Venezuela seeks to root out English biz and tech terms like 'marketing,' 'mouse'

[Harold Schiffman]

 Venezuela seeks to root out English biz and tech terms like
'marketing,' 'mouse'

The Associated Press
Monday, February 25, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez's government is taking its
battle against U.S. "imperialism" into Venezuelans' vocabulary, urging
state phone company workers to eschew English-language business and
tech terms that have crept into the local vernacular. Through a
campaign launched Monday, newly nationalized CANTV hopes to wean
employees and others from words like "staff" ("equipo"), "marketing"
("mercadeo") and "password" ("contrasena"). Stickers and banners
printed up by the company exhort Venezuelans to "Say it in Spanish.
Say it with pride."

The Communications and Information Ministry said in a statement that
Venezuelans must recover Spanish words that are "threatened by sectors
that have started a battle for the cultural domination of our
nations."  Other English words targeted include "mouse" ("raton"),
"meeting" ("reunion") and "sponsor" ("patrocinador") — all of which
have become acceptable in business circles in various Latin American
countries. A frequent critic of Washington, Chavez has sought to
counter what he calls U.S. cultural imperialism on all fronts, taking
measures such as financing Venezuelan cinema as an alternative to the
"dictatorship of Hollywood" and forcing radio stations to play more
Venezuelan music.

English is still taught in schools alongside other languages, however.
And Chavez himself often breaks playfully into English during
speeches, sometimes to salute his close friend and former Cuban leader
Fidel Castro by saying: "How are you, Fidel?"



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