On September 26, 1982, the Venezuelan Druze Cultural Association was founded in the city of Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia state, in western Venezuela.

Its history dates back a few weeks earlier, when the Druze community of Maracaibo organized the Eid al-Adha celebration that year, with the aim of gathering the Zulia Druze community in a grand ballroom with guests from other countries. Indeed, a large number of people gathered at the Maruma Hotel in Maracaibo, and while some were enjoying the event, others met to discuss the foundation that would unite them, with the goal of meeting again at least once a year in a city or town in the country.

The deliberations did not last long; that same night, the formation of the Venezuelan Druze Cultural Association was publicly announced to all those present. Among the founders were Haseeb Abdul Latif, Aref Al-Souki, Afif Saab, Dr. Omar Yordi, Naseeb Baraka, Dr. Ghassan Nuwayhed, Ghazi Al-Souki, Anwar Al-Souki (Caracas), Nayef Obeid, Samir Bou Salmine (Valencia), Wafiq Palmini (Punto Fijo), Imad Makarem Makased, Haseeb Yessrawi and his son Freddy Yessrawi, Mona Abu Naeem, and others.

On March 10, 1983, the Venezuelan Druze Cultural Association was officially established as a registered branch association with full rights to participate in Druze associations for cooperation and social benefit, headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon.

Once the association became official, the organization of the first national event began in mid-1984, taking advantage of the school holiday months in Venezuela from July to October, when the first national conference was organized in Maracaibo.

National Conferences
Thus, several national forums were held in the middle of each year between 1985 and 1992. However, there was a change to this schedule, especially since many people leave the country during the school holiday months, mostly returning to their countries of origin. Therefore, the association decided at its 1992 conference, held in Puerto La Cruz, to change the date of these national meetings to the first days of January each year. Consequently, in January 1994, the conference was held in Porlamar, Isla de Margarita, where the association ratified the change. It was a very successful conference, bringing together more than 1,000 participants.

Thus, a new cycle of national conferences began, which continued until 2015.

January 2000 was an exception due to the great national tragedy that occurred in mid-December 1999 in the states of Falcon, Miranda, the Capital District, and especially in Vargas, known for the major floods and landslides. The national conference was held in April 2000 in Caracas. The same thing happened in 2011, due to heavy rains throughout the country.

Druze Professionals and Technicians
The Cultural Association introduced new innovations in its work by implementing a fully computerized registration mechanism during the 14th National Conference in 1998 in Valencia. From then on, all other conventions followed suit, as did the birth of the entity “Venezuelan Druze Professionals and Technicians” and its meetings, which were born in one of the working tables of the 1998 Valencia Convention.

Druze Youth Meeting
In addition to the traditional national conferences, the association succeeded in organizing other regional and national meetings, such as the first meeting of Druze youth in Venezuela, which was held in Valencia in January 1991. Also, after the creation of the independent entity in 1998, the “Druze Professionals and Technicians in Venezuela,” in cooperation with the association, were able to organize national meetings for Druze professional and technical students. The first meetings were in April 1999 in the city of Valencia, the second in July 2001 in the city of Santo Domingo, Merida, and the third in the same city of Merida in June 2002. At the end of this quarter-century, the second meeting of Druze youth was held in Colonia Tovar in April 2006.

Organizing Members
Among the prominent organizing members of the association over the years, we can mention Haseeb Abdul Latif, Dr. Afif Saab, Mr. Aref Al-Souki (1984 – 1986), and Dr. Omar Yordi, the co-founder, legal thinker, architect of the social statute, and Secretary-General (1988-1990). Ghazi Al-Souki (1990-1992), who incidentally was the organizer of the first Druze youth meeting in Venezuela in Valencia (1991). Dr. Mufid Saab (1997 – 1999), and Mr. Afif Tawfiq Al-Souki, who, in addition to being one of the founders, was the only one elected for two consecutive terms by vote in the General Assemblies (2002 – 2004 and 2004 – 2006).

