República Bolivariana de Venezuela

Archeological records show that Paeloindians inhabited what is now Venezuela in 2000 BCE. People created small settlements in 5000 BCE and navigated nearby rivers and nearby areas. By the first millennium many distinct civilizations like the Timoto-Cuica who were known for their advanced agriculture or the Guajiro who created Canals near Lake Maracaibo. By the time Europeans arrived the native population reached as high as 350,000 to 500,000. Columbus discovered Venezuela on his 3rd voyage in 1498 sailing under the Spanish. After discovery, many voyages soon followed including one by Alonso de Ojeda who named the country Venezuela. The Spanish began settling in Venezuela in 1520. From 1528 to 1546 Venezuelan territory was controlled by Welsers, a German banking firm due to debt owed by Charles I of Spain. In 1567 the Spanish founded Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The economy was initially based on producing and exporting wheat however this soon switched to cacao. In 1580 native populations were decimated and the Spanish began replacing the natives with African slaves. The people were unhappy with their Spanish rulers and revolted. After 2 failed revolutions Francisco Miranda, leader of the town council in Caracas declared independence in 1811. However soon after this Miranda was taken over and sent to prison where he died. Simon Bolivar took the reins of independence and established the 2nd republic. It was short-lived and Bolivar was driven out of the country in 1814. Bolivar fled to Haiti where he regrouped and planned another attack on eastern Venezuela with José Antonio Páez. The attack was successful and freed part of the country and Bolivar declared the Third Republic at Angostura in 1819. In 1821 the fight for independence was over and Venezuela was free but this came at a heavy cost with the death toll of the 10-year war being over 300,000. After Independence Venezuela was politically unstable with a dictatorship and military takeover. Things seemed to take a turn when oil wells gave the government a significant amount of revenue but the government was overthrown again by the military. When General Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown it paved the way for a viable democratic system that used peaceful transfers of power and competition between government and opposing parties.