Christopher Columbus arrives in Venezuela. It had been six years since his ships had touched American soil. He still had a great and inexhaustible thirst for discoveries, and also to open new trade routes. That is how on 1498 August XNUMX, during his third voyage to discover the Americas, the great Genoese navigator touches Venezuelan soil. Christopher Columbus, who for his voyage had obtained new funding from the Spanish sovereigns Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, had left with eight ships. It landed, for the first time in South America, on August XNUMX.

Christopher Columbus with the natives

Christopher Columbus landed in Venezuela, near the delta of the Orinoco River, after having skirted the island of Trinidad. From here he reached the Gulf of Paria and the indigenous village of Macuro. The natives of Venezuela, the northernmost of the South American states, were mainly devoted to agriculture and hunting and were divided between Aruachi and Caribe. They lived mostly near the coast and along the river. Upon his arrival, Columbus found hospitality and welcome, because the natives often welcomed the first Europeans with demonstrations of sympathy and friendship. Then it wasn't like that anymore.

The new capital, Santiago de Leon de Caracas, founded in 1575 by a Spanish explorer

If the arrival of Christopher Columbus was peaceful, in fact, it went differently with the Spaniards and their wars of conquest which had a double purpose: on the one hand to bring the Christian faith to these territories. On the other hand, to exploit the natural resources of which they were rich. However, two dramatic purposes for the indigenous people: forced for reasons of religion to obey the pope and the Spanish sovereigns; stripped of their riches which in these parts consisted mainly of precious materials and objects such as gold and pearls. The natives tried to defend themselves, led by the Cacique chief of the Caribe tribe, the brave Guaicaipuro. After numerous episodes of resistance, he was arrested by Diego de Losada, the Spanish explorer who a few months later, in July 1575, would have founded in a valley what would later become the capital of Venezuela, Santiago de León de Caracas.

Italian emigration and the important influence of Italian in Venezuelan Spanish

The gold and silver mines were the reasons that prompted the conquerors to settle in this territory, in addition to the cultivation of cocoa in the plantations of which many slaves brought from Africa worked. Between ups and downs, the independence of Venezuela was proclaimed on July 5, 1811. It was the first Latin American nation to become independent from Spain. However, only in the forties of the twentieth century did economic development start and only at the end of the fifties was a democratic government system established.

Cristoforo Colombo Venezuela - The beach of Cumanà
Cumanà beach today, where the first Spanish conquerors settled in the sixteenth century (ph credit: Guillermo Esteves, CC BY 2.0)

During the colonial era in Venezuela, the Italians were few. They increased in the XNUMXs and especially afterwards. After the Second World War, 252 Italians emigrated to this country. In 1961 they represented the largest foreign community. In 2000 it was estimated that Venezuelans with at least one grandfather (or great-grandfather) who emigrated from Italy were almost one million. The Italian language had an important influence on Venezuelan Spanish.

After Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci was the father of the name Venezuela, "little Venice"

And Columbus? The fact that the Italians, and Christopher Columbus himself, were not the conquerors has favored a certain human sympathy between the two peoples. This has facilitated the consolidation, over the years, of aimportant cultural imprint of the Italians in Venezuela. Despite this, for a part of the population the figure of Christopher Columbus continues to represent a symbol of what European colonialism was. To the point that in 2002 the Columbus Day in Venezuela it changed its name and became the Día de la Resistencia Indígena, Day of indigenous resistance.

Cumanà beach - Christopher Columbus in a portrait by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio
Christopher Columbus in a portrait by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio

The history and exploits of the great Genoese navigator remain who, in search of the Indies, found himself in the still unexplored continent of the Two Americas. In Venezuela he discovered beautiful and contrasting landscapes. From the Andean mountains to the white beaches of the coasts, the Amazonian jungles and the huge variety of exotic plants and animals. Venezuela is one of the 17 countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world. Another Italian navigator after Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, reached these lands and, it is said, was particularly struck by the stilts where the natives lived. They reminded him of Venice, so he thought of the name "little Venice". Venezuela, in fact.

(credit photo in evidence: CC BY-SA 3.0)

Christopher Columbus discovers Venezuela. It was the first of August 1498 last edit: 2021-08-01T09:00:00+02:00 da Cristina Campolonghi

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