Where is Canelas in Portugal? In this beautiful country, where I grew up, there are many "Canelas", I mean many places with the same name. But I am precisely speaking about Canelas, Estarreja which belongs to Aveiro District. That is the place where my dad Manuel Sousa Crespo was born. Maybe you don't know this place, actually it is not common to hear about it just because it is too pacific and peaceful that nobody has remembered to write any book on it. However, Canelas is the birthplace of many men and women who one day were compelled to leave the "romantic village" to embark in a long-distance trip. After the Second World War many "canelenses" left the place and emigrated to Venezuela. You may be asking "Why Venezuela?". The economic growth due to its oil led this country to be one of the most attractive countries in Latin America during this period. Thousands of Portuguese emigrants went to Venezuela. One can state that Canelas almost became desert with the departure of its sons and daughters (most of them young people) seeking a better life beyond the ocean in a far tropical land called Venezuela. The name itself sounded exotic and weird at the same time.
That is why my dad's family came to Caracas. They settled here for 20 years and when Portugal finally recovered from the economic crisis an entered the European Union, this poor country found wonderful opportunities to meet development and to become a "real" european nation or, at least, a member of a "first world club". Many "canelenses" returned to their village. But they have already become different people. They got the venezuelan-spanish accent when they spoke, they loved to dance "salsa", "merengue" and other South American sounds. Furthermore the rainy and cold weather in winters, as well as local culture seemed to them very "gloomy" and "depressing". Another aspect is the fact that most of them had become wealthy and the local peasants were not pleased with such kind of people with different "manners", habits and a higher economic living standard. A kind of social gaps invaded the once small society, and "venezuelanos" (Venezuelans) were not welcome by natives. Nowadays the problem was overcome, canelenses coexist peacefully even when the "Venezuelan" accent persists in many people. The most important aspect to emphasize here is the cultural interchange between Venezuela and those tinny and bucolic villages in Portugal. Right now, there is a few "canelenses" who have decided to stay here despite the political turmoil in Venezuela in recent years. They love this country, they enjoy the good and bad times of being here. They have the Venezuelan nationality, some of them married Venezuelan beauties (that's my dad's case). From my father's family I am the only one living here in Caracas, Venezuela. That makes me feel the desire to tell you the history of this brave people from Canelas.
bye
Rainer Sousa
That is why my dad's family came to Caracas. They settled here for 20 years and when Portugal finally recovered from the economic crisis an entered the European Union, this poor country found wonderful opportunities to meet development and to become a "real" european nation or, at least, a member of a "first world club". Many "canelenses" returned to their village. But they have already become different people. They got the venezuelan-spanish accent when they spoke, they loved to dance "salsa", "merengue" and other South American sounds. Furthermore the rainy and cold weather in winters, as well as local culture seemed to them very "gloomy" and "depressing". Another aspect is the fact that most of them had become wealthy and the local peasants were not pleased with such kind of people with different "manners", habits and a higher economic living standard. A kind of social gaps invaded the once small society, and "venezuelanos" (Venezuelans) were not welcome by natives. Nowadays the problem was overcome, canelenses coexist peacefully even when the "Venezuelan" accent persists in many people. The most important aspect to emphasize here is the cultural interchange between Venezuela and those tinny and bucolic villages in Portugal. Right now, there is a few "canelenses" who have decided to stay here despite the political turmoil in Venezuela in recent years. They love this country, they enjoy the good and bad times of being here. They have the Venezuelan nationality, some of them married Venezuelan beauties (that's my dad's case). From my father's family I am the only one living here in Caracas, Venezuela. That makes me feel the desire to tell you the history of this brave people from Canelas.
bye
Rainer Sousa
