User:Kingsif/Venezuela portal updates/Archive 1

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January 2020[edit]

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A frame from the film Un célebre especialista sacando muelas en el gran Hotel Europa

Un célebre especialista sacando muelas en el gran Hotel Europa (English: A celebrated specialist pulling teeth at the grand Hotel Europa) was the first Venezuelan film. It was screened at the Baralt Theatre in Maracaibo, Zulia on 28 January 1897 as the second in a film block of four; the block also featured another film from Maracaibo (Muchachos bañándose en la laguna de Maracaibo: English: Children bathing at the lagoon of Maracaibo). Little is known about the film's production, and scholars are uncertain of the identity of its director.

No complete copies of the original film survive. During the 2010s, a reconstruction of the film was produced in Venezuela with preserved photographs from the original. In the film, a dental surgeon at the Hotel Europa in Maracaibo pulls a man's teeth. Although the subject matter could make it an early horror film, scholars agree that the film was an actuality film.

A contemporary reviewer criticized the screening for its inappropriate projection speed and theatre lighting, but gave praise to the film.

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The Parque Cristal is an office and recreation building located on Avenida Francisco de Miranda in Caracas, Venezuela, which has become a famous landmark. The building is 103 meters high and has 18 floors for work and recreational space. It was designed by Jimmy Alcock, who won the Premio Metropolitano de Arquitectura for his design.

Ephemerides[edit]

Ciudad Ojeda
Frame from Muchachos bañándose...

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G. Trujillo Durán

Guillermo Trujillo Durán (10 February 1878 – 11 February 1967) was a Venezuelan poet and politician. He is also remembered for his work in journalism and film, alongside his brother. In 1930, he was awarded one of the highest honors for civilian services to Venezuela, being made a Grand Officer of the Order of the Liberator.

His poetry has been described as "a mixture of classical, romantic and modernist rhythms where he sings heroic deeds, but is considered superficial, full of common places, with fragile images, despite internal musicality" (Jesús Angél Semprún Parra).

As a public servant, he twice served as Vice President of the National Assembly, and undertook several roles across Venezuela.

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The first Vitascope show draws crowds outside the Baralt Theatre on 11 July 1896.

Venezuela was introduced to cinema as a for-profit industry in the 1890s, when the medium became international. There were at least eight national films made in the decade, by three groups of filmmakers — one of the groups was based in Maracaibo and one was based in Caracas. The first film screening in the nation may have taken place as early as 1894, but is generally reported as 1896, with this later date being the first scheduled public screening.

Unlike other countries where cinema came as a product of modernity and development, cinema came to Venezuela through two pathways; one with Venezuelans only as the viewers, the other with them being viewed. This passive involvement with the development was simply described by Paulo Antonio Paranaguá by referring to cinema at its arrival as "another foreign import".

While some films may have been shown in the nation in 1894 and 1895 by the Kinetoscope Company on a Kinetoscope, the first scheduled, multi-show, and completely public screenings took place in 1896 with a Vitascope operated by Manuel Trujillo Durán under the employ of Luis Manuel Méndez.

December 2019[edit]

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A 360° Panoramic view of Santa Rosa de la Eminencia Castle

Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle is a colonial castle built in the seventeenth century by the Spanish monarchy on Margarita Island, Venezuela. After a group of French pirates attacked the city of La Asunción, its construction started on 24 March 1677 by order of governor Juan Muñoz de Gadea, and it was finished c. 1683.

The structure comprises three defensive fronts, each one with two bastions, two half bastions and three curtains, and is positioned at the top of a hill that overlooks the city The castle served as a prison for war heroine Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi between November 1815 and January 1816. She was held captive by the Spanish forces on an attempt to bow down her husband, Juan Bautista Arismendi, who was the chief of the patriotic forces on the island. Simón Bolívar's arrival to the island prompted the partial destruction and abandonment of the fort in May 1816. By 1899, the facility serviced as headquarters, and later as quarters for the National Army. It was declared as a National Monument in 1965.

