Portuguese-Venezuelan relations

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Portuguese-Venezuelan relations
Location of Portugal and Venezuela
PortugalPortugal VenezuelaVenezuela
Portugal Venezuela

The Portuguese-Venezuelan relations describe the intergovernmental relationship between Portugal and Venezuela . The countries have had direct diplomatic relations since 1914.

The traditionally good relations are shaped by the important Portuguese community in Venezuela and the joint membership in a number of international organizations, in particular the Ibero-American summit and the Latin Union . Relations were particularly good under Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez , who visited Portugal four times and there a. a. Contracts for Portuguese computer manufacturers, construction companies and shipyards worth billions of euros.

In 2015, 172,266 Portuguese were registered in the consulates in Venezuela, the total number of people of Portuguese origin in Venezuela is estimated at around 400,000, the second largest Portuguese community in Latin America after Brazil.
In Portugal there were 2,010 Venezuelans registered in the same period, of which 581 made up the largest group in Madeira .

history

Ibero-American Summit in Chile (2007), which was also attended by Portugal and Venezuela

Despite the Portuguese-Spanish treaty of Tordesillas , a large number of Portuguese traders, craftsmen, mercenaries and artists tried their luck in the parts of South America assigned to Spain, including Venezuela, which also borders the Portuguese colony of Brazil at the time . Some names there still remember this time, such as the Punta de Portugal on the island of La Tortuga or the state of Portuguesa . This is named after the Río Portuguesa , from which it flows, a tributary of the Río Apure . According to popular legend, a beautiful Portuguese woman who was part of an expedition of conquistadors drowned in this river .

In 1914, Portugal and Venezuela established direct diplomatic relations.

Portuguese immigration to Venezuela began in the 1940s. The growing Portuguese community was particularly devoted to trade.

After the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and the end of the Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal, the country joined the EU in 1986 and enjoyed strong economic development. In the context of the parallel onset of economic opening and internationalization of the Portuguese economy, Portugal's international contacts have now also increased, including several state visits to Venezuela. Portugal's Prime Minister Cavaco Silva visited Venezuela in 1994, followed by Portugal's President Sampaio in 1997.

After the assumption of office of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 1999 and the subsequent temporary economic development in Venezuela, bilateral relations intensified, especially from around 2001, with a large number of mutual visits at different levels.

After the death of President Chávez in 2013 and the subsequent increasing economic and domestic political crisis in Venezuela, bilateral relations have lost some of their intensity, even if they have remained good.

Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez (2007)

Socialist President Hugo Chávez , who ruled from 1999 until his death in 2013 , had particularly good relations with Portugal. In October 2001 he came to Portugal for the first time for a state visit, where he also spent a day in Madeira, from where most of the Portuguese in Venezuela come.

In 2007 he was received by Portugal's Socialist Prime Minister Sócrates , whom Chávez described as a "good friend". Contracts by the Portuguese Galp for gas and oil purchases in Venezuela accompanied this visit.

During the third state visit in 2008, economic agreements were the focus of Chavez's visit to Portugal. Among the five contracts for a total of around 2 billion euros was the contract to the Portuguese construction company Teixeira Duarte to expand the Venezuelan port of La Guaira , deliver Portuguese medicines, and a 700 million euros construction program for 12,500 social housing and two factories in Venezuela.

On the occasion of the fourth state visit in 2010, Chávez finally ordered 1.5 million copies of the Portuguese Magalhães computer from Sócrates, which was already struggling with the severe economic crisis in Portugal. In Venezuela, computers are known as Canaima . Chávez ordered two cargo ships from the Viana do Castelo shipyards and briefly showed interest in the Atlántica , which had originally been built for the regional government of the Azores but had not been delivered.

In September 2006, relations between Chavez and the Portuguese government under Sócrates had temporarily deteriorated when the Venezuelan president used posters with a picture of himself and Sócrates, subtitled with the words “The blockade has broken. Venezuela is respected! ”.

