
According to Chávez and other supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.
What is the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela?
Venezuela entered a new political era when the late president Hugo Chavez came into power in 1998, a historic political event that became known as the Bolivarian Revolution.
What was the war of independence in Venezuela?
Venezuela portal. The Venezuelan War of Independence (1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought against rule by the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars.
What events led to the start of the Venezuelan Revolution?
The establishment of the Supreme Caracas Junta following the forced deposition of Vicente Emparan as Captain General of the Captaincy General of Venezuela on 19 April 1810, marked the beginnings of the war. On 5 July 1811, seven of the ten provinces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence in...
What was the economy like during the Spanish colonization of Venezuela?
The economy was mostly agricultural and a handful of extremely wealthy families had complete control over the region. In the years leading up to independence, the Creoles (those born in Venezuela of European descent) began to resent Spain for high taxes, limited opportunities, and mismanagement of the colony.

Who won the Venezuelan revolution?
After two more years of war, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar....Venezuelan War of Independence.Date19 April 1810 – 24 July 1823 (13 years)LocationVenezuela and New GranadaResultVenezuelan victory and independence
What was Bolivar ultimate goal?
Bolivar hoped to unite all South American countries into one nation. He did not succeed in this plan. Instead, his leadership helped establish what are now the nations of Colombia, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela.
What was Hugo Chavez goal?
Internationally, the Chávez administration used oil production to increase autonomy from United States and European governments and used oil funds to promote economic and political integration with other Latin American nations.
What did Venezuela do to gain independence?
Summary. Venezuela effectively achieved its independence from Spain by 1819 as part of the Republic of Colombia, and the United States recognized the Colombian federation in 1822. After Venezuela separated from Colombia in 1830, the United States recognized and established diplomatic relations with Venezuela in 1835.
What type of government did Simon Bolivar want for Venezuela?
In principle Bolivar was a democrat and he believed that government should be responsible to the people: 'only the majority is sovereign; he who takes the place of the people is a tyrant and his power is usurpation'.
Why did Venezuela declare independence from Spain?
The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence (Spanish: Acta de la Declaración de Independencia de Venezuela) is a statement adopted by a congress of Venezuelan provinces on July 5, 1811, through which Venezuelans made the decision to separate from the Spanish Crown in order to establish a new nation based on the premises ...
Why did Venezuela fail?
Political corruption, chronic shortages of food and medicine, closure of businesses, unemployment, deterioration of productivity, authoritarianism, human rights violations, gross economic mismanagement and high dependence on oil have also contributed to the worsening crisis.
What did Hugo Chavez do to Venezuela?
Under Chávez, Venezuela experienced democratic backsliding, as he suppressed the press, manipulated electoral laws, and arrested and exiled government critics. His use of enabling acts and his government's use of propaganda were controversial.
When did Venezuela become communist?
Communist Party of VenezuelaCommunist Party of Venezuela Partido Comunista de VenezuelaFounded5 March 1931HeadquartersCalle Jesús Faría, Parroquia San Juan, CaracasNewspaperPopular TribuneYouth wingCommunist Youth of Venezuela17 more rows
Why were Venezuelans justified in rebelling against Spain?
The Venezuelans wanted to protect their nation and their people. The Venezuelans were justified in rebelling against Spain because the Spaniards violated their rights, broke agreements, and brought death and destruction to Venezuela.
Who helped Venezuela gain independence?
BolívarBolívar himself led multiple expeditionary forces against the Spaniards, and between 1819 and 1822 he successfully liberated three territories—New Granada (Colombia and Panama), Venezuela, and Quito (Ecuador)—from Spanish rule.
What was the cause of Venezuela wins formal independence in 1821?
Venezuela declares independence from Spain. Venezuelans wanted to rebel against high taxes and a lack of freedom to rule themselves as a society. Venezuela declares independence from Spain.
What was the goal of Simón Bolívar quizlet?
What was Simon Bolivar's goal for South America? He wanted to create a large, united Latin America.
What was Simón Bolívar's greatest accomplishment?
Simón Bolivar is remembered today as the greatest leader of South American independence. Highly influenced by the examples of the United States, the French Revolution and Napoleon, he led a massive revolt against Spanish colonial rule in South America, beginning in 1810.
What were the major accomplishments of Simón Bolívar?