Also worthy of mention among this group of wonderful organizing members is Samir Abu Salman, a co-founder who held several positions, and Secretary-General (1992 – 1995), who brought the conferences out of routine by organizing them in new places such as Porlamar and Merida (each attended by more than 1,000 people), and Mr. Shawki Makarem (son-in-law of Samir Bou Salmine), who, in addition to holding administrative positions on four occasions, was National Secretary (1999 – 2002), during whose administration there was a great team that brought about massive changes within the association, including sectoral and regional meetings in different places in the country, professional and technical meetings, and many reforms to the social statute.

At this stage, we can mention Dr. Munir Afif Al-Masri, who, in addition to holding many national administrative positions on 7 occasions, is one of the wise men who amended the statute by introducing changes in the number and positions of the National Council, founder of the Druze Professionals and Technicians in Venezuela, organizer of three of its national meetings (1999, 2001, and 2002), and organizer of 6 national conferences, such as the conference held in Valencia 1998 (with more than 700 people), Caracas 2000, Valencia 2002, Maracay 2004, Puerto La Cruz 2005, and Punto Fijo 2009 (the latter with more than 800 people).

Among the other members who stood out was the late Ghassan Salah Makarem, who, in addition to holding various administrative positions, was the mastermind behind the introduction of the computerized system in the association's agreements. Engineer Nasser Al-Rishani, one of the other pillars who held various administrative positions at the national level and the first National Secretary of Druze Professionals and Technicians in Venezuela; Salim Al-Yassin, Deputy National Secretary several times and organizer of conferences in the east of the country at the national level. Mr. Yamil Maqaled, in addition to holding many administrative, national, and regional positions, participated in organizing many national conferences, mostly those held in the east of the country.

In addition to those mentioned, we can mention Mr. Ghassan Nuwayhed, who served as Secretary-General for a long period from 2008 to 2012, and who accepted the changes proposed by his Board of Directors. Another prominent member is Samir Yordi Moratinos, who held several national and regional administrative positions and was National Secretary (2006 – 2008), who revitalized youth meetings after 15 years, such as the Colonia Tovar meeting (2006) and the Maracaibo meeting in (2009), in addition to being the organizer of several national conferences such as Caraballeda 1990, along with Omar Yordi and Afif Souki, Porlamar (1994), Puerto Ordaz (2007), and Caracas (2008), the latter two during his tenure.

And many other people who contributed in one way or another to the association at different times during this short period of the association's life, such as Naseeb Baraka (Maracaibo), Anwar Al-Souki (Caracas), Nayef Obeid (Maracaibo), Wafiq Bilmini (Punto Fijo), Imad Makarem Makased (Maracaibo), Haseeb Maracaibo, his son Freddy Yessrawi (Maracaibo), Khaldoun N. Al-Masri (Valencia), Od. Haitham Shaaban (El Tigre), Youssef Al-Halabi (Caracas), Jose Stai (Maracay), Adel Al-Masri (Caracas), Ab. Nariman Saab (Valencia), Engineer Samia Rafeh (Valencia), Engineer Yamana Rafeh (Valencia), Anwar Hilal (Valencia), Malek Nuwayhed and his brother Mushir Nuwayhed (Maracaibo), Engineer Nizar Rishani (Valencia), Professor Malek Al-Masri (Valencia), Asaad Al-Souki, Samer Abdul Hai, Fadi Al-Jardi, among many others, who made history in those golden years of the association, with the best national Druze forums organized from that time until now.

 

Impact of the Crisis

Since 2010, the situation of the association has not been at its best, and perhaps the crisis that Venezuela has experienced has left a significant mark on the community's activities.

After 2018, no national or regional assembly was held, although a regional youth meeting was held in Maracaibo last June 2023. Under the law, the Druze Cultural Association was left partially headless, in the hope that permanent members, veterans, and those who have been there since its inception, can take the helm and continue the recovery plan until the Venezuelan Druze Cultural Association one day returns to what it once was: its golden age in the eighties, nineties, and the first decade of the twenty-first century.