Portuguese immigration to Venezuela

migration

80% of the Portuguese living in Venezuela immigrated between 1940 and 1980, largely from the island of Madeira , but also from the mainland, especially from the Aveiro district . After a last high phase in the 1970s, 12,000 Portuguese came to Venezuela. The number dropped to 6,000 in the early 1980s and continued to decline to 500 in the early 2000s. As a result of the economic and domestic political situation, immigration has largely come to a standstill. In 1990, 68,277 Venezuelan residents were born in Portugal, but this number fell to 37,326 in 2011. As a result of the ongoing economic and domestic political crisis, an emigration of Portuguese from Venezuela has started instead. In addition to returnees to Portugal, some also emigrate to other countries such as Colombia, Panama, the USA or Spain.

People born in Portugal make up only 3.2% of the foreign population, making them one of the smaller minorities in Venezuela.

In 2015, 172,266 Portuguese were registered in the consulates in Venezuela. The Portuguese of Venezuela are among the ten largest groups of Portuguese abroad. The total number of people of Portuguese origin in Venezuela is estimated at around 400,000, the largest Portuguese community in Latin America after Brazil. In a broader sense, up to 1.3 million Venezuelans could possibly be of Portuguese descent.

Remittances

The total of remittances from Venezuela to Portugal amounted to 6.974 million euros in 2013 (2012: 12.098 million; 2010: 15.784 million; 2005: 6.133 million). Remittances from Portugal to Venezuela amounted to EUR 0.574 million in the same period (2012: 1.425 million; 2010: 0.637 million; 2005: 1.071 million). The figures are also influenced by the exchange rate of the Venezuelan bolívar to the euro .

The Venezuelan actress Kimberly Dos Ramos, daughter of Portuguese parents

Well-known Venezuelans of Portuguese descent

Some of the famous people in Venezuela are also of Portuguese descent, for example:

diplomacy

Venezuelan Consulate in Lisbon
Portuguese representations in Venezuela

As the first permanent Ambassador of Portugal in Venezuela accredited in 1914 Fernão Botto Machado , consul in the Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro , and only in 1915, with headquarters in the Venezuelan capital.

The Portuguese embassy in the capital Caracas resides in the Torre La Castellana building at the intersection of Avenida Eugenio Mendoza and Calle Jose Angel Lamas .

There are also two Portuguese consulates general in Venezuela , one in Caracas and one in Valencia . These are honorary consulates in Barcelona , Ciudad Guayana / Puerto Ordaz , Los Teques , La Guaira , Barquisimeto , Guanare , Maracay , Merida , San Cristobal , and on the Isla Margarita furnished.

Venezuelan representations in Portugal

The Venezuelan Embassy in Portugal is located at 47 Avenida Duque de Loulé in the capital, Lisbon .

Venezuela also has consulates in Lisbon, Porto and in Funchal , the capital of Madeira.

economy

In a branch of the Venezuelan Unicasa supermarket chain , a company owned by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira

Under the Socialist President Chávez, Portuguese construction companies, computer manufacturers and shipyards received contracts worth billions, particularly between 2007 and 2010, and Venezuelan natural gas and oil were supplied to the Portuguese Galp . Since then, bilateral economic relations have declined again, also as a result of the ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela.

The Portuguese living in Venezuela include many small and medium-sized entrepreneurs who are particularly active in retail, but also some large companies have been founded here by the Portuguese, such as supermarket chains such as Líder , Central Madeirense , Unicasa and others. a.

Companies from Portugal are also present in Venezuela, such as the Pestana hotel chain or JP Sá Couto , manufacturer of the Magalhães computer.

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP has a branch at the Portuguese Embassy in Caracas. The bilateral Chamber of Commerce Cámara Venezolana Portuguesa de Comercio, Industria, Turismo y Afines (CAVENPORT) should also be mentioned, also based in the center of Caracas.

In 2015, Portugal exported goods and services worth EUR 207.5 million to Venezuela (2014: 411.1 million; 2013: 506.5 million; 2012: 528.2 million; 2011: 323.8 million .), thereof 33.8% agricultural products, 24.3% machines and devices, 7.5% metals and 1.8% ores and minerals.

