Why are most diaspora Druze in Venezuela?

by luveha
headshotcatcher

I am not sure if I understand the wording of your question, but I'll write my answer as if your question was "Why are there significant numbers of Druze in Venezuela?"

The migration from Syria and Lebanon to the Americas was mostly economic in nature. The influx of settlers of Caucasian and Jewish backgrounds began picking up in the later part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century (The former due to the increasing Russian influence in the Caucasus and the conflicts with Turkey, the latter due to the start of Aliyah movements), while economic prospects in the Americas started to seem better and better.

My source mostly deals with Colombia, but the same dynamics were found in Venezuela and Curaçao. Syrian and Lebanese immigrants (mostly Christians at this point, but there were Jews and Muslims as well) would enter Colombia in the coastal region, but quickly spread land inwards, and even settle in the rural areas. Starting out as peddlers, they managed to flourish as they apparently found a niche in the market: selling in rural areas. Bruckmayr ^^^1 refers to this as a commercial revolution, as the network of arab traders cemented a network of commerce in rural and urban areas.

The early migrants tended to mix well with the local population. The Eastern Christians, regardless of the long-standing disagreements (to put it lightly) between the Catholic and Eastern Christian faiths, converted quickly, and even the Muslims converted to Catholicism. This also had to do with the demographics of the migrants: they were mostly adult men traveling alone. Bruckmayr cites a figure where one in six Syro-Lebanese families living in Colombia in 1945 had a Colombian mother. This integration lead to a loss of Arabic language and religious identity, although not to a loss of Arab cultural features and the Arab heritage.

Two flourishes of this integration are the figures of Gabriel Turbay Abunader and Julio César Turbay Ayala, both of Lebanese descent, these figures were important figureheads of the Liberal party of Colombia, Julio César even serving a term as president.

In the 1930's the Great Depression would lull wave of economic migrants of Syro-Lebanese descent, while the establishment of the Israeli state and subsequent Arab-Israeli wars would shift the migration into gear again twenty years later. The following wave of migration would be of a different composition, however. Along with the majority of Christian migrants, Syrian president Shishakli would cause a spike in Druze emigration with his anti-Druze and anti-bourgeois measures. The Druze would make up up to one third of the total migrants from Syria and Lebanon in this time.

This wave of migration distinguished itself from the former because these migrants would segregate themselves along national and religious divides, leading to the founding of multiple mosques and Eastern Christian churches, as well as Arab social clubs. This celebration of Arab culture and religion would also cause second- and third-generation migrants to rediscover their 'Arab-ness'.

The Druze faith has an interesting impact on integration. It doesn't allow for conversion or apostasy, but it does encourage being loyal to the country the Druze reside in. Because of this and the decreased integration of Arabs in general in this timeframe, the post-war Druze migrants have held on to their identity and faith.

As Colombia grew unstable in the Post-WW2 period, starting with the assassination of Jorge Gaitán, migrants in this time period opted to go to Colombia's safer neighbour instead, Venezuela, where prospects were otherwise very similar to those in Colombia.

So in short, many Syro-Lebanese Arabs moved to Latin America because of perceived economic prospects and the influx of Caucasian and Jewish people into the Levant. The Druze migrated in large numbers because of persecution in the post-WW2 period, moving to Venezuela because of the perceived danger in Colombia. They have kept their strong identity because of the resurgence of Arab identity in their time of migration and because of the Druze values.

^^References:

^^1: ^^Bruckmayr, ^^P. ^^(2010). ^^Syro-Lebanese ^^migration ^^to ^^Colombia, ^^Venezuela ^^and ^^Curacão: ^^From ^^mainly ^^christian ^^to ^^predominantly ^^Muslim ^^phenomenon. ^^European ^^Journal ^^of ^^Economic ^^and ^^Political ^^Studies, ^^151-178.