The first Venezuelans are traced back to 6,000 to 13,000 BC. These originals settlers proceeded from three different directions, East (today Guyanas), South (today Brazil) and North (today Antillas). It was on his third voyage of discovery that Christopher Columbus sighted Venezuela in August 2nd 1498 and on discovering the mouth of the Orinoco River, realized he had come across something far greater than another island. The following year, Spanish explorers sailed up to the western tip of the country and into Lake Maracaibo. There, observing Indian houses sitting on wooden stilts above the waters' edge, they christened the land 'Venezuela', meaning 'little Venice'.
Between 1820-1825, Simon Bolivar led the South American independence movement resulting in the defeat of the Spanish and liberation of Venezuela in 1821. In the 1840s, Venezuela laid a claim to two thirds of British Guyana territory, giving birth to a long running border dispute that was to put a heavy strain on the relations between the two countries. Today, Venezuela still claims this land and modern Venezuelan maps mark this region as a 'zona en reclamación' “territory to be reclaimed.”
Business culture and customs
Venezuelan’s main concerns are family, personal friends, hobbies, political party, and athletics but above all there is a concern for oneself. So it is important when dealing with a Venezuelan to relate everything to him or her in personalized terms. Due to the economic instability, there is a boom or bust attitude. Those in the high class have been able to survive the crisis because they had enough capital before the crisis and invested their money wisely. On the other hand, those that were in the middle and low classes did not have any capital to invest and their income was overtaken by the high inflation..........
