Feb. 28-March 6, 2013, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event:
Hugo Chávez served as president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. Chávez was born on July 28, 1954. In 1975, he graduated from the Venezuelan Military Academy and became an army officer. After leading a failed 1992 coup, Chávez won the presidential election six years later. In a public referendum (direct vote by the people) in 1999, Chávez gained approval for a new “Bolivarian Constitution” for Venezuela. In 2000, 2006, and 2012, he was reelected president. A charismatic leader, Chávez had aroused deep loyalty and deep hatred for his socialist policies, which included using Venezuela’s oil profits to fund government programs for the poor, and for his strident criticism of the United States. His critics pointed to Venezuela’s rocky economic record during his tenure in office and claimed that he tried to make Venezuela into a communist nation. Chávez died on March 5, 2013.
Objective:
Venezuela, a South American country, ranks as one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of petroleum. Before its oil industry began to grow quickly in the 1920′s, Venezuela was a poor country. Since then, Venezuela has become one of the richest countries in South America. Many American Indian tribes lived in what is now Venezuela before European settlers arrived in 1498. Christopher Columbus was the first European explorer to reach Venezuela. Spanish explorers and settlers soon followed. Spain ruled Venezuela for about 300 years. In 1811, Venezuela declared its independence from Spain. In 1819, Venezuela became part of Gran Colombia, a country that also included what are now Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Venezuela broke away from Gran Colombia in 1829 and became a separate independent country in 1830. After achieving independence, Venezuela had many periods of civil unrest. A series of dictators ruled the country until the mid-1900′s. Since 1958, all Venezuelan presidents have been democratically elected. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore Hugo Chávez and Venezuela.
Words to know:
• Simón Bolívar
• Caracas
• Fidel Castro
• Hugo Chávez
• Communism
• Latin America
• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• Socialism
• South America
• Venezuela
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students what they know about Venezuela. (They might say most Venezuelans speak Spanish, the country’s official language; most Venezuelans are Roman Catholic; Caracas is Venezuela’s capital and largest city.)
2. Venezuela is one of 12 OPEC nations. Ask your students if they know the other 11 OPEC nations. (The other OPEC nations are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.)
3. Chávez was elected president of Venezuela in 1998, and reelected three times. The U.S. Constitution says that no one can be elected president more than twice. Have your students debate the topic, “The U.S. president should be able to serve an unlimited number of terms.”
4. Ask your students to use the World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of Hugo Chávez’s life. (Or, students can make a timeline of Venezuelan history.)