Peace Without Poison

The men responsible for Venezuela’s demographic transition by covert poisoning are: RafaelCaldera (1969-1974, 1994-1999), Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974-1979), Luis Herrera Campins(1979-1984), Jaime Lusinchi (1984-1989), Carlos Andrés Pérez (1989-1993), and the incumbentNicolás Maduro (since April 2013).Contraceptives have played no role in Venezuela’s war against fertility until 1991, by which timefertility had already dropped from 6.5 to 3.5 children per woman. To mask the introduction offluoridated salt (as of 1992) and the anticipated drop in fertility from 3.5 to replacement level,the government boosted contraceptives, but even if the figure of 76% (of which only 62% bymodern means) is accurate it cannot possibly account for replacement level fertility, whichVenezuela attained in 2006, by which time contraceptive use went down to 62% rather thanincreasing, as one would have expected if contraceptive use and fertility were correlated.Abortion is illegal in Venezuela and as such not a factor in the fertility decline.Venezuela is in stage three of the demographic transition.944 | P a g e