Portal:Venezuela

Distribution of Oryzomys gorgasi (blue) and the related O. couesi (red) in northwestern South America.

Oryzomys gorgasi, also known as Gorgas's oryzomys or Gorgas's rice rat, is a rodent in the genus Oryzomys of family Cricetidae. First recorded 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 reportedly 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. The species is listed as "Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a result of destruction of its habitat and competition with the introduced black rat (Rattus rattus). (Full article...)

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. (Full article...)

• May 2, 1816 – The Battle of Los Frailes is fought around the Los Frailes Archipelago.
• May 2, 1952 – The Sierra Nevada National Park is founded.
• May 3, 1502 – In present-day Venezuela, the Spanish conquistadors led by Alonso de Ojeda founded the village of Santa Cruz de Coquibacoa, the first European settlement in the Americas.
• May 5, 1883 – Birth of Eleazar López Contreras, soldier and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 1973)
• May 6, 1873 – Death of José Antonio Páez, politician and independence leader, three-time President of Venezuela (b. 1790)
• May 13, 1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, US Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
• May 14, 1777 – In Madrid, Carlos III created the Protomedicato de Caracas by royal decree, thus beginning medical studies in Venezuela.
• May 18, 1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
• May 21, 2014 – Death of Jaime Lusinchi, physician and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1924)
• May 24, 1813 – South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador ("The Liberator").
• May 27, 1924 – Birth of Jaime Lusinchi, physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
• May 27, 2007 – Hugo Chávez controversially closes the private television station Radio Caracas Television (RCTV); the next day he replaces it with a state-run television service.

• ... that when elected as mayor, Venezuelan politician Gloria Lizárraga de Capriles did not have her own office and worked from a shopping mall?
• ... that during the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003, all but one of Venezuelan chocolatier María Fernanda Di Giacobbe's ten businesses went bankrupt?
• ... that Gil Kim played professional baseball in the Netherlands, China, Australia, Spain, and Venezuela, scouted in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and coaches in Canada?
• ... that the Tiféret Israel Synagogue, the oldest in Caracas, Venezuela, was profaned during the 2008–2009 Gaza War?
• ... that for the construction of the Mediterranean-style Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art, architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva brought builders from Spain to Venezuela?
• ... that Julio Mayora was most happy about winning his silver medal for Venezuela at the 2020 Summer Olympics because it meant the government might give his mother a house?

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 offers visitors the origins and growth of baseball in the world and the history of what is known as the National sport of Venezuela. It also shows, through its exhibitions, the most prominent players who have made significant achievements, as well as efforts to honor people who have highlighted the activity of baseball in Venezuela, recognizing and appreciating their impact on national culture and exalt those who have made outstanding contributions to the sport. (Full article...)

7 May 2023 – Chile–Venezuela relations, Venezuelan migrant crisis, Chile–Peru relations

Chile announces that 115 Venezuelan migrants were repatriated to Venezuela on a humanitarian flight, after being stranded at the border with Peru, raising tensions between Peru and Chile. (Reuters)