and accidentally discovers a world that has evolved to a point of eons ago.
There, they encountered prehistoric dinosaurs, ferocious apes, and eventually a pterodactyl back to London. This mysterious world is not really the author's own imagination, and his inspiration comes from the highlands of southeastern Venezuela and the location of the Angel waterfalls.
【Angel Waterfall in Venezuela】
Like Margarita Island Beach
Located in the northeastern part of Venezuela is Isla Margarita and its beaches, the largest island in Venezuela, with excellent sandy beaches, turquoise waters, blue skies, and a range of recreational activities, including surfing, swimming, diving, fishing, adventure, and more. There are also many places of interest on Margarita Island.
[Venezuela: Margarita Island]
Margarita Island is also home to mangrove forests within a radius of 100 miles, which are essentially the same as those found on tropical coasts on the planet in terms of appearance, structure and composition, and are a biome determined by the salt soil of tropical coasts. Mangrove forests have the functions of preventing wind and waves, promoting siltation and beach protection, shore fixing, and purifying sea water and air – the focus is on the abundance of animals in mangroves, such as starfish, oysters and hermit crabs; Such as pelicans, herons, ibises, egrets, and so on.
[Venezuela: Margarita Island]
The local islanders often pluck the oysters attached to the roots of the mangroves, pry open the shell with a dagger, remove the meat, and eat them after a few simple washes in the sea, believing that this is the most delicious taste.
【Mangrove forests of Margarita Island】
For example, Mount Avila
Monte Avila is a famous tourist attraction in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and if you are not in good shape, you can choose to take the cable car, which is a long route that spans two peaks to reach the end. However, as the cable car slowly ascends, the whole view of Caracas can slowly appear in front of you, and the altitude of Mount Avila is more than 2,100 meters, so you can enjoy a panoramic view of the whole Caracas from the top of the mountain to the south, and the Caribbean Sea to the north.
【Mount Avila】
The entire Avila Mountains are well protected by the trees, which give the illusion of entering a primeval forest, and are sometimes covered in clouds and mist, making you feel refreshed. There are only a few tourists in the quiet mountain forest, and the occasional bird that flutters its wings can scare you at the moment. In addition to the beauty and flora and fauna, of course, there is also the food – Venezuela's famous roast suckling pig, accompanied by sangria and other delicacies.
【Mount Avila】
3. Endless food
Of course, I won't talk about those high, refined, and cutting-edge so-called delicacies here, because this kind of delicacies are actually similar to similar classes all over the world, and the main focus is four words: scarce and expensive. The food that can be called each country must be eaten and affordable by the majority of ordinary people in that country or region, and it is the real food that can represent the country.
The core of Venezuelan cuisine is the use of corn, beans, fruits and vegetables as both staple foods and supplementary foods.
[Venezuela: Looks tempting tortillas]
For example, corn
Anyone in Venezuela can eat corn with endless ideas – their love and dependence on corn is genuine. In the case of Aliaka, it is a food made with cornmeal and ingredients such as pork, beef, chicken and nuts, similar to our dumplings.
【Venezuelan Cuisine】
The process involves boiling the crushed corn ballast, adding cold water to soak it, mixing it with the cooked cornmeal, and then adding chicken broth, butter, salt, etc. to taste, and then mix evenly and set aside. Then the pork, beef and chicken are boiled and diced, and at the same time, green onions, garlic, capers and other condiments are added, and then olives, raisins and other fillings are added, and these fillings are wrapped in corn tortillas to make a rectangular flat shape, which cannot be eaten immediately after boiling in water - it needs to be left for a day and eaten after it has been thoroughly tasted.
【Venezuelan Cuisine】
As for Venezuelan tortillas, they are crunchy rusks made of corn that can be baked, fried, or used as a sandwich ingredient, and are very common in Venezuela, from Venezuelan state dinners to street snack stalls or breakfast carts.
【Venezuelan Cuisine】
Take beef, for example
The popular black pepper beef in Venezuela is honey-glazed beef that is roasted over a slow fire. Compared to the traditional Latin American family roast beef, the Venezuelan black pepper is superior in taste, giving people a taste bud stimulation with a mixture of spicy and sweet.
【Venezuelan beef with rice and tortillas】
However, the taste of black pepper beef made in each restaurant and each family is absolutely different, not only the marinating method and time are different, but also the roasting time and honey sauce are also different, so the taste of black pepper meat cooked in each restaurant is different.