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The San Carlos de la Barra Fortress is a seventeenth century star fort protecting Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, one of a number of coastal fortifications built by the Spanish in colonial times. It was built in 1623 with limestone rocks, brought from the Island of Toas, at the entrance to the Maracaibo bar.

Ephemerides[edit]

Bolívar's death, by Venezuelan painter Antonio Herrera Toro

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Víctor Castillo in 2011

Víctor Manuel Castillo Petit (born 8 June 1981) is a Venezuelan track and field athlete who specialises in the long jump. His personal best jump is 8.34 metres, a Venezuelan record achieved in May 2004 in Cochabamba. He tested positive for banned substance Dimetilexaniamine in 2011.

He won the South American junior title in 2000 and rose to become the South American Champion in 2003 on home soil. At the 2003 Pan American Games, he took the bronze medal. Castillo appeared at the World Championships in Athletics that year and later represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

After being banned from 2006 to 2008, he returned to win the long jump title at the Bolivarian Games. He was the bronze medallist at the 2011 Military World Games then won the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games. However, he failed a drugs test for a second time at the latter event and was stripped of his title, however he did not receive a lifetime ban because the substance found in his test was a fairly new addition to the list of banned substances and he took it from a pre-workout supplement.

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Luis Aparicio was the first person elected to the Hall of Fame, in 2003.

The Salón de la Fama y Museo del Béisbol Venezolano (in English, the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum) is a nonprofit institution operated by private interests, which was founded on April 18, 2002, thanks to the vision of Carlos Daniel Cárdenas Lares. The institution is located at Centro Sambil, in Valencia, the capital city of Carabobo State and the third largest city of Venezuela.

The museum covers a total area of 2,300 square meters and is laid out on two levels. The first floor of the museum includes four historical rooms, an auditorium dedicated to Luis Aparicio, an art gallery named after Andrés Galarraga, a baseball library and a shop. On the second floor are a permanent Hall of Fame exhibition, two batting cages, and a newsroom.

Since its opening in 2002, the museum has had two nominating committees responsible for selecting the most notable baseball figures of all time. The Contemporary Committee, comprising representatives of the media, official scorekeepers, umpires, representatives of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, and Players Association officers, have the task of choosing both natives and foreign players who developed their careers in Venezuelan professional baseball since 1980. Meanwhile, the Historical Committee selects those players who made their careers in the period prior to the 1980–1981 season of the VPBL. In both cases, managers, executives, broadcasters and individuals who have collaborated in the development of baseball in Venezuela are also recognized.

November 2019[edit]

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A small blue bird sits on a wooden pole.
A tree swallow at Stroud Preserve, near West Chester, Pennsylvania, US

The tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) is a migratory bird of the family Hirundinidae. Found in the Americas, the tree swallow was first described in 1807 by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot as Hirundo bicolor. It has since been moved to its current genus, Tachycineta, within which its phylogenetic placement is debated. The tree swallow has glossy blue-green upperparts, with the exception of the blackish wings and tail, and white underparts. The bill is black, the eyes dark brown, and the legs and feet pale brown. The female is generally duller than the male, and the first-year female has mostly brown upperparts, with some blue feathers. Juveniles have brown upperparts, and a grey-brown-washed breast. The tree swallow breeds in the US and Canada. It winters along southern US coasts south, along the Gulf Coast, to Panama and the northwestern coast of South America, and in the West Indies.

The tree swallow nests either in isolated pairs or loose groups, in both natural and artificial cavities. Breeding can start as soon as early May, although this date is occurring earlier because of climate change, and it can end as late as July. This bird is generally socially monogamous (although about 8% of males are polygynous), with high levels of extra-pair paternity. This can benefit the male, but since the female controls copulation, the lack of resolution on how this behaviour benefits females makes the high level of extra-pair paternity puzzling. The female incubates the clutch of two to eight (but usually four to seven) pure white eggs, usually for 14 to 15 days. The chicks hatch slightly asynchronously, allowing for the female to prioritize which chicks to feed in times of food shortage. They generally fledge about 18 to 22 days after hatching. The tree swallow is sometimes considered a model organism, due to the large amount of research done on it.

