Bibliograph

Venezuela, Charles J. Shields

Type

Label

Venezuela, Charles J. Shields

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Venezuela

Medium

electronic resource

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Responsibility statement

Charles J. Shields

Series statement

Discovering South America, history, politics, and culture

Summary

In 1499, the Spanish navigator Alonso de Ojeda explored the coast of South America. When his ships entered a gulf, he found that Amerindians had built their homes on stilts along the swampy shore of what became known as Lake Maracaibo. This reminded the explorers of the city of Venice, in Europe, so they named the region Venezuela (Spanish for "Little Venice"). The socialist government of Hugo Chávez, who ruled from 1999 until his death in 2011, put in place new laws that it said would improve the lives of poorer Venezuelans. However, the laws have instead resulted in economic problems, including rising inflation rates. Venezuela is also troubled by high levels of crime and violence, as well as government corruption. As a result, in recent years the Venezuelan people have publicly demonstrated to demand changes. There's a lot to discover about Venezuela!

Target audience

adult

Classification

Contributor