Venezuela Project

La Ciudadanía Construye su Historia. Reconstrucción del imaginario, uso del espacio y Procesos Sociopolíticos (Siglo XX)

State: Venezuela

Place: Puerto Ayacucho, State of Amazonas.

Absract: the project aims to reconstruct the fundamental features of the historical memory of Puerto Ayacucho as no-oil space, considered in terms of participation and collective action in the process of national integration and strengthening of Venezuela.

Detailed description: Puerto Ayacucho, capital of the State of Amazonas, has been, throughout the years, an important destination of various indigenous populations, among them: Banivo, Wotjuja or Piaroan, and Kurripakos, all of them coming from the surrouding area.

In the course of the first mission, different meetings were organized with many local eminent people (researchers, journalists, indigenous representatives,non indigenous residents, city authorities) in order to define interests and needs relative to their traditional forms of knowledge, and also with the State of Amazonas’ Governor, Liborio Guarulla, who renewed the State support to the project.

In order to reach the reasearch objectives, the idea is to collect the testimonies of citizens as essential and unreplaceable sources.

The project aims to identify the social actors which have the duty to contribute to the reconstruction of collective memory directed to portray the citizens’ participation to the national integration process.

At the same time, the project will locate and systematize useful documental and material repertoires.

Due to the complexity of this research project, manifold sources will be consulted, sources to be found in the documental and hemerographic archives of the Republic of Venezuela, such as: Registro Principal del Estado Amazonas; Archivo Histórico de Miraflores; Archivo General de la Nación, Sección de interior y Justicia, Biblioteca Nacional, sección de Hemeroteca nacional, Hojas sueltas, Libros Raros.

In the second phase, there will be an analysis, discussion and writing of results, which will be published and shared in open seminars, as the International Congress of American Studies by the main members of the research team.

More over, the mission will produce material meant for double blind peer review journals, and to further collective publications.

Partners & sponsors:

• Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (MAECI-DGSP), Italy
• Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela
• University of Perugia, Italy