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Los Roques archipelago is a federal dependency of Venezuela consisting of approximately 350 islands, cays, and islets in a total area of 40.61 square kilometers. The archipelago is located 128 kilometers (80 mi) directly north of the port of La Guaira, in the Caribbean Sea.

Ephemerides[edit]

Angel Falls

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Lorena Telpuk, formerly María del Luján Telpuk (sometimes María de Luján Telpuk) or the Suitcase Girl (born c. 1981), is a former airport police officer at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who noticed a suitcase with US$800,000 as it went through an X-ray machine in August 2007, initiating a very public international election scandal, known as Maletinazo.

When the suitcase scandal became public, Telpuk became an international celebrity, appearing on the cover of several magazines, including those of the February 2008 issue of the Argentine edition of Playboy magazine and the March 2008 issue of the Venezuelan edition of Playboy magazine.

In 2008, she changed her name to Lorena Telpuk, had breast augmentation surgery, and continued to pose for adult modeling photographs and derive income from her notoriety. She became involved in larger political struggles between the US government and perceived "leftist" Latin American leaders, receiving death threats requiring police protection, and testifying in court regarding her involvement in the case.

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The Venezuelan troupial is the national bird of Venezuela.

This is a list of the bird species recorded in Venezuela. The avifauna of Venezuela has 1386 confirmed species, of which 45 are endemic, six have been introduced by humans, 30 are rare or vagrants, and one has been extirpated. An additional 18 species are hypothetical (see below).

Except as an entry is cited otherwise, the list of species is that of the South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society. The list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families, and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) are also those of the SACC.

October 2019[edit]

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A pink painted adobe building, with Venezuelan flags in front and large plants lining the low wall of a small overhung patio.
El Hatillo City Hall in 2009.

El Hatillo Municipality (Spanish: Municipio El Hatillo) is an administrative division of the State of Miranda, Venezuela; along with Baruta, Chacao, Libertador and Sucre, it is one of the five municipalities of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. It is located in the southeastern area of Caracas, and in the northwestern part of the State of Miranda.

The seat of the municipal government is El Hatillo Town, founded in 1784 by Don Baltasar de León, who was instrumental in the area's development. Although the town had its origins during the Spanish colonisation, the municipality was not established until 1991. In 2000 – the year after a new constitution was enacted in Venezuela – some of the municipality functions were delegated to a consolidated mayor's office called Alcaldía Mayor, which also has some authority over the other four municipalities of Caracas.

El Hatillo preserves some of its colonial architecture, including an 18th-century parish church and a unique Romanian Orthodox Church. The municipality also has a rich artistic culture, with at least two important musical festivals celebrated yearly, and numerous holiday celebrations reflecting the heritage of El Hatillo. The culture, the pleasant temperature, the rural landscape, and the gastronomy of the municipality have made it a place of interest for visitors to the city, and a desirable place to live. The municipality receives a part of its income from tourism, an activity that is promoted by the government.

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This is a feral Charolais cattle in the Venezuelan Sierra Nevada. The Charolais is a French breed of taurine beef cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the Charolais area of eastern France. Charolais are raised for meat; they may be crossed with other breeds, including Angus and Hereford cattle.

Ephemerides[edit]

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Manuel Trujillo Durán

Manuel Trujillo Durán (8 January 1871 – 14 March 1933) was a Venezuelan photographer who pioneered film in Venezuela. Trujillo was most successful as a photographer, though he dabbled in other industries and is best remembered for his connections to the fledgling film industry in Venezuela. He became one of the first people from Latin America to learn how to show films; he was thought for many years to be the director of Venezuela's first films, and traveled through Venezuela and Colombia with projectors to introduce cinema to this part of the South American continent.

At age 14, Trujillo began studying at the Colegio Federal de Varones, where he excelled in arts and sciences. In school he was a contemporary of Udón Pérez, who would become a famous poet. Both knew each other in adulthood, as the men worked next door to each other.

