The 19th Century
| 1810–1811 — When Napolean invaded Spain and overthrew the King, Venezuela declared independence from Spain. |
| 1811–1823 — Venezuelan war for independence took place after conflicts, campaigns, and battles against other forces that were fighting for Venezuela. Venezuela was now independent of Spain. |
| 1821 — Simon Bolivar established Gran Colombia and became its first president. |
| 1829–1830 — Venezuela pulled away from Gran Colombia and claimed itself as an independent republic. The new capital was now Caracas. |
| 1831 — General Jose Antonio Paez became the first president of Venezuela. |
| 1870 — Antonio Guzman Blanco fought for control of the government by being the head of the Regeneración movement. This ended the civil wars that were occurring. |
| 1873 — Antonio Guzman Blanco had himself elected president. He allowed for modernization, foreign investment, and further improved education and agriculture. He was the absolute ruler until 1889, where a coup overthrew him. |
The 20th Century
| 1908 — Juan Vincente Gomez became a dictator of Venezuela. |
| 1914 — Oil is discovered near Lake Maracaibo, leading to bargains and deals with other countries. Gomez began exploiting Venezuelan oil, but remained in good relations with the countries he traded with. |
| 1935 — Venezuela experiences economic growth because it became the world’s largest oil exporter. |
| 1945 — Venezuela declared war on Axis powers after remaining neutral in World War II. The Venezuelan military did not enter combat. |
| 1947 — After experiencing economic growth, but also a dictatorship, Coup institutes a civilian government. |
| 1948 — Venezuela elects its first democratic leader: President Romulo Gallegos. He is in office for eight months before he is overthrown by a military coup led by Marcos Perez Jimenez. |
| 1950 — Marcos Perez Jimenez serves as a dictator where he began a program for public works: construction of highways, buildings, dams, etc. |
| 1958 — Jimenez is overthrown by Admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal and he flees to the United States. This led to 300 deaths. |
| 1958 — Democrat Romulo Betancourt wins the presidential election. |
| 1963 — Dr. Raul Leoni followed after Betancourt’s presidency. |
| 1961–1962 — Multiple military revolts against the government failed. |
| 1973 — Venezuela currency peaked from oil exploitation. There were steel and oil industries that were nationalized in order to create an economic boom. |
| 1983 — Oil prices globally decrease, leading to difficulties in the economy because oil was a huge part of Venezuela’s money. This led to economic depression, including inflation and lack of jobs. |
| 1989 — Carlos Andres Perez elected president during the economic downfall/depression that Venezuela was experiencing. He declared an increase in the costs of transport, fuel, and utilities. This caused a riot which resulted in a massacre of 300-3,000 people. |
| 1992 — Hugo Chavez led two attempted coups where 120 people were killed; he served two years in prison. |
| 1993 — Perez is impeached on charges for corruption. |
| 1998 — Hugo Chavez is elected president and initiates the Bolivarian Revolution which created a new constitution, socialist economy, and social policies. This was funded by oil prices. |
| 1999 — Venezuela experiences a natural disaster with severe floods that led to mudslides in Vargas. 10,000-30,000 people were killed. |
The 21st Century
| 2001 — Chavez passes laws that focused on redistributing wealth and land. |
| 2002 — Venezuela national currency (Bolivar) dropped 25% against the US dollar. |
| 2002 — Rebellion over a stand-off between the government and state oil monopoly. Chavez was taken into military custody, but returns to office. |
| 2003 — There was a strike where thousands of bank workers stood home to seek new presidential elections; they turned in 2.7 million signatures that opposed Hugo Chavez’s rule. |
| 2005 — Chavez signs a decree in order to eliminate large estates and benefit rural poor. There are also new media regulations that prohibit slandering public figures. |
| 2008 — Venezuela and Russia sign oil and gas cooperation accord. |
| 2010 — Chavez devalues the bolivar currency in order to increase revenue from oil. |
| 2013 — Chavez dies from cancer. Nicolas Maduro succeeds Chavez. |
| 2014 — Minimum of 28 people die in an attempt to suppress anti-government riots. Government cuts public spending. Riots continue. |
| 2016 — Protests in Caracas for President Maduro to leave office because the people see him as the sole problem for the economic crisis. |
| Present — Maduro is re-elected, but the numbers were claimed to be a fraud. There was a push and pull of who was considered to be the legitimate president: Maduro or Juan Guaidó. |
In the 1960s and 1970s, Venezuela experienced astronomical accomplishments, leading it to be the richest country in Latin America. This was mainly due to the oil that Venezuela produced. In September 1960, The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was created in Baghdad, Iraq. Venezuela was one of the original members to join this organization, along with countries like Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. In the ’70s, Venezuela was utilizing the prices of oil and exploiting petroleum in order to create a serious economic boom. The government used the money it made from fossil fuels to support improvements of the land and other industries. When the prices of petroleum began to change constantly, Venezuela began to experience the consequences of exploitation: inflation, debt, unemployment, and overall corruption.
From the years of the 1980s to the 1990s, there are only notable experiences of inflation, lack of jobs, and a considerably long-term economic depression. On February 27, 1989, the Caracazo Riots took place. This is where violent protests took place in multiple cities of Venezuela, including Caracas. During this time, more than half of the population was experiencing poverty, but the president of the time (Carlos Andres Perez) and the government declared an increase in the costs of transport, fuel, and utilities. This caused an uproar in Venezuelan’s communities, considering the economic challenges Venezuelan’s were already facing; they began widespread looting and rioting against the changes. The response to the riots was violence: Perez called a state of emergency and sent the army to suppress citizens. This resulted in a massacre of 300-3,000 people; the result of this was the downfall of the two-party political system in place and the election of Hugo Chavez.
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Kaitlyn Carreras, 2019