El Sistema turns fifty: a socially transformative music education project or propaganda tool of the Venezuelan government?
Published: 9 June 2025
Rachel Taylor is an International Relations and Central & East European Studies student and this blog post is drawn from her work on the Latin American Politics course
How a music education programme sheds a light on tensions within Latin American politics
El Sistema is often hailed as Venezuela's greatest export, lauded as an innovative social project that tansforms the lives of children living in Venezuela's poorest communities through music education. During its fifty years, it has inspired projects in numerous countries, including Scotland. However, El Sistema has faced accusations of corruption, abuse and nepotism. Critics of El Sistema argue that the programme is a politicised propaganda tool of the Venezuelan government, used to detract attention from the grim reality of life in Venezuela. As the eyes of the world turn to El Sistema in its fiftieth year, the story of El Sistema and its politicisation reflect some of the deepest tensions in Latin American democracies.
El Sistema was founded in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu to provide free classical music education for young people in the most deprived Venezuelan communities. Throughout its existence, it has received funding from all government administrations under auspices of social service ministries. Abreu's idea of a music education project dedicated to delivering societal change across Venezuela was admirable, but it's aim has become overshadowed by its politicisation, particularly by Presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. El Sistema receives the majority of its funding from the Venezuelan government, and its board of directors include Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and Maduro's son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra. It has received particularly generous funding from the Chávez and Maduro administrations, but has paid the price by its politicisation. Of course, El Sistema's orchestras are not the first to receive funding from an illiberal regime, but El Sistema is unique in its political connection.
As Chávez and Maduro eroded Venezuela's democratic institutions, El Sistema and its internationally touring Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra (SBSO) became an effective soft diplomacy tool. Chávez and Maduro's desire to control El Sistema is conducive with Levitsky and Wray's theory of competitive authoritarianism, a political system where elections are still carried out but on an uneven playing field skewed towards the government. It is common to see competitive authoritarian regimes co-opt cultural institutions in order to maintain power. In Venezuela, as successive regimes tightened their grip, El Sistema became a useful source of power and legitimacy. As Baker points out, El Sistema's international success has provided the Venezuelan government with a glossy image of domestic social cohesion, and the illusion of a commentment to social welfare.
Despite its politicisation, El Sistema provides culturally enriching free music education to thousands of Venezuelan children, which is inherently valuable. Undoubtedly, the flawed existence of El Sistema is preferable to it not existing at all. As Bourdieu argues, culture cannot be politically neutral, as it is shaped by the power dynamics present within the cultural field itself. While El Sistema appears to increase access opportunities for classical music, in reality, it favours students from middle class backgrounds. The vast majority of those who reach the upper echelons of the system come from middle class backgrounds, and those from deprived backgrounds constitute a small percetage of El Sistema's most distinguished graduates. Therefore, El Sistema reproduces existing class structures under the pretext of social inclusion. Furthermore, Venezuela isn't the only Latin American country to use social programmes as political tools. Brazil's Bolsa Família programme, extremely effective in reducing poverty rates, simultaneously served as a tool to increase popular support for Lula's Workers Party whilst maintaining inequality and concentration of wealth in the upper class.
El Sistema is used by the government as a symbol of Venezuela's apparent commitment to social welfare and is warmly received by American and European audiences. Venezuelans are enduring economic collapse and severe political repression, which has resulted in mass migration - it is estimated that over 7 million Venezuelans have left the country since the beginning of 2014. Ultimately, the state-sponsored vision of El Sistema as a beacon of hope for societal transformation is drastically disconnected from the lived experience of Venezuelans. In late October and early November of 2024, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) staged peaceful protests outside concerts conducted in Los Angelos by Gustavo Dudamel, the chief conductor of the SBSO - and product of the system himself. The HRF protested because of Dudamel's silence over alleged electoral fraud in the July presidential election, where Maduro claimed an unlikely third term as president. Some rejected these protests, arguing that arts organisations have nothing to do with politics. However, in El Sistema's case, politics and the arts are inextricably linked. Dudamel's silence reflects the deeper tensions of elite complicity within authoritarian Latin American regimes.
Maduro is under investigation of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity conducted by the police and military forces by order of the regime, which have been particularly directed to opponents of the regime. For example, in September 2024, Maduro's opponent Edmundo González was forced to flee Venezuela, as a warrant for his arrest was issued when the opposition disputed the election result. Protests following the election resulted in over 20 deaths and thousands of arrests at the hands of the Venezuelan authorities and pro-government paramilitary groups. Despite this, it's silence from Dudamel and business as usual for El Sistema.
Maduro was sworn in for this third term as president while the SBSO began a European tour celebrating El Sistema's fiftieth anniversary. European concertgoers are unlikely to see any link between Maduro's regime and the artistic success of El Sistema. As Maduro's regime grows more repressive, El Sistema will see increased scrutiny: can it survive in its current state? Or will it be forced to denounce the regime and risk losing funding?
Surely, El Sistema cannot continue to represent the notion that music education has the power to transform the society whilst complicit in Maduro's violent and oppressive regime.
First published: 9 June 2025
Rachel Taylor is an International Relations and Central & East European Studies student, and this blog post is drawn from her work on the Latin American Politics course