Essay --

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Venezuela is a Latin American country located in northern South America and borders countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Guyana. Venezuela became colonized in 1522 by the Spanish, who remained in power until the early nineteenth century. After the Venezuelans independence from Spain in 1821, the country experienced periods of dictatorial rule of the caudillos and revolutionary turbulence which left the country with major political instability for the remainder of the century. During the early twentieth century, authoritarianism ruled the nation until Romulo Gallegos, a leftist, became the first democratically elected president in 1947. Within the year, Gallegos was overthrown by Marcos Perez Jimenez, a military officer, who, he himself would eventually become overthrown in 1958. Upon his departure from office, civilian democracy had been restored with the election of Romulo Betancourt. Until the latter end of the twentieth century, Venezuela had generally remained a politically peaceful country. However, in 1989, Venezuela experienced a period...