Study of Immigration From Spain Into Venezuela, 1948-1998

“The exploration of the significant and changing role of regional and national immigrant clubs and networks, the varying motives for emigration, and the different strategies Canarians and Galicians of two generations employed to preserve their status and socially ascend are among the most original features of this monograph...
Derham does not shun controversy. Readers might not agree with all of his theses, but they will find this well-researched and timely book, to my knowledge the first on immigration to Venezuela in English, to be thought-provoking. It will be of interest to students of History, Human Geography, and Latin American and Hispanic Studies.”
-Professor Jens Hentschke,
Newcastle University

“Extensively researched, Derham has produced a fascinating account of immigration in Venezuela. His work breaks from previous studies by examining the racial underpinnings of Venezuelan immigration policy. He links the movement of people to national building and state creation underscoring the middle class fears of blacks and mestizos espoused during both the Pérez Jiménez dictatorship and the democratic period after 1958. He is the first scholar to address the golondrinas/transeute phenomenon, where by immigrants were conceived as only temporary workers who would subsequently return to their homeland. Derham insightfully assesses how military governments and democratic parties manipulated immigrants, both European and Colombians for political gain. The work highlights the fluidity of immigrant identity as émigrés claimed different nationalities when it suited their interests. This book is essential for an understanding of contemporary Venezuelan society.”
-Professor Miguel Tinker Salas,
Pomona College, Claremont, CA

“If Cuba can be seen as a leading case in Latin American social studies, Venezuela is the most recent example of confronting ideas and values within a society that still fights colonial and post-colonial allegiance to foreign powers to shape its national identity. Michael Derham builds on his research expertise and first-hand field experience to produce one of the most interesting and freshly researched accounts of a mid-twentieth century European emigration to South America.”
-Dr. Edmundo Murray,
World Trade Organization,Geneva

“Michael Derham’s expert study of migrations into Venezuela is informed by the author’s distinctive focus on both the political history of Latin American dictatorships and the mechanisms of economic and political diaspora within the Hispanic world. His views are shaped by a very well balanced combination of methodological formulae, which include his enlightening definition of the Antagonistic State, field work interviews with Spanish migrants and archival research. Michael Derha’s work effectively challenges established ideas on the contemporary scholarship of migrations, democracy and dictatorship in the Spanish-speaking world. His revealing book is both riveting to read and an essential tool in order to gain a human as well as historical perspective on the foundations of the Spanish community in contemporary Venezuela.”
-Dr. Carlos Conde Solares,
Director of Modern Languages,
Dept. of Social Sciences and Languages
Northumbria University

Foreword by Jens R. Hentschke
Chapter 1: Immigration, National Identity and Nation Building
-Distinction between political and cultural nationalism
-Key features in the formation of identity
-America
-Immigration and nation-building
-Integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities and identification with the host society
-Immigration and national identity in Venezuela
Chapter 2: Immigration Policies in Venezuela
-Immigration Laws in Venezuela
-Background during the nineteenth century
-Gómez and Vallenilla Lanz
-Transition period (1936-1945)
-The Military Junta
-The Transitional Government
-Acción Democrática and Rómulo Betabcourt
-Industry
-Agriculture
-Culture and education
Conclusions
Chapter 3: Intellectual Background to Immigration
-Alberto Adriani
-Arturo Uslar Pietri
-Politics or racialism
-The Acción Democrática trienio
-Eduardo Mendoza Goiticoa
-Rómulo Gallegos and Positivism
-Pérez Jiménez and the new national ideal
Conclusions
Chapter 4: Immigration Processes Between Spain and Venezuela
-Penninsular Spain: Juán Jo?e Llorente
-Canary Islands: Antonio Revelo
-Background and secondary literature
-Background: Post-Civil War Spain
-Galicia: Background,br> -Canary Islands: background
-Venezuela: Background
-Original Spanish of Juán Jo?e Llorente
Chapter 5: Emigration from Northern Spain and the Canary Islands
-Canarian emigration
-Peninsular emigration,br> -Living conditions
-Employment insertion
Conclusion
Chapter 6: Questions of Integration into Venezuelan Society
-Integration
-Integration under Pérez Jiménez
-Integration under Punto Fijo democracy (now known as the Fourth Republic)
-Regional clubs
-Education
-Hybrid society
-National identity
-Original Spanish of Juán Llorente
-Original Spanish of Antonio Revelo
Chapter 7: Alienation from Venezuelan Society
-National identity: Canary Islands
-National identity: Mainland
-The Antagonistic State
Conclusions
Chapter 8: Conclusions and Lessons to be Learned
-Creolisation
-The Venezuela of Pérez Jiménez
-Democratic opposition
-Immigrant integration
-Marriage and children
-Politics
-Education
-Urban clusters
-Entrepreneurship
-Nationalism and national identity
-Alienation
-Lessons to be learned
Appendix: List of Interviewees
Bibliography
Index