In 1896, Trujillo founded his "El rayo de luz" (English: "The ray of light") photography studio at 6 Venezuela Street, in front of the Baralt Theatre It was here where, starting in 1897, he would produce and develop images for his magazine of the same name. Trujillo was a photographer by trade and an associate of film technician and entrepreneur Luis Manuel Méndez; through this friendship he learned how to use a Vitascope, and be a film technician, when Méndez acquired one and brought it to Venezuela in 1896. When Méndez brought the technology to Maracaibo, it allowed him and Trujillo to show films. Trujillo then took the projectors around Venezuela and Colombia, and became a pioneer in the roles of projector, distributor and marketer.

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Current President, Juan Guaidó, in February 2019.

The President of the National Assembly (Spanish: Presidente de la Asamblea Nacional) is the presiding officer (speaker) of the National Assembly, Venezuela's unicameral legislature. The president's term coincides with the term of the legislature (five years as per constitutional convention). The post has existed since the election of the first National Assembly in 2000. Before the creation of the National Assembly with the adoption of the 1999 constitution, the country's legislature was the bicameral Congress, which contained the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The last president of the Senate was Luis Alfonso Dávila, and the last president of the Chamber of Deputies was Henrique Capriles Radonski.

Since 5 January 2019, Juan Guaidó, a member of the Popular Will (VP) party and the Democratic Unity Roundtable coalition, has been President of the National Assembly.

September 2019[edit]

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A rat, grayish above and pale below, seen from above and from the front, among reed and leaf litter.
The marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is closely similar to O. gorgasi.

Oryzomys gorgasi, also known as Gorgas's oryzomys or Gorgas's rice rat, is a rodent in the genus Oryzomys of family Cricetidae. First collected as a living animal in 1967, it is known from only a few localities, including a freshwater swamp in the lowlands of northwestern Colombia and a mangrove islet in northwestern Venezuela. It formerly occurred on the island of Curaçao off northwestern Venezuela; this extinct population has been described as a separate species, Oryzomys curasoae, but does not differ morphologically from mainland populations.

Oryzomys gorgasi is a medium-sized, brownish species with large, semiaquatically specialized feet. It differs from other Oryzomys species in several features of its skull. Its diet includes crustaceans, insects, and plant material, and parasitic nematodes infect it. The species is listed as "Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to destruction of its habitat and competition with the introduced black rat (Rattus rattus).

Oryzomys gorgasi was first found in Antioquia Department of northwestern Colombia in 1967 during an expedition by the U.S. Army Medical Department and the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory. In 1971, Field Museum zoologist Philip Hershkovitz described a new species, Oryzomys gorgasi, on the basis of the single known specimen, an old male. He named the animal after physician William Crawford Gorgas, the namesake of the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory. Hershkovitz considered the new species most closely related to Oryzomys palustris, which at the time included North and Central American populations now divided into several species, including the marsh rice rat (O. palustris) and O. couesi. The species was not recorded again until 2001, when Venezuelan zoologist J. Sánchez H. and coworkers reported on 11 specimens collected in coastal northwestern Venezuela in 1992, 700 km (430 mi) from the Colombian locality. They confirmed that O. gorgasi is a distinct species related to the O. palustris group.

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Plaza Francia, also known as "Plaza Altamira", is a public space located in Altamira, east Caracas. It was built at the beginning of the 1940s and opened on August 11, 1945 with the original name of "Plaza Altamira". Its name was later changed due to an agreement between the cities of Caracas and Paris to have a Venezuela Square in Paris and a France Square in Caracas.

Ephemerides[edit]

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General Gregor MacGregor

General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as "Cazique". Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates, while about 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822–23 to find only an untouched jungle; more than half of them died. MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.

