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Travel to Venezuela — Unbiased reviews and
great deals from TripAdvisor Venezuela
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela National name: República
Bolivariana de Venezuela President:
Hugo Chavez (1999) Current government
officials Land area: 340,560 sq mi
(882,050 sq km); total area: 352,144 sq mi (912,050 sq
km) Population (2007 est.): 26,084,662
(growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 18.5/1000; infant mortality rate:
20.9/1000; life expectancy: 74.8; density per sq mile: 77 Capital (2003 est.): Caracas, 3,517,300 (metro. area), 1,741,400 (city proper) Largest cities: Maracaibo, 1,889,000
(metro. area), 1,854,300 (city proper); Valencia, 1,515,400;
Barquisimeto, 948,900 Monetary unit:
Bolivar Languages: Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects Ethnicity/race: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous
people Religions: Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2% Literacy rate: 93% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$334.6 billion; per capita $12,200. Real growth rate: 8.4%.
Inflation: 18.7%. Unemployment: 8.5%. Arable
land: 3%. Agriculture: corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice,
bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish. Labor
force: 12.37 million; services 64%, industry 23%, agriculture 13%
(1997 est.). Industries: petroleum, construction materials,
food processing, textiles; iron ore mining, steel, aluminum; motor
vehicle assembly. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas,
iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds.
Exports: $69.23 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): petroleum, bauxite and
aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures.
Imports: $28.81 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): raw materials,
machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials.
Major trading partners: U.S., Netherlands Antilles, Dominican
Republic, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico (2004). Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 4.216 million (2006); mobile cellular: 12.496 million (2005).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 201, FM n.a. (20 in Caracas),
shortwave 11 (1998). Radios: 10.75 million (1997).
Television broadcast stations: 66 (plus 45 repeaters) (1997).
Televisions: 4.1 million (1997). Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 51,968 (2006). Internet users: 3.04 million
(2005). Transportation: Railways:
total: 682 km (2002). Highways: total: 96,155 km; paved: 32,308
km; unpaved: 63,847 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 7,100 km; Rio
Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels. Ports and
harbors: Amuay, Bajo Grande, El Tablazo, La Guaira, La Salina,
Maracaibo, Matanzas, Palua, Puerto Cabello, Puerto la Cruz, Puerto
Ordaz, Puerto Sucre, Punta Cardon. Airports: 375 (2006). International disputes: claims all of Guyana
west of the Essequibo River; maritime boundary dispute with Colombia
in the Gulf of Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea; US, France and the
Netherlands recognize Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves
Island, which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending
over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea; Dominica, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest the
claim and other states' recognition of it. Major sources and definitions |
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Geography Venezuela, a
third larger than Texas, occupies most of the northern coast of South
America on the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered by Colombia to the west, Guyana
to the east, and Brazil to the south. Mountain systems break Venezuela into
four distinct areas: (1) the Maracaibo lowlands; (2) the mountainous region
in the north and northwest; (3) the Orinoco basin, with the llanos (vast
grass-covered plains) on its northern border and great forest areas in the
south and southeast; and (4) the Guiana Highlands, south of the Orinoco,
accounting for nearly half the national territory. Government Federal republic. History When Columbus explored Venezuela on his third
voyage in 1498, the area was inhabited by Arawak, Carib, and Chibcha
Indians. A subsequent Spanish explorer gave the country its name, meaning
“Little Venice.” Caracas was founded in 1567. Simón
Bolívar, who led the liberation from Spain of much of the continent,
was born in Caracas in 1783. With Bolívar taking part, Venezuela was
one of the first South American colonies to revolt in 1810, winning
independence in 1821. Federated at first with Colombia and Ecuador as the
Republic of Greater Colombia, Venezuela became a republic in 1830. A period
of unstable dictatorships followed. Antonio Guzman Blanco governed from 1870
to 1888, developing an infrastructure, expanding agriculture, and welcoming
foreign investment. Gen. Juan Vicente Gómez was dictator from
1908 to 1935, when Venezuela became a major oil exporter. A military junta
ruled after his death. Leftist Dr. Rómulo Betancourt and the
Democratic Action Party won a majority of seats in a constituent assembly to
draft a new constitution in 1946. A well-known writer, Rómulo
Gallegos, candidate of Betancourt's party, became Venezuela's first
democratically elected president in 1947. Within eight months, Gallegos was
overthrown by a military-backed coup led by Marcos Peréz
Jiménez, who was ousted himself in 1958. Since 1959, Venezuela has
been one of the most stable democracies in Latin America. Betancourt served
from 1959–1964, while Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, president from
1969 to 1974, legalized the Communist Party and established diplomatic
relations with Moscow. Venezuela benefited from the oil boom of the
early 1970s. In 1974, President Carlos Andrés Pérez took
office, and in 1976 Venezuela nationalized foreign-owned oil and steel
