Country Profile Part 1: Venezuelan Culture

The country I have chosen to profile is Venezuela.  Venezuela is a country in South America.  I have chosen this country because I am interested in South American culture and hope to travel there some day.  Venezuela seemed like an interesting choice because recently they have had many political problems and have been featured in the news a lot lately.

Here is some information regarding the culture of Venezuela:

Popular Sports 

• The most prevalent sports in Venezuela are baseball, soccer, and basketball.  Baseball is the most popular sport.  Some Venezuelan sport icons include:
• Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers MLB (triple crown winner, AL MVP 2012 & 2013)
• Pablo Sandoval - San Francisco Giants MLB (World Series MVP 2012)

Music 

• The traditional music of Venezuela is salsa, merengue, and joropo.  Joropo is the most popular and is a rural form of music that originated in the plains.  Some popular Venezuelan musicians include:
• Oscar D'León - a famous musician of salsa music 
• Alicia Machado - a famous Venezuelan actress, singer, and former miss universe.  

Food

• Some staple ingredients in Venezuelan dishes include coconut, plantains, seafood, goat, corn, and Italian pasta dishes. 
• Traditional dishes 
• Venezuelan Andean Hallacas - Venezuelan tamales 
• Tequeños - fried cheese sticks 
• Arepas - corn tortillas filled with some form of meat 

Major religions/spiritual beliefs 

• It is estimated that 92% of the Venezuelan population is Roman Catholic 

National holidays and traditional customs 

• Declaration of Independence day - April 19 
• Easter - April 20 
• Independence day - July 5 
• Hugo Chavez Day - December 8 
• Simon Bolivar remembrance day - December 17
• Christmas - December 25 

Popular TV shows and movies 

• Miss Venezuelan 2012 is one of the most watched and popular 
• Some important actors and actresses are Édgar Ramírez and Majandra Delfino 

Online news sources 

• El Universal: Major Venezuela newspaper with news section in English.
• http://www.eluniversal.com/english/
• Latin Focus - Venezuela: Examines Economic indicators, forecasts, briefing, calendar, and links to government, companies, and news.
• http://www.latin-focus.com/latinfocus/countries/venezuela/venezuela.htm#Economic%20Indicator
• Venezuelan analysis  
• http://venezuelanalysis.com/

Online forums for expatriates 

• Venezuelan expat forum 
• http://www.gringos.com/forum/f91/
• Internations Expat forum 
• http://www.internations.org/venezuela-expats/forum

Type of Government 

• Venezuela is a federal republic.  It is governed by a constitution.  Executive power is held by the president who is head as the state and head of the government.  Has four branches, the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the citizens branch. 
• Has multiple parties including The United Socialist Party and The Democratic Unity Roundtable.
• Nicolas Manduro is the president of Venezuela he succeeded Hugo Chavez who died in office in 2013 
• Venezuela is currently in political turmoil that is causing economic and social problems.  Venezuela is in a state of limbo between socialist and capitalist practices.