From the Clan Gregor, MacGregor was an officer in the British Army from 1803 to 1810; he served in the Peninsular War. He joined the republican side in the Venezuelan War of Independence in 1812, quickly became a general and, over the next four years, operated against the Spanish on behalf of both Venezuela and its neighbour New Granada. His successes included a difficult month-long fighting retreat through northern Venezuela in 1816. He captured Amelia Island in 1817 under a mandate from revolutionary agents to conquer Florida from the Spanish, and there proclaimed a short-lived "Republic of the Floridas". He then oversaw two calamitous operations in New Granada during 1819 that each ended with his abandoning British volunteer troops under his command.

On his return to Britain in 1821, MacGregor claimed that King George Frederic Augustus of the Mosquito Coast in the Gulf of Honduras had created him Cazique of Poyais, which he described as a developed colony with a community of British settlers. When the British press reported on MacGregor's deception following the return of fewer than 50 survivors in late 1823, some of his victims leaped to his defence, insisting that the general had been let down by those whom he had put in charge of the emigration party. A French court tried MacGregor and three others for fraud in 1826 after he attempted a variation on the scheme there, but convicted only one of his associates. Acquitted, MacGregor attempted lesser Poyais schemes in London over the next decade. In 1838, he moved to Venezuela, where he was welcomed back as a hero. He died in Caracas in 1845, aged 58, and was buried with full military honours in Caracas Cathedral.

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Detail of the sculpture Pastor de nubes/Berger de nuages

The University City of Caracas is a World Heritage Site in Caracas, Venezuela. It is a functional university campus for the Central University of Venezuela, as well as home to many works of notable art and architecture. Many works of art are Modernist and mosaic. The campus was designed by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, who oversaw much of the construction and design work.

Villanueva primarily enlisted artists who were either European or had European influences — Villanueva himself had been inspired for the campus design in Paris — including members of Los Disidentes [es], a group of Venezuelan artists who left for Europe to break from the Mexican mural tradition.

In their book Modern Architecture in Latin America: Art, Technology, and Utopia, Carranza and Lara discuss the 'movements' of Villanueva's Synthesis of the Arts, and the functions of certain pieces within their spaces.

August 2019[edit]

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An image of Hugo Chávez in 2003, from which the film poster is derived

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Spanish: La revolución no será transmitida), also known as Chávez: Inside the Coup, is a 2003 documentary film focusing on events in Venezuela leading up to and during the April 2002 coup d'état attempt, which saw President Hugo Chávez removed from office for two days. With particular emphasis on the role played by Venezuela's private media, the film examines several key incidents: the protest march and subsequent violence that provided the impetus for Chávez's ousting; the opposition's formation of an interim government headed by business leader Pedro Carmona; and the Carmona administration's collapse, which paved the way for Chávez's return. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised was directed by Irish filmmakers Kim Bartley and Donnacha Ó Briain. Given direct access to Chávez, the filmmakers intended to make a fly-on-the-wall biography of the president. They spent seven months filming in Venezuela, following Chávez and his staff and interviewing ordinary citizens. As the coup unfolded on 11 April, Bartley and Ó Briain filmed on the streets of the capital, Caracas, capturing footage of protesters and the erupting violence. Later, they filmed many of the political upheavals inside Miraflores, the presidential palace.

Bartley and Ó Briain conceived of the film after Bartley returned from documenting the aftermath of the 1999 Vargas mudslides for an Irish charity. Following a visit to Venezuela to determine the feasibility of a film project, the pair formed a production company and applied to Ireland's film board, Bord Scannán na hÉireann (BSÉ), for a development grant. At BSÉ's request, the filmmakers partnered with a more experienced producer and shot a short pilot to show to potential investors. Funding for the €200,000 production was provided by BSÉ and several European broadcasters. Bartley and Ó Briain shot more than 200 hours of material; editing focused on identifying footage that would make the film entertaining and drive the plot. It was at this stage that the film's coverage narrowed to concentrate more on the coup attempt.

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The cuatro of Venezuela has four single nylon strings, tuned (ad'f#'b). It is similar in shape and tuning to the ukulele, but their character and playing technique are vastly different. A cuatro player is called a cuatrista.