companies, offering compensation. Luis Herrera Campíns became
president in 1978. Declining world oil prices sent Venezuela's economy into
a tailspin, increasing the country's foreign debt. Pérez was
reelected to a nonconsecutive term in 1988 and launched an unpopular
austerity program. Military officers staged two unsuccessful coup attempts
in 1992, while the following year Congress impeached Pérez on
corruption charges. President Rafael Caldera Rodríguez was elected in
Dec. 1993 to face the 1994 collapse of half of the country's banking sector,
falling oil prices, foreign debt repayment, and inflation. In 1997, the
government announced an expansion of gold and diamond mining to reduce
reliance on oil. Leftist president Hugo Chavez took office in 1999,
pledging political and economic reforms to give the poor a greater share of
the country's oil wealth. A constituent assembly was formed to rewrite the
constitution in July 1999, followed by the creation of a constitutional
assembly made up of Chavez's allies that replaced the democratically elected
Congress. Chavez's assumption of greater power prompted charges that he is
establishing a left-wing dictatorship. Chavez was reelected to a
six-year term in July 2000. Troops were called in to quell serious protests
over the election in several cities. In 2000 Chavez visited other OPEC
countries, becoming the first foreign head of state to visit Iraq since the
1991 Gulf War. He is close to President Fidel Castro of Cuba, which receives
Venezuelan oil at reduced prices. In Dec. 2001, business and labor
organizations held a work stoppage to protest Chavez's increasingly
authoritarian government. In April 2002, tensions reached a boiling point as
workers reduced oil production to protest Chavez's policies. Following a
massive anti-Chavez demonstration during which 12 people were killed, a
coalition of business and military leaders forced Chavez from power. But
international criticism of the coup, especially in Latin America, and an
outpouring of support from the president's followers returned Chavez to
power just two days later. After the coup, Chavez remained highly popular
among the poor, despite the desperate state of the economy. Venezuelan labor
unions, business organizations, the media, and a good part of the military
remained substantially less enchanted. Beginning in early Dec. 2002,
a general strike was called by business and labor leaders. By Jan. 2003 it
had virtually brought the economy, including the oil industry, to a halt.
Strike leaders pledged to continue until Chavez resigned or agreed to early
elections. But in Feb. 2003, after nine weeks, the strikers conceded defeat.
In Aug. 2003, a petition with 3.2 million signatures was delivered to the
country's election commission, demanding a recall referendum on Chavez. The
Chavez government challenged the referendum process rigorously, and
petitions submitted in Sept. 2003 and Feb. 2004 were rejected as invalid.
The electoral board finally accepted a petition in June 2004 and scheduled
the referendum for August 15. Chavez, who had been shoring up his standing
with the Venezuelan poor during the delays, won the referendum with an
overwhelming 58% of the vote. The opposition alleged fraud, but
international observers confirmed that there had been no irregularities.
Chavez's hand was clearly strengthened, and by the spring of 2005, his
popularity rating reached 70%, due in large part to his social spending
programs. In Dec. 2005 parliamentary elections, Chávez's Fifth
Republic Movement won 114 of 167 seats, and the remaining seats were won by
his allies. The opposition boycotted the election, maintaining they could
not trust the pro-Chavez National Electoral Council. President Chávez
won reelection in Dec. 2006 with 63% of the vote. In early 2007,
Chávez took significant steps to further consolidate his power and
move Venezuela closer to becoming a socialist state. In January, he
announced the nationalization of major energy and telecommunications
companies. Days later, the National Assembly voted to allow Chávez to
rule by decree for 18 months. In May, Chávez shut down the main
opposition television station, RCTV, which has been critical of the
government. The National Assembly voted in August to abolish presidential
term limits. In November 2007, the Colombian army captured FARC rebels
who were carrying videos, photographs, and letters of about 15 hostages,
some who have been held in jungle camps by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, or FARC, for nearly ten years. The Marxist-inspired FARC—the
largest rebel group in Latin America—has been waging guerilla wars
against the Colombian government for 40 years. Hostages included three
American military contractors and Ingrid Betancourt, former Colombian
presidential candidate. Also in November, Uribe withdrew his support of
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s attempts to negotiate with
the FARC, escalating tension between the two countries. Chávez
subsequently withdrew the Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia. On
December 3, 2007, a referendum that was widely expected to pass was rejected
by voters, 51% to 49%, following weeks of uncharacteristic public protests
and campaigning against the package put forward by Chávez. The
proposed 69 amendments to the constitution included abolishment of
presidential term limits, removal of the Central Bank's autonomy, which
would have given Chávez new power to build a socialist economy, and a
few that enjoyed wide support, including reducing the work day to six hours
and offering pensions to street vendors and housewives. “I will
not withdraw even one comma of this proposal, this proposal is still alive,"
Chávez said. "For me, this is not a defeat." Chavez instituted
a time change on December 9, 2007, which put Venezuela a half-hour ahead of
Eastern Standard Time. The government claimed it was a health measure to
improve the lives of Venezuelans by exposing them to more sunlight.