In the same period, Venezuela delivered goods and services worth 93.7 million euros to Portugal (2014: 35.6 million; 2013: 26.5 million; 2012: 196.8 million; 2011: 27.4 million .). 98.5% of these goods were metals, 0.8% chemical-pharmaceutical products, 0.3% agricultural products and 0.1% food.

This made Venezuela the 37th buyer and 58th supplier for Portuguese foreign trade in goods. In Venezuela's foreign trade in goods, Portugal was 25th among buyers and 28th among suppliers.

Culture

The Portuguese cultural institute Instituto Camões is particularly present in Caracas with a language center and various partnerships for Portuguese teaching.

The Portuguese footballer Danny, born in Caracas in 1983

Sports

The Portuguese national football team and the Venezuelan national team have never played against each other, and the Portuguese and Venezuelan women's national teams have not met either. (As of January 2017).

Some Portuguese footballers such as national player Danny or coach Leonardo Jardim were born in Venezuela.

Web links

Commons : Portuguese-Venezuelan Relations  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Overview of diplomatic relations with Venezuela at the Diplomatic Institute in the Portuguese Foreign Ministry , accessed on March 4, 2017
  2. ↑ a b Computadores Magalhães e Navios no centro the quatro visitas de Chavez a Portugal [Magalhães computers and ships were the focus of the four state visits Chávez in Portugal], articles of 6 March 2013, the Portuguese newspaper Público , accessed March 4 2017
  3. ↑ a b Website on Portuguese-Venezuelan migration (Table A.1) at the Portuguese Scientific Observatório da Emigração , accessed on March 4, 2017
  4. ↑ a b Maior comunidade portuguesa da América Latina esperançada numa nova Venezuela [Largest Portuguese community in Latin America hopes for new Venezuela], article from April 13, 2013 in the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Notícias , accessed on March 4, 2017
  5. ↑ Totals of the number of Venezuelans in the official immigration statistics by district , Portuguese Immigration and Border Authority SEF, accessed on March 4, 2017
  6. ↑ Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006 ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 ), p. 790.
  7. ^ Website on bilateral relations between Portugal and Venezuela at the Venezuelan Embassy in Portugal, accessed on March 4, 2017
  8. ↑ Froilán Ramos Rodríguez: Travesía de la esperanza. La inmigración portuguesa en Barquisimeto (Venezuela) . FEDUPEL, Caracas 2018, ISBN 978-980-273-534-1 .
  9. ↑ a b c Dossier on Portuguese emigration , PDF access, page 249f, Portal of the international Portuguese municipalities ( Portal das Comunidades Portugueses ) of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, accessed on March 4, 2017
  10. ↑ Website on Portuguese-Venezuelan migration (Table A.1) at the Portuguese Scientific Observatório da Emigração , accessed on March 4, 2017
  11. ↑ Empresários portugueses na Venezuela "atropelados" pela crise [Portuguese entrepreneurs "run over" by crisis], article from May 19, 2016 on the website of the Portuguese radio station TSF , accessed on March 4, 2017
  12. ↑ Website on Portuguese-Venezuelan migration (Table A.6) at the Portuguese Scientific Observatório da Emigração , accessed on March 4, 2017
  13. ^ Biography Fernão Botto Machados in the historical archive of the Guarda district , accessed on March 4, 2017
  14. ↑ List of Portuguese representations abroad , Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed on March 4, 2017
  15. ^ Website of the Venezuelan Embassy in Lisbon , accessed on March 4, 2017
  16. ↑ Venezuelan Consulate in Funchal on www.embaixadas.net, accessed on March 4, 2017
  17. ↑ Overview of the presence in Venezuela , website of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP, accessed on March 4, 2017
  18. ↑ Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and Venezuela , Excel file retrieval from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP , accessed on March 4, 2017
  19. ↑ Overview of the activities in Venezuela , website of the Instituto Camões, accessed on March 4, 2017