http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8622880.stm
This article talks about Venezuela and a movement to bring back a certain breed of dog that has special significance to Venezuela's past. A special breed of dog that was prominment in Venezuela in past decades is famous for being a faithful companion to Simon Bolivar who is a famous revolutionary leader against the Spanish occupation. With government backing there is a small group that is attempting to bring this breed back from the brink of extinction. The government of Venezuela hopes to use the dog to promote its social political revolution against the United States and big corporations. The dogs have become such a prominent symbol that the government plans to stuck several of them in every embassy they have around the world.
This is a good example of a seemingly insignificant portion of the past being brought up and manipulated by the government to try and bring a certain opinion on their people and other peoples. This is a prime example of constructivism as a tool for governments that we studied earlier in the semester. The companion dog of a revolutionary figure has ascended to become one of the prime symbols of a political movement that is of great importance to international relations.
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This is interesting to see the effects of constructed emotion. I always imagined that constructivism always had to do with major issues such as terrorist attacks, but here it is with dogs. It will be interesting to see how the addition of the dogs affects the embassy, if at all. It's also intriguing to see how the dogs were prominent during a revolution, almost became extinct, and are making a comeback during this political movement.
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