Ephemerides[edit]

Statue of Francisco de Miranda, next to his flag, at La Vela de Coro

Selected biography[edit]

Ramón Ramírez with the Cincinnati Reds in 2009

Ramón A. Ramírez (born September 16, 1982) is a Venezuelan pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds. He throws three pitches: a fastball, a slider, and a changeup.

Ramírez was signed by the San Diego Padres in 2000 as an outfielder, but he was released in 2001. The Reds signed him in 2003 as a pitcher, and he reached the major leagues in 2008, when he made four starts for the Reds. The next year, he appeared in 11 games in relief for the Reds. After the season, the Tampa Bay Rays claimed him off waivers, but they released him. The Boston Red Sox claimed him off waivers, and he spent 2010 in the minor leagues for them. He signed with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2011, but he was released before appearing in a game with them. Ramírez throws three pitches: a fastball, a slider, and a changeup. Rays' general manager Andrew Friedman described the fastball as "average", the slider as "pretty good", and the changeup as "above-average."

In 2009, Ramírez represented Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, deciding to play in the tournament at the last minute. On March 10, he gave up one run in three innings of relief as Venezuela defeated Italy 10–1 to advance to the second round of the Classic. He pitched a scoreless 2⁄3 of an inning on March 16 as Venezuela defeated Puerto Rico 2–0. In his final game of the Classic (on March 18), Ramírez gave up two runs in 1+2⁄3 innings, but Venezuela defeated the United States 10–6 to advance to the semifinals.

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The Universidad Central de Venezuela's old campus in 1911

Venezuela has a wide array of universities, offering courses in a broad variety of subjects, spread between a total 23 public and 24 private universities located across several states. As a result of a Royal Decree signed by Philip V of Spain, the Central University of Venezuela—the country's oldest—was founded in 1721 as "Universidad Real y Pontificia de Caracas". The campus was originally at the now-known "Palacio de las Academias" but, in 1944, president Isaías Medina Angarita relocated it to the University City of Caracas.

The second oldest university is the University of the Andes. Established in 1810 as the "Real Universidad de San Buenaventura de Mérida de los Caballeros", its origins date back to 1785 when Fray Juan Ramos de Lora founded a priest school in the city of Mérida. The University of Zulia—the third-oldest university—was founded in 1891 when the Federal College of Maracaibo was converted into a university. The government ordered the closure of the university for political reasons in 1904, and it remained closed until 1946. The University of Carabobo is the last to be founded before the twentieth century by being established in 1892 and dating back to 1833 when the College of Carabobo was created by presidential decree.

July 2019[edit]

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Andean Condor in flight

The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) or sometimes referred to as the Chilean condor is a South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan. It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) exceeded only by the wingspans of four seabirds and water birds—the roughly 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) maximum of the wandering albatross, southern royal albatross, great white pelican and Dalmatian pelican.

It is a large black vulture with a ruff of white feathers surrounding the base of the neck and, especially in the male, large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, and are a dull red color, which may flush and therefore change color in response to the bird's emotional state. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red comb or caruncle on the crown of the head. Unlike most birds of prey, the male is larger than the female.

The condor is primarily a scavenger, feeding on carrion. It prefers large carcasses, such as those of deer or cattle. It reaches sexual maturity at five or six years of age and nests at elevations of up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft), generally on inaccessible rock ledges. One or two eggs are usually laid. It is one of the world's longest-living birds, with a lifespan of over 70 years in some cases.

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Monument to Independence
Monument to Independence


The Bolivarian Games are a regional multi-sport event held in honor of Simón Bolívar, and organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization. The event is open to athletes from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

Ephemerides[edit]

Other important politicians[edit]

Potentially have July 24 and July 28 as their own

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Luis Posada at Fort Benning, Georgia, US, 1962

Luis Clemente Posada Carriles (February 15, 1928 – May 23, 2018) was a Cuban exile militant and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. He was considered a terrorist by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Government of Cuba, among others.