Bolívar was a revolutionary leader in the independence wars of South America and strove to liberate colonies from the Spanish Empire. He led Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru to their independence and even briefly united them as a single nation called Gran Colombia.
Why was Bolívar known as the liberator?
While there were many leaders of independence movements in Latin America, Simon Bolivar was one of the most significant leaders. He was called “The Liberator” because he fought for the liberation of many Latin American lands.
Venezuelan Revolution
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION The revolution in Venezuela was one of several in South and Middle America that led to the emergence of independent republics. Under Spanish rule, a planter elite, called hacendados, dominated Venezuela.
Venezuelan Revolution
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION The revolution in Venezuela was one of several in South and Middle America that led to the emergence of independent republics. Under Spanish rule, a planter elite, called hacendados, dominated Venezuela.
How did the Bolivarian Revolution affect Venezuela?
From Hugo Chavez to Nicolas Maduro, the Bolivarian Revolution has influenced the political outlook of many Venezuelan politicians , inspiring them to take an anti-imperıalist stance.
What is the Trump administration doing to Venezuela?
The Trump administration also ordered the imposition of sanctions on Venezuela’s gold industry with the aim of disrupting the country's economy.
What was Hugo Chavez's policy?
Another important policy of late president Hugo Chavez was the nationalisation of key companies in energy and telecommunications. He first introduced a nationalisation programme in 2007 and saw his act approved by parliament.
What are Cuba and Venezuela united against?
Cuba and Venezuela see themselves as united against what they call US " imperialism .". As well as Maduro’s stance against the US, however, oil prices had fallen by more than 70 percent by 2016, throwing the country into crisis. Maduro has presided over Venezuela's spiral into its worst-ever economic crisis.
What activities did Chavez engage in?
In this era, Chavez engaged in door-to-door anti-poverty activities that include food distribution, a vaccination campaign and increasing education in slum areas.
What was Chavez's ideology?
According to Chavez, the Bolivarian ideology encouraged nationalism and a state-led economy in South America. After Chavez was elected as the president of Venezuela, he immediately introduced a new constitution that espoused a socialist economy and social policies, funded by the country's oil revenue.
When did Venezuela enter a new era?
Venezuela entered a new political era when the late president Hugo Chavez came into power in 1998, a historic political event that became known as the Bolivarian Revolution. The founder of the fifth republic movement and the United Socialist Party (PSUV), Chavez followed the revolutionary spirit of 19th-century Venezuelan leader Simon Bolivar, ...
What was the Venezuelan War of Independence?
Venezuelan War of Independence. The Venezuelan War of Independence (1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought against rule by the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars .
Who led the Venezuelan independence movement?
As the Congress deliberated, a faction proposing outright independence quickly won favor. Persons such as Francisco de Miranda, a long-term Venezuelan expatriate, and Simón Bolívar, a young, Criollo aristocrat—both influenced by Age of Enlightenment ideas and the example of the French Revolution —led the movement.
What battle did the Spanish defeat in 1823?
The Spanish sent a fleet in 1823 to reconquer the country but were defeated at the Battle of Lake Maracaibo. In the following years Venezuelan forces, as part of the army of Gran Colombia, continued campaigning under the leadership of Bolívar to liberate the southern parts of New Granada and Ecuador.
What was the impact of the French invasion of Spain?
The French invasion of Spain in 1808 led to the collapse of the Spanish Monarchy. Most subjects of Spain did not accept the government of Joseph Bonaparte, placed on the Spanish throne by his brother, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France. At the same time, the process of creating a stable government in Spain, which would be widely recognized throughout the empire, took two years. ( See Junta (Peninsular War) .) This created a power vacuum in the Spanish possessions in America, which created further political uncertainty. On April 19, 1810 the municipal council of Caracas headed a successful movement to depose the Spanish Governor and Captain General, Vicente Emparán. A junta was established in Caracas, and soon other Venezuelan provinces followed suit. The reverberations of this act of independence could be felt throughout Venezuela almost immediately. Across Venezuela, towns and cities decided to either side with the movement based in Caracas or not, and de facto civil war ensued throughout much of Venezuela. The Caracas Junta called for a congress of Venezuelan provinces to establish a government for the region. Initially, both the Junta and Congress upheld the "rights of Ferdinand VII ," meaning that they recognized themselves to still be part of the Spanish Monarchy, but had established a separate government due to the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. As the Congress deliberated, a faction proposing outright independence quickly won favor. Persons such as Francisco de Miranda, a long-term Venezuelan expatriate, and Simón Bolívar, a young, Criollo aristocrat—both influenced by Age of Enlightenment ideas and the example of the French Revolution —led the movement. The Congress declared Venezuela's independence on 5 July 1811, establishing the Republic of Venezuela.
