Venezuela Government

What is the capital of Venezuela?

Country Name	Venezuela
Full Country Name	Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Local - Long	República Bolivariana de Venezuela
Local - Short	Venezuela
Former Name	State of Venezuela, Republic of Venezuela, United States of Venezuela
Etymology- history of name	native stilt-houses built on Lake Maracaibo reminded early explorers Alonso de OJEDA and Amerigo VESPUCCI in 1499 of buildings in Venice and so they named the region "Venezuola," which in Italian means "Little Venice"
Government Type	federal presidential republic
Capital Name	Caracas
Capital - geographic coordinate	10 29 N, 66 52 W
Capital Time Difference	UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Independence	5 July 1811 (from Spain)
National Holiday	Independence Day, 5 July (1811)
Constitution	history: many previous; latest adopted 15 December 1999, effective 30 December 1999 amendments: proposed through agreement by at least 39% of the National Assembly membership, by the president of the republic in session with the cabinet of ministers, or by petition of at least 15% of registered voters; passage requires simple majority vote by the Assembly and simple majority approval in a referendum; amended 2009; note - in 2016, President MADURO issued a decree to hold an election to form a constituent assembly to change the constitution; the election in July 2017 approved the formation of a 545-member constituent assembly and elected its delegates, empowering them to change the constitution and dismiss government institutions and officials

Venezuela Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Venezuela Government and Politics

Who is the president of Venezuela?

Executive Branch:	chief of state: Notification Statement: the United States does not recognize Nicolas MADURO Moros as president of Venezuela President Nicolas MADURO Moros (since 19 April 2013); Executive Vice President Delcy RODRIGUEZ Gomez (since 14 June 2018); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Nicolas MADURO Moros (since 19 April 2013); Executive Vice President Delcy RODRIGUEZ Gomez (since 14 June 2018) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 6-year term (no term limits); election last held on 20 May 2018 (next to be held in the second half of 2024) election results: 2018: Nicolas MADURO Moros reelected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 67.9%, Henri FALCON (AP) 20.9%, Javier BERTUCCI 10.8%; note - the election was reportedly marred by serious shortcomings and electoral fraud 2013: Nicolas MADURO Moros elected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 50.6%, Henrique CAPRILES Radonski (PJ) 49.1%, other 0.3%
Citizenship Criteria:	citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent only: yes dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years; reduced to five years in the case of applicants from Spain, Portugal, Italy, or a Latin American or Caribbean country
Legal System:	civil law system based on the Spanish civil code
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch:	description: unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (277 seats; 3 seats reserved for indigenous peoples of Venezuela; members serve 5-year terms); note - in 2020, the National Electoral Council increased the number of seats in the National Assembly from 167 to 277 for the 6 December 2020 election elections: last held on 6 December 2020 (next expected to be held in December 2025) election results: percent of vote by party - GPP (pro-government) 69.3%, Democratic Alliance (opposition coalition) 17.7%, other 13%; seats by party - GPP 253, Democratic Alliance 18, indigenous peoples 3, other 3; composition - NA
Judicial Branch:	highest court(s): Supreme Tribunal of Justice (consists of 32 judges organized into constitutional, political-administrative, electoral, civil appeals, criminal appeals, and social divisions) judge selection and term of office: judges proposed by the Committee of Judicial Postulation (an independent body of organizations dealing with legal issues and of the organs of citizen power) and appointed by the National Assembly; judges serve nonrenewable 12-year terms; note - in July 2017, the National Assembly named 33 judges to the court to replace a series of judges, it argued, had been illegally appointed in late 2015 by the outgoing, socialist-party-led Assembly; MADURO and the Socialist Party-appointed judges refused to recognize these appointments, however, and many of the new judges have since been imprisoned or forced into exile subordinate courts: Superior or Appeals Courts (Tribunales Superiores); District Tribunals (Tribunales de Distrito); Courts of First Instance (Tribunales de Primera Instancia); Parish Courts (Tribunales de Parroquia); Justices of the Peace (Justicia de Paz) Network
Regions or States:	23 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 capital district* (distrito capital), and 1 federal dependency (dependencia federal); Amazonas, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales (Federal Dependencies), Distrito Capital (Capital District)*, Falcon, Guarico, La Guaira, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia note: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands
Political Parties and Leaders:	A New Era (Un Nuevo Tiempo) or UNT [Omar Enrique BARBOZA Gutierrez] Brave People's Alliance or ABP [Antonio LEDEZMA] Cambiemos Movimiento Ciudadano or CMC [Timoteo ZAMBRANO] Christian Democrats or COPEI [Juan Carlos ALVARADO Prato, Roberto ENRIQUEZ] Citizens Encounter or EC [Delsa SOLORZANO] Clear Accounts or CC [Enzo SCARANO] Coalition of parties loyal to Nicolas MADURO - Great Patriotic Pole or GPP [Nicolas MADURO] Coalition