Born in Cienfuegos, Posada Carriles fled to the United States after a spell of anti-Castro activism. He helped organize the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and after it failed, became an agent for the CIA. He received training at Fort Benning, and from 1964 to 1967 was involved with a series of bombings and other covert activities against the Cuban government, before joining the Venezuelan intelligence service. Along with Orlando Bosch, he was involved in founding the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, described by the FBI as "an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization". Posada and CORU are widely considered responsible for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. Posada later admitted involvement in a string of bombings in 1997 targeting fashionable Cuban hotels and nightspots. In addition, he was jailed under accusations related to an assassination attempt on Fidel Castro in Panama in 2000, although he was later pardoned by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso in the final days of her term. He denied involvement in the airline bombing and the alleged plot against Castro in Panama, but admitted to fighting to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba.

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Román Chalbaud has been working in Venezuelan film, television, and theatre since 1951, continuing to direct, write, and produce works to the present. Though most famous for his Golden Age films, he is also renowned in Venezuela as part of the "Holy Trinity" of theatre for his contributions not only in playwriting, but also in direction and production. Behind these, he has written and created many television series and telenovelas, and has occasionally acted in both his own and his contemporaries' works. Chalbaud's continuing work into his old age may be due to his affiliation with the successive Venezuelan governments, which have funded his works since such programs began.

June 2019[edit]

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Satellite image of Hurricane Ivan passing through Lesser Antilles

The effects of Hurricane Ivan in the Lesser Antilles and South America in September 2004 included 44 deaths and over $1 billion in damage (2004 USD), primarily in Grenada where it was considered the worst hurricane in nearly 50 years. Hurricane Ivan developed from a tropical wave on September 2 and rapidly intensified to become a major hurricane, passing through the southern Lesser Antilles on September 7 with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h). At the time, its typical storm force winds extended outward up to 160 miles (260 km) with hurricane-force winds outward to 70 miles (110 km), and the northern portion of the eye passed over Grenada.

In the region, the worst damage occurred on Grenada, where the damage total of $1.1 billion (2004 USD, ($1.77 billion 2024 USD)) represented 200% of its GDP. The hurricane damaged more than 14,000 homes and destroyed 30% of the houses, leaving about 18,000 people homeless. A total of 39 people were killed by the hurricane on the island. Elsewhere, Hurricane Ivan caused at least three fatalities and moderate damage in northern Venezuela. One person died each in Trinidad and Barbados. The name Ivan was later retired.

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Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, Maracaibo
Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, Maracaibo


The Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá is a church in Maracaibo. Its feast day is November 18.

Ephemerides[edit]

Portrait of Antonio José de Sucre

Selected biography[edit]

Sandoval playing for the San Francisco Giants in 2013

Pablo Emilio Juan Pedro Sandoval Jr. (born August 11, 1986) is a Venezuelan professional baseball third baseman for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has played in Major League Baseball for the Giants and the Boston Red Sox. He stands 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighs 268 pounds (122 kg). He previously played portions of three seasons for the Boston Red Sox and seven seasons for the San Francisco Giants. Nicknamed "Kung Fu Panda", Sandoval is a two-time All-Star and has won three World Series championships with the Giants. Sandoval hit three home runs in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, becoming the fourth person to hit three home runs in a World Series game, and was named the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP). During the offseason, he plays for the Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

Selected list[edit]

A bronze statue of Luis Aparicio

The Luis Aparicio Award is given annually to a Venezuelan player in Major League Baseball (MLB) who is judged to have recorded the best individual performance in that year. The winner of the award is determined by a vote conducted by Venezuelan sports journalists and Spanish-language media around the world. It is named after former MLB shortstop Luis Aparicio, who is the only player from Venezuela to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The award was first presented in 2004, and was created in order to honour Aparicio's major league career and to commemorate his father, who died thirteen years before his son was elected into the Hall of Fame.

Johan Santana, José Altuve, and Miguel Cabrera are the only players to win the Luis Aparicio Award more than once, with Cabrera having won the award five times. Four winners—Cabrera, Altuve, Magglio Ordóñez, and Carlos González—were batting champions in their respective leagues in the same year they won the award.

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