Months of negotiations between Chavez and FARC rebels over the
release of three hostages came to an end on December 31, 2007, when the FARC
refused to hand them over, saying the promised security conditions had not
been met. The failed mission is Chavez's second defeat in the last month
after the loss of his referendum. On January 10, 2008, however, FARC rebels
freed two hostages, Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzᬥz de Perdomo, in
Guaviare, in southern Colombia. Rojas, a Colombian politician captured in
2002, and Perdomo, a Colombian law-maker captured in 2001, were escorted out
of the jungle by several guerillas. The release of the hostages was a
triumph for Chavez, who coordinated the operation. In March 2008,
Colombian forces crossed into Ecuadorean territory and killed FARC rebel
leader, Raúl Reyes, and 20 other rebels. In response, Venezuela and
Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia and sent troops to the
Colombian borders, although both countries denied any ties to FARC. In an
attempt to help cool the diplomatic tension between the three countries, the
Organization of American States approved a resolution, which declared that
the Colombian raid into Ecuador was a violation of sovereignty. On March 6,
Nicaragua broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia to demonstrate unity
with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.During a summit meeting in the
Dominican Republic, on March 7, 2008, the leaders of Colombia, Ecuador,
Venezuela, and Nicaragua ended their diplomatic dispute over Colombia's raid
into Ecaudor that occurred on March 1, 2008. As part of his continued
campaign to assume complete authoritarian control over the country,
President Chávez implemented a new intelligence law in May 2008, and
replaced the country's old intelligence agencies, which include the DISIP
secret police and the DIM military intelligence agency, with two new
self-governed agencies called the General Intelligence Office and General
Counterintelligence office. The new intelligence law requires citizens to
assist the new agencies, or else be thrown in prison. Chávez claimed
that the new law was necessary to gaurantee "national security" in the face
of alleged intimidation and possible attacks from the United States. On June
7, 2008, Chávez reversed the new intelligence policies, acknowleding
the intense opposition and extensive criticism from the Venezuelan people.
On July 31, 2008—the last day that Chávez had
legislative power—he approved 26 new laws that significantly increased
his control, enabling him to delegate regional leaders with separate
budgets, create a new military branch, and temporarily control private
companies, among other powers. On Sept. 4, in the latest of many of private
company takeovers by the government, the Venezuelan parliament voted to give
Chávez control of the country's fuel distribution. Russia
agreed to loan Venezuela $1 billion to help finance their military
development on September 26, 2008, increasing tensions between Russia and
the West. Between 2005 and 2007, Venezuela signed 12 contracts for weapons
purchases worth $4.4 billion. In November 2008, three Russian warships
executed joint naval exercises in Venezuela. Russian president, Dmitry
Medvedev, visited Venezuela and Brazil as part of a four-country Latin
American tour aimed at increasing trade and his country's presence in the
region. On November 3, 2008, Franklin Duran, a wealthy Venezuelan
businessman, was found guilty by a Miami jury for conspiring to conceal the
origin and destination of the suitcase containing $800,000 in a Miami
airport. The money was sent by Venezuela to aid the presidential campaign of
Cristina Fernandez in Argentina. The case, known as "Suitcasegate," has
soured relations between the U.S., Venezuela, and Argentina. Due to
dropping oil revenue, Venezuela’s national oil company suspended a
heating oil program in January 2008 that supplied over 200,000 homes in
low-income U.S. communities since 2005. See also Encyclopedia:
Venezuela. U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Venezuela Information Please® Database,
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