When did the Caracas Junta start?
The establishment of the Supreme Caracas Junta following the forced deposition of Vicente Emparan as Captain General of the Captaincy General of Venezuela on 19 April 1810, marked the beginnings of the war. On 5 July 1811, seven of the ten provinces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence in the Venezuelan Declaration ...
Which country inherited the role of capital from Spain?
Bogotá inherited the role of capital from Spain, but the royalists were entrenched in southern Colombia ( Popayán and Pasto ). Cali was a bastion of the independence movement just north of royalist territory. Cartagena declared independence not only from Spain but also from Bogotá.
When did the Venezuelan uprising happen?
2019 Venezuela uprising. Venezuela portal. v. t. e. The Venezuelan War of Independence (1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought against rule by the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars .
What is Venezuela's role in the world?
Venezuela has played a very important role in the creation of new mechanisms of integration, both political and economic integration in South America and in Latin America. UNASUR, which is the union of the South American states, was basically promoted by the Venezuelan government. In the case of CELAC, which is the community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries, which is a new organization which is an alternative to the Organization of American States, which includes, basically, all the countries except Canada and the United States. Venezuela has played a major role in the defeat of the free trade association treaty of the Americas, FTAA. Venezuela played a leading role in the sort of shift to the left that made new constitutions in Bolivia and Ecuador possible. So a lot of things have happened that are due to the transformations that began in Venezuela, which probably began with the Caracazos [incompr.] before, with sort of the first big popular reaction against neoliberal policies in the continent.
How has Venezuelan oil affected Latin America?
It has led to the possibility of challenging the United States politically and geopolitically. It has led to a new relation of Cuba to the rest of Latin America. It has led to important things like Petrocaribe, for instance. Petrocaribe’s an agreement between the Venezuelan government and most of the Caribbean and a few of the Central American governments in order to sell oil at subsidized prices for countries that are non-oil producers. And with the huge hikes in oil prices in the recent years, [we] would have been living in a very dramatic situation. And thanks to Venezuelan oil prices and to very low interest credits for long periods, they have managed to keep their economies going.
Why is Venezuela important to the United States?
The strategic importance of Venezuela to the United States only truly emerged after the discovery in 1914 of major oil deposits in Venezuela. In a sense, the United States was present at the creation of the Venezuelan oil industry . American oil companies and the Royal Dutch Shell Corporation created the physical infrastructure for Venezuela to become the largest oil exporter in the Western Hemisphere. They also were key in shaping Venezuelan oil legislation and the role this natural resource would play in politics. The strategic importance of Venezuelan oil to the United States was confirmed during World War II and reconfirmed time and again during each political or military crisis of the Cold War and beyond.
What are the advantages of Venezuela?
As a market, the United States possesses key advantages for Venezuela, such as geographic proximity, low transportation costs, and an ever increasing demand for energy. Access to large Venezuelan oil deposits across short, secure sea lines of communication is undoubtedly a strategic asset for the United States .
How did Venezuela influence the Cold War?
Certainly Venezuelan influence in the region during the Cold War, especially when backed by abundant oil money, occasionally frustrated U.S. designs. But these actions did not preclude frequent cooperation between the two countries. After the 1958 transition to democracy, Venezuela’s political leaders were firmly convinced of the importance of supporting like-minded governments in the region and opposed the Cuban revolution model on both ideological and pragmatic grounds. U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson cooperated with the Venezuelans in defeating a Cuban-backed insurgency in Venezuela during the 1960s. United States and Venezuelan militaries developed strong mutual security and defense links through this experience.
What was the result of the Bolivarian Revolution?
The Bolivarian revolution has produced a new constitution, a new legislature, a new supreme court and electoral authorities, and purges of Venezuela’s armed forces and state-owned oil industries. These policies consolidated Chavez’s domestic authority but generated a great deal of opposition in Venezuela, including a failed coup attempt in 2002. Even so, after his victory in a presidential recall referendum during the summer of 2004, Chávez seems likely to consolidate his grip on power and even win reelection in 2006.