But the most common way to do this is to take a piece of tender beef, brush it with sugar and wine to make a sweet sauce, and grill it with ginger, pepper and chili.
【Cattle Farms in Venezuela】
Fourth, the beauty of endless choices
Venezuela, a country with a total population of less than 29 million, is the country that has produced the most global or regional beauty pageant winners in the world, and has produced 6 Miss World, 7 Miss Universe, and 7 Miss International. Despite the difficulties of the social and economic environment, the Venezuelan people have maintained a tradition of beauty pageants for more than 70 years.
Since Venezuela became a Spanish colony in 1567, there have been Indian, European, African and other different groups of people in this land to reproduce here.
In 1955, Susana Duijm became the first woman to win the Miss World crown for Venezuela, and since then, Venezuela's beauty pageant training, exams, competitions, interviews, etc. have become more crazy and become an important part of Venezuela.
[Suzanne Duim is holding a magazine photo of herself after winning the championship]
Benefits of beauty pageants
From the perspective of larger economic development, Venezuela's beauty pageant industry - it has really developed into a complete, full-chain industrialization model, giving birth to a large number of plastic surgery industry, model training industry, cosmetics consumption industry, advertising packaging industry, etc., can fully realize the rapid flow of capital.
If you look at it from the perspective of your own family, Venezuela has a variety of regional and national beauty pageants, if it is national, such as Miss Venezuela, who was born from a national beauty pageant, not only in Venezuela with fame and fortune, but also will soon be famous all over the world, and instantly get invitations to various global beauty pageants.
The most important thing is that the girl who grew up in the slums, and the family members who have great hopes for her, can escape poverty and, with a little luck, even move to a higher or top class, from this point of view, beauty pageants are a panacea for ordinary families, especially poor families, to get rid of their economic status and social status.
Alternative extremes
For these girls and their families, the probability of success is low, if any, and the sacrifices involved in the process are enormous. For example, you must learn to starve in order to be able to exchange for a body with a golden ratio; For example, you have to endure all kinds of plastic surgery and even surgery, after all, models with a natural perfect body are actually one in a thousand or even one in a thousand, and most people can only go through acquired shaping, plastic surgery and even fillers - isn't this an "artificial beauty"? So what!
As for training schools, do girls need to go in at the age of 15-16? For Venezuela, it was too late, it was simply too late, and the meaning and value of training was lost. In Venezuela, it is normal for girls aged 5-6 to go to special modeling beauty pageant training schools, and if it is delayed until 10-12 years old, many modeling schools will not even admit them.
【The slums of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela】
These 5-6-year-old, 8-9-year-old girls are sent to various beauty pageant schools under the hope and gaze of their families to "get out of trouble", and together with hundreds of children with the same goal, they begin to learn professional catwalk, makeup, conversation, etiquette, clothing sensitivity, and so on.
[Change is the thing that every poor Venezuelan desires the most]
epilogue
Venezuela is a very complex or relatively simple country, everyone will actually have their own answers, so, the most embarrassing oil, not enough to see the scene; The endless list of delicacies and the endless selection of beauties can only describe some of the contours of Venezuela. Moreover, it is indeed difficult for some strongmen to keep an eye on whether Venezuela's economy can recover right now - there are more than 500 sanctions imposed by other countries covering almost all areas, so we can not only look at it from a different perspective by briefly summarizing the beauty pageant in Venezuela, but also conclude this article.
【委内瑞拉的另一选美冠军：Irene Sáez】
- When Irene Sáez, who was crowned Miss Universe in 1997 and Miss Venezuela in 1981, won the beauty pageant, her life began to go all the way, not only in politics and was elected mayor many times, but also competed with Chavez for the presidency of Venezuela.
- When Dayana Mendonza successfully won the 2007 Miss Venezuela crown in September 2007, not only got a bonus of about 390,000 US dollars, the life of the whole family was fully guaranteed, but she also represented Venezuela in the Miss Universe 2008 contest held in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and successfully became the fifth Miss Venezuela in history to win the Miss Ring crown.
[Dayana Mendonza]
Regardless of which one wins the crown, the few words they say the most when facing the media can be summed up like this: for example, beauty pageants have made Venezuelan women more dignified; For example, they are using their beauty and wisdom to change the troubled city and their own lives; For example, why do countless girls often shed tears of excitement when they walk on the star-studded stage?
What exactly is change? Is it only through beauty pageants? 】