Voluntary Dividend for the Community: Business Alliances and Political Radicalism in Venezuela during the 1960s

This presentation will explore the strategic alliance formed between international investors and local business figures during the 1960s, aimed at mitigating the challenges posed by communist movements. At the heart of this collaboration was the Creole Petroleum Corporation, Venezuela’s foremost oil company and a key affiliate of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. It advocated for corporate social responsibility as an essential approach for the private sector to counter political extremism in Venezuela. By addressing the country’s social issues, corporations sought to reaffirm the significance of capitalism in contemporary society. Creole played a pivotal role in encouraging Venezuelan business leaders to adopt and implement corporate social responsibility initiatives as a strategy to confront the threat of guerrilla insurgencies in the 1960s. Influential figures like Eugenio Mendoza rallied the business community around this agenda, ensuring its effectiveness over time through the establishment of the Voluntary Dividend for the Community in 1964. This organization emerged as the first of its kind globally, championing corporate social responsibility and exporting its model worldwide. Additionally, the Voluntary Dividend presents a unique lens to examine the strategies Latin American entrepreneurs utilized to address threats during the Cold War era. In Venezuela’s context, the organization significantly bolstered democracy by backing progressive governments and countering political extremism via private social contributions. Ultimately, the Voluntary Dividend epitomized Creole Petroleum Corporation’s commitment to Venezuela’s socio-economic progress, a vision that originated in the mid-1930s with investments focused at improving the living conditions of its workforce and neighboring communities.