Why are Venezuela's two countries important partners in Venezuela's foreign policy?
Beyond oil, these two countries are key partners in Venezuela’s Bolivarian foreign policy because they represent alternative sources of technology and military equipment, and their decisions to cooperate with Chávez are unlikely to be influenced by U.S. objections.
Why is Venezuela so tense with Colombia?
Venezuela has always had a tense relationship with Colombia because of border disputes and spillover effects of its neighbor’s multiple violent insurgencies.
What was Venezuela's role in OPEC?
Venezuela’s leading role in OPEC gave it a new prominence during the oil crises of the period. Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez also promoted a Venezuelan leadership role in the nonaligned movement, which was often critical of U.S. policies.
What is the feature of revolutions?
A FEATURE OF revolutions is that they keep coming around in unexpected ways and in unexpected places. Who would have dared predict the eruption that was Seattle in November 1999, when the powers behind neoliberal globalization seemed completely incontestable?
What did Chavez do in the referendum?
In short, Chavez moved to seize the new political space that the Opposition opened up to advance structural institutional reform and to deepen the pro-Chavez, anti-neoliberal political bloc. The referendum polarized the choices starkly: Are you for the advance of the reforms of the Bolivarian process, or with the old and corrupt oligarchs?
Why is Cuba's support important?
Cuban support has been critical to the capacity of the Chavez regime capacity to improve health care (through thousands of doctors implicitly paid for by oil shipments to Cuba at favorable prices) and also, to a degree, other areas of social policy.
What are the weaknesses of Chavez's MVR?
The weaknesses of Chavez’s MVR and the other supporting parties has meant that Chavez has acted at the central level to speak to “the people” directly, using his populist appeal to gain support for his political agenda. It also has served to empower the political base in the barrios to move ahead with building neighborhood capacities and infrastructure as they can.
Is Colombia militarizing Venezuela?
Destabilizing and militarizing the Colombia-Venezuela border cannot be ruled out, with Plan Colombia and paramilitaries being the vehicles to do so. Some of the skirmishes in the Apure region of Venezuela that ended with the killing of oil workers in September 2004, and other reports of Columbian paramilitaries earlier in the year, are indications of this tack with uncertainty and strategic exhaustion apparently as much the objective as direct destabilization at this point.
Is Venezuela a conjunctural advantage?
As the fifth largest oil producer in the world and with global oil prices piercing $50 US a barrel, Venezuela has a conjunctural advantage. [ See note 5] Notably, Venezuela has been able keep its foreign debt obligations under control, while still accumulating official reserves and often running a government fiscal deficit. But the political turmoil produced by the Opposition’s attempted coup and disruption of oil production caused enormous economic damage, which has yet to be fully made up.

Venezuela Under The Spanish
Miranda Invades Venezuela
- Francisco de Miranda was a Venezuelan soldier who had gone to Europe and had become a General during the French Revolution. A fascinating man, he was friends with Alexander Hamiltonand other important international figures and even was the lover of Catherine the Great of Russia for a while. All throughout his many adventures in Europe, he dreamed of freedom for …
The First Venezuelan Republic
- The resulting government became known as the First Venezuelan Republic. Radicals within the government, such as Simón Bolívar, José Félix Ribas, and Francisco de Miranda pushed for unconditional independence and on July 5, 1811, the congress approved it, making Venezuela the firstSouth American nation to formally sever all ties with Spain. Spanish and royalist forces attac…
The Admirable Campaign
- By October of 1812, Bolívar was ready to rejoin the fight. He went to Colombia, where he was given a commission as an officer and a small force. He was told to harass the Spanish along the Magdalena River. Before long, Bolívar had driven the Spanish out of the region and amassed a large army, Impressed, the civilian leaders in Cartagena gave him permission to liberate western …
The Second Venezuelan Republic
- Bolivar quickly established an independent government known as the Second Venezuelan Republic. He had outsmarted the Spanish during the Admirable Campaign, but he had not defeated them, and there were still large Spanish and royalist armies in Venezuela. Bolivar and other generals such as Santiago Mariño and Manuel Piarfought them bravely, but in the end, the …
The Years of War, 1814-1819
