Women's Mobilization for Suffrage in Venezuela a Thesis

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Equal Rights for Equal Action: Women’s Mobilization for Suffrage in Venezuela A Thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Latin American Studies by Erica Lynn Skog Committee in Charge: Professor Carlos Waisman, Chair Professor Rosaura Sanchez Professor Stephanie Jed 2008 The Thesis of Erica Lynn Skog is approved for and is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: Chair University of California, San Diego 2008 iii DEDICATION For my parents, who have supported me in my decisions, no matter what, encouraged me to pursue my interests, and who helped me make decisions that got me to where I wanted to be. For all of the teachers and professors who have inspired me anywhere along my academic journey: without your enthusiasm for history and encouragement I would not have gotten to where I am right now. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature page…………………………………………………………………… iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………. iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………. v List of Names and Abbreviations……………………………………………… vii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………….. viii Abstract………………………………………………………………………... ix Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter One: Women’s Mobilization in Latin America……………………… 3 Defining Women’s Mobilization………………………………………. 3 Constructing Demands for Women…………………………………… 10 Challenges to Women’s Mobilization………………………………….. 14 Chapter Two: Domestic Factors in the Process to Obtain Suffrage…………… 21 The Position of Women’s Organizations in Venezuela………………… 21 The Venezuelan Case…………………………………………………. 27 The Origins of Popular Mobilizations…....…………………………… 30 Popular Mobilizations Under López…………………………………… 37 Social Upheaval: Urbanization and the Petroleum Industry……………. 46 Chapter Three: Women’s Mobilization for Rights and Suffrage……………….. 50 Growth Efforts of Women’s Organizations……………………………. 50 Expansion of Women’s Organizations: López to Medina……………… 55 Popular Organizations in the Transition from López to Medina………. 62 Liberalization of Authoritarianism…………………………………….. 65 v External Pressures: Deepening Economic Ties, Growing Influence…... 67 The Venezuelan Women’s Suffrage Movement……………………….. 74 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. 80 Appendix…………………………………………………………………….. 85 Bibliography………………………………………………………………….. 86 vi LIST OF NAMES AND ABBREVIATIONS Juan Vicente Gomez strongman leader 1912-1935 Eleazar López Contreras president/dictator 1935-1941 Isaías Medina Angarita president/dictator 1941-1945 ACF Agrupación (Asociación) Cultural Femenina AD Acción Democrática AVM Asociación Venezolana de Mujeres COPEI Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente FEV Federación de Estudiantes de Venezuela FVM Federación Venezolana de Maestros ORVE Organización Revolucionaria Venezolana Electoral (later Organización Venezolana; precursor to AD) vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the support and guidance of all the members of my committee, Professor Carols Waisman, Professor Rosaura Sanchez, and Professor Stephanie Jed. Each helped me immensely as I focused and conducted my research, and worked through many drafts. I would further like to acknowledge the Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies and the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies for their grant funding support that allowed me to conduct research in Venezuela in August 2007. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the support of my family and friends during this process. Whether they knew it or not, they helped me get through all kinds of stress and writers block and helped me celebrate accomplishments along the way. viii ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Equal Rights for Equal Action: Women’s Mobilization for Suffrage in Venezuela by Erica Lynn Skog Master of Arts in Latin American Studies University of California, San Diego Professor Carlos Waisman, Chair Falling between the first and seconds of wave global suffrage movements, the process that led to the extension of suffrage for women in Venezuela is multifaceted. Beginning in 1928 (under an authoritarian regime), popular organizations grew increasingly persistent in their demands for an end to repressive policies. As the movement developed, however, Venezuelan women recognized the necessity of organizing on their own behalf in order to ensure that future democratic administrations ix would address their concerns. To that end, women formed organizations to present their concerns, as well as participate in the democratization movement. During periods of authoritarian repression, women utilized gender stereotypes to continue making demands and mobilize (whereas many men could not take the risk), developing organizational and leadership skills, as well as internally debating the focus of their efforts. They relied on language of gender difference to seek legal reform that would grant rights to women as mothers and would allow them to complete “traditional” jobs more efficiently. As the movement progressed and the governmental regime became more tolerant, women expanded their demands to include political, as well as legal, rights. The limited success of a campaign to reform the Código Civil invigorated women’s organizations to work explicitly for suffrage, maintaining pressure on the administration, as well as on the male leaders of political organizations. Ultimately, despite myriad challenges, including repressive governmental policies, gender stereotypes and prejudice, and debate over organizational goals and direction, women in Venezuela succeeded in working methodically towards improving legal protections and gaining political rights for women. x Introduction Throughout the world, popular movements of the twentieth century illuminated a multitude of inequalities inscribed in social systems, from racial and gender prejudice to class divisions; to rectify some of these problems (and especially those based in gender) the proposed solutions affected the whole of a population. Throughout the twentieth century, the growing consciousness towards the need to eliminate the effects gender disparity inspired scholars to investigate the ways in which women participated in society in history, how these practices changed in the twentieth century and what effect these changes had on conditions for women. In particular, recent scholarship on Latin America has focused on how women challenged popular perceptions of female participation and how they entered the public sphere to confront both authoritarian regimes and gender stereotypes. However, while scholars have documented and analyzed the participation of women in certain areas thoroughly, the efforts of other women, such as the struggle of Venezuelan women to obtain the right to vote, remain comparatively unknown. In what follows, I propose to bring the efforts of Venezuelan women further into the discussion of popular movements, to acknowledge the crucial role that they played in improving the legal status of women before the law, to situate this movement within the broader context of popular mobilization in Venezuela, and briefly explain how the example of that the Venezuelan case illustrates important challenges in how Latin American women mobilize. As when investigating any of the twentieth century mobilization efforts of Latin American women, in order to fully appreciate the dimensions of the Venezuelan case, it is important to understand the general conditions under which the movement arose and 1 2 women mobilized. First, although the focus here remains on the extension of suffrage to women in Venezuela, one must also understand the general conditions facing women in Latin America at the time, as well as the challenges that gender posed, as the major themes of inequality affected the lives of women across the region equally. Additionally, in order to situate the public activities of Venezuelan women, one must place their participation into the framework of general popular mobilization within the nation during the period; the actions of other groups give context by which one can recognize the significance of women’s efforts on their own behalf. Lastly, in the Venezuelan case one cannot understand women’s popular mobilization outside of the tumultuous political climate of the period; the authoritarian regimes of the early twentieth century and the relationship each had with global political entities also affected mobilization. By placing these diverse conditions and factors into a framework, one begins to understand how the process by which Venezuelan women won the right to vote in 1946. Here, I will illustrate how the extension of suffrage resulted in part because of popular mobilization by women, in part because of decisions made by governmental and political elites, and in part because of how external forces influenced the behavior of these various domestic groups. What follows addresses the nature and influence of each of these factors and brings together the issues pertinent to how, in 1946, Venezuelan women obtained the right to vote. Chapter One: Women’s Mobilization in Latin America Defining Women’s Mobilization As scholars concerned with the role of women in social mobilizations have noted, the experiences of Latin American women differ dramatically from their North American counterparts. Not only do these women make different demands of ruling elites, the manner in which they organize and articulate their concerns is distinct. Whereas the movements of the “first wave” of feminism in North America and parts of Europe

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