July International Supper Club- Venezuela

At the beginning of the year, I googled international holidays to plan out the International Supper Clubs for the year. Venezuela celebrates two national holidays in July—their Independance Day on the 5th and Simon Bolivar’s birthday on the 25th. Since there were two big holidays in July, I penciled Venezuela in for July’s International Supper Club meal. Admittedly, I do not know much about Venezuela other than it is located in South America. I was a little taken a back when I started doing research for this blog post all the travel advisory warnings for Venezuela. Headlines popped up about how dangerous it is for Americans to travel there because of violence, gang activity, drugs, etc. And while that might be true, I know that there is always a lot more to a country than these surface headlines. Plus I was curious how Venezuela became such a dangerous country riddled with so much crime and corruption.

I have rewritten this paragraphs a handful of times. Like all countries, there are so many layers, complexities and nuances to how we got to present-day Venezuela that cannot be neatly tied into bow or wrapped up in one paragraph. Here’s what I will say, Venezuela was colonized by the Spaniards and remained under colonial rule until 1800s. Venezuela was the first country in South America to gain their independence from Spain. Simon Bolivar, whose birthday is a national holiday, was instrumental in helping Venezuela and other South American countries gain their independence. In the 1900s, oil was discovered in Venezuela and it became its number one export. At one point, Venezuela was the wealthiest country in South America. Venezuela didn’t diversify and develop other sectors of their economy, so when oil prices plummeted they were screwed; add bad policies, corrupt leaders, and U.S.-backed sanctions—it’s a recipe for disaster. A disaster where millions have fled to the United States due lack of access of food, water, medication. Those that do stay might have to turn to violence or illegal activity in order to survive.

Underneath my interest in the geopolitics of Venezuela is a yearning to understand why some of us have more than enough and others have nothing. How is that fair? And how is it fair and just that when a person seeks asylum in the United States, looking for a better life and to have their basic needs met, that they are turned away or rounded up by ICE and locked in a cage without due process. It’s not fair, it’s not just. So this month for the International Supper Club, we will be honoring the immigrants who bravely fled their country seeking a better life; brought their cuisines and customs contributing the rich tapestry of the United States and what it means to be American—a land of immigrants.

See you on July 24th at Spring Lake Park from 5-7 PM. Click the link to pre-order your meal.

This month 10% of sales will go towards an organization providing food aid in Venezuela. Organization to be determined.