- During the period from 1814 to 1819, Venezuela was devastated by roving royalist and patriot armies that fought one another and occasionally amongst themselves. Patriot leaders such as Manuel Piar, José Antonio Páez, and Simón Bolivar did not necessarily acknowledge one another's authority, leading to a lack of a coherent battle plan to free Venezuela. In 1817, Bolívar had Piar …
Bolívar Crosses The Andes and The Battle of Boyaca
- In early 1819, Bolívar was cornered in western Venezuela with his army. He was not powerful enough to knock out the Spanish armies, but they were not strong enough to defeat him, either. He made a daring move: he crossed the frosty Andeswith his army, losing half of it in the process, and arrived in New Granada (Colombia) in July of 1819. New Granada had been relatively untouc…
The Battle of Carabobo
- Alarmed Spanish officers in Venezuela called for a cease-fire, which was agreed to and lasted until April of 1821. Patriot warlords back in Venezuela, such as Mariño and Páez, finally smelled victory and began to close in on Caracas. Spanish General Miguel de la Torre combined his armies and met the combined forces of Bolívar and Páez at the Battle of Carabobo on June 24, …
After The Battle of Carabobo
- With the Spanish finally driven off, Venezuela began putting itself back together. Bolívar had formed the Republic of Gran Colombia, which included present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. The republic lasted until about 1830 when it fell apart into Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador (Panama was part of Colombia at the time). General Páez was the main leader behind …
Overview
The Venezuelan War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought against rule by the Spanish Empire, emboldened by Spain's troubles in the Napoleonic Wars.
The establishment of the Supreme Caracas Junta following the forced deposition of Vicente Emp…
First Republic (1810–1812)
The French invasion of Spain in 1808 led to the fall of the Spanish Monarchy. Most subjects of Spain did not accept the government of Joseph Bonaparte, placed on the Spanish throne by his brother, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France. At the same time, the process of creating a stable government in Spain, which would be widely recognized throughout the empire, took two years. (See Junta (Peninsular War).) This created a power vacuum in the Spanish possessions in …
Second Republic (1813–1814)
Bolívar and other republicans continued the resistance from other parts of the Spanish South America and the Caribbean, or organized guerrilla movements in the interior of the country. In 1813 Bolívar joined the army of United Provinces of New Granada. After winning a series of battles, Bolívar received the approval of the New Granadan Congress to lead a liberating force into Venezuela in what became known as the Admirable Campaign. At the same time, Santiago Mariño invaded …
Spanish reconquest of New Granada (1815–1816)
In Spain, anti-French forces had liberated the country, and the restored Ferdinand VII sent a large expeditionary force to Venezuela and New Granada under Pablo Morillo, who had distinguished himself during Spain's War of Independence.
Royalist forces under Morillo and Morales captured Cartagena and Bogotá in 1816. Before leaving for New Granada Morillo had decommissioned most of the irregular forces that had fought unde…
Stalemate (1816–1819)
Bolívar and Brión returned and tried in 1817 to capture Barcelona, where the Spaniards repulsed them. In the meantime, Piar and Mariño had occupied defenceless Angostura (a city at the narrowest and deepest part of the Orinoco River, hence its name, subsequently changed to Ciudad Bolívar), to where Bolívar headed and was chosen as supreme leader of the independence movement. (It was at this time that Bolívar ordered the addition of a new star for Guayana to th…
Consolidation of independence
In 1819, to break this impasse Bolívar invaded New Granada, which had been reconquered by Morillo's expeditionary force three years earlier. Bolívar decisively defeated the royalists at Boyacá. With the liberation of New Granada, the republicans had a significant base from which to attack Morillo's forces. A republican Congress at Angostura (today Ciudad Bolívar), which already had a s…
Aftermath
The Spanish sent a fleet in 1823 to reconquer the country but were defeated at the Battle of Lake Maracaibo. In the following years Venezuelan forces, as part of the army of Gran Colombia, continued campaigning under the leadership of Bolívar to liberate the southern parts of New Granada and Ecuador. Once this was accomplished, Gran Colombia continued its fight against the Spanish in Peru and Bolivia, completing the efforts of Chilean and Argentine patriots, such as José d…
See also
• Military career of Simón Bolívar
• Simón Bolívar
• Eulalia Ramos
• Spanish American wars of independence