Religious Freedom in Venezuela

The Venezuelan Constitution, drafted after a popular referendum in 1998, guarantees freedom of religious expression and safeguards the rights of indigenous populations to practice their own traditional religions. The majority of Venezuelans are Catholic, but there are prominent Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, and indigenous populations, and these minority religions are generally able to practice freely. Despite these provisions, Venezuela was placed on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s watch list in 2011 for the third time. The report cites the Venezuelan government’s failure to prosecute acts of vandalism on various mosques, synagogues, and churches. Although a 1964 agreement between the Venezuelan government and the Catholic Church established special government subsidies for Catholic schools and institutions, high-profile disputes between the Chávez government and leaders of the Catholic Church have led to church-state tension. Chávez has publicly criticized high-profile Catholic clergy for meddling in politics, including Archbishop Jorge Uroso, who claimed that the Chavez agenda represents a threat to Catholics, and has even allegedly begun wiretapping the phones of Catholic leaders and expropriating Church property. Anti-Semitism is also prevalent in Venezuela, as demonstrated by the political cartoons put forth by Chávez’s campaign that mocked his opponent’s Jewish ancestry. This and other incidents, coupled with increased diplomatic tensions between Israel and Venezuela, have led the Jewish community to petition the Chávez government to take a more aggressive approach towards anti-Semitism in public discourse. Responding to these calls, Chávez, who suspended relations with Israel in 2009, has met with prominent Jewish leaders and publicly denounced the proliferation of anti-Semitism.