During Lent, capybara meat is especially popular in parts of South America, especially in Venezuela, as the Catholic Church, in a special dispensation, is claimed to have allowed eating capybara meat when meat consumption was otherwise not allowed.

Since the 19th century, Venezuela has claimed all of Guyana west of the Essequibo River — 62 % of Guyana's territory.

All of the area west of the Essequibo River claimed by Venezuela ; Suriname claims area east of the New Upper Courantyne.

After land of Trinidad and Tobago was claimed, Columbus moved further down the coast to what is now the tip Venezuela.

Although some people believe he was actually born in the Bolívar residence located in San Mateo in Aragua State, which belonged to the Caracas province by 1783, it is officially claimed that Simón Bolívar was born in Caracas, Captaincy General of Venezuela ( now the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ), on July 24, 1783 and he was baptized as Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios.

Despite his firm abolitionist stance, throughout his life he continued to express fears of uprising and rule by pardos ( mixed-race people ) and claimed that the governance of heterogeneous societies like Venezuela " will require an infinitely firm hand.

Since the image of Bolívar became central to the national identities of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, his mantle is claimed by nearly all politicians from all parts of the political spectrum.

In 1966, Venezuela seized the Guyanese half of Ankoko Island, in the Cuyuni River, and two years later claimed a strip of sea along Guyana's western coast.

Mac Gregor claimed to be Brigadier General of the armies of the United Provinces of New Grenada and Venezuela ( where he had successfully fought and led troops ), and General-in-Chief of the armies for the two Floridas, commissioned by the Supreme Director of Mexico, South America.

Venezuela claimed all lands west of the Essequibo River as its territory ( see map above ).

During the second Joaquín Crespo regime, the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 saw Venezuela's longstanding dispute with Great Britain about the territory of Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela saw as Venezuelan territory, come to a head.

In 1895 the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 saw Venezuela's longstanding dispute with Great Britain about the territory of Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela saw as Venezuelan territory, come to a head.

* Isla Aves ( Spanish Island of birds ), an island in the Caribbean Sea claimed by Venezuela and Dominica

By 1970, LAFTA expanded to include four more Latin American nations: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Developed into its present form in Italy, ( where it is called bocce, the plural of the Italian word boccia which means " bowl "), it is played around Europe and also in overseas areas that have received Italian migrants, including Australia, North America, and South America ( where it is known as bochas ; bolas criollas in Venezuela, bocha ( the sport ) in Brazil ), initially among the migrants themselves but slowly becoming more popular with their descendants and the wider community.

Over the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming them for the Spanish Empire.

Main inland waterways are the Magdalena – Cauca River system, which is navigable for 1, 500 kilometers ; the Atrato, which is navigable for 687 kilometers ; the Orinoco system of more than five navigable rivers, which total more than 4, 000 kilometers of potential navigation ( mainly through Venezuela ); and the Amazonas system, which has four main rivers totaling 3, 000 navigable kilometers ( mainly through Brazil ).

This network would have enabled easy access by road to the neighbouring countries of Brazil, Venezuela and Surinam ; reduced the costs of utilising the country's timber and natural resources, thus making them more competitive in international markets ; diversified agricultural development by making more easily available suitable areas in the hinterland, particularly in the Intermediate and Rupununi savannahs ; relieved the over-crowded coastland of a significant proportion of its population, thus improving the quality of life of the inhabitants of both the coastal and interior areas ; and made more feasible the equitable distribution of economic activity, not only in the agricultural but also in the manufacturing and small-industries sector.

All Latin American and Caribbean countries except Cuba and Venezuela enjoyed much more economic freedom than Haiti on the Index of Economic Freedom of 2006.

There are more than 125 Campus Lions clubs in the world including nearly 2, 500 members on college and university campuses in Australia, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, United States, Venezuela, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ghana-Lions KNUST.

" Terms even more favorable to Venezuela were negotiated in 1945, after a coup brought to power a left-leaning government that included Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo.

Broadband access Venezuela is provided through ADSL, Cable, Satellite, EDGE, EV-DO, WiFi Hotspots and more recently WiMax.

This event was repeated in 1947, and in 1948 an even more ambitious one was held, the Gran Premio de la América del Sur from Buenos Aires to Caracas, Venezuela — Fangio had an accident in which his co-driver was killed.

Another portion of Bolívar wealth came from the silver, gold, and more importantly, copper mines in Venezuela.

In 1632, small gold deposits first were mined in Venezuela, leading to further discoveries of much more extensive copper deposits.

Llanera is Venezuelan popular music originating in the llanos plains, although a more upbeat and festive gaita version is heard western Venezuela ( particularly in Zulia State ).

Over the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming them for the Spanish Empire.

Vico C started touring frequently to places like New York, Chicago, Miami, Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic and more places.

In 2007, The Black Eyed Peas embarked on the Black Blue & You World Tour, visiting more than 20 countries, including Macau, Sweden, Poland, Romania, Hungary, South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Singapore, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Australia, Nigeria, Mexico, Thailand, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Philippines, El Salvador and Brazil.

In 2002, in cooperation with the Brother's Brother Foundation, B ' nai B ' rith distributed more than $ 31 million worth of critically needed medicine, books and supplies to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela following the economic disaster that struck much of Latin America.

There are over 4, 000 Quiznos shops located in the United States, 300 in Canada, and 100 more scattered across the world, in Brazil, Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, The Philippines, Sint Maarten, South Korea, Singapore, Venezuela and the Middle East.

Submissions were received from the following countries ( although later on more personal stories were submitted and the additional statistics are unknown ): Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, and the West Indies.

He brought about the end of civil wars and political insurrections by exerting power over regional caudillos and, as a result, Venezuela became a peaceful country and has been so for more than a century.

Former Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt said in his book Venezuela: Oil and Politics that "(...) Gomez was something more than a local despot, he was the instrument of foreign control of the Venezuelan economy, the ally and servant of powerful outside interests.

In some countries the trend has gone further than others: Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela are displaying open sympathy for Castroism, and there is no country -- save the Dominican Republic whose funeral services we recently arranged -- where Castroism and Anti-Americanism does not prevent the government from unqualifiedly espousing the American cause.

Sino-Venezuelan trade was less than $ 500m per year before 1999, and reached $ 7. 5bn in 2009, making China Venezuela's second-largest trade partner, and Venezuela China's biggest investment destination in Latin America.

Government spending as a percentage of GDP in Venezuela in 2007 was 30 %, smaller than other capitalist mixed-economies such as France ( 49 %) and Sweden ( 52 %).

In Colombia and Venezuela, arepas may be made with tapioca flour rather than cornmeal.

Prior to the Federal War ( 1859 – 1863 ), Venezuela was divided into provinces rather than states.

In Venezuela, public middle schools have a different Spanish name than private schools.

Juana Maria de la Concepcion, commonly referred to as Conny Méndez, born 11 April 1898 in Caracas, was a composer, singer, writer, caricaturist and actress who produced more than 40 compositions, such as: Yo soy venezolana, Chucho y Ceferina, La Negrita Marisol, Venezuela Habla Cantando, and many others.

The Bolivian gas reserves are the second-largest in South America, after Venezuela, and exploration after the privatization of the national oil company YPFB showed that proven natural gas reserves were 600 percent higher than previously known.

For more than thirty years from his accession to power in 1830 to his death in 1873, Páez was the greatest figure in Venezuela and would return to rule whenever the national government failed.

During the run up to elections, he visited nearly all the villages and cities of Venezuela by foot and walked more than 5800 kilometers.

It is not, as noted in the Atlas of Venezuela: A Spatial Image ( Atlas de Venezuela: Una imagen espacial, also known as El Atlas de Petróleos de Venezuela ), an ecosystem of " paleodunas ", literally ' old dunes ,' formed in an environment with a much drier climate than the current one, but a mechanism of dune formation that acts only in the dry season since the lowering of the water level of the Orinoco at the rivers ' lowest point, especially that of those that originate in the llanos, extensive beaches of fine sand are left behind, that the trade winds very quickly will transfer to the southeast, forming what now constitutes el Parque Nacional Santos Luzardo ( the Santos Luzardo National Park ), which takes its name from one of the main characters in the famous novel Doña Bárbara by Rómulo Gallegos.

Venezuela was nearer Spain than most colonies so it was the first to hear of Joseph Bonaparte's takeover of Spain and it found the trade restrictions the most irksome.

The movement has more than 7, 000 members worldwide ( excluding Israel ) running weekly youth activities and camps in Germany, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, France, Belgium.

The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, has suggested Venezuelans avoid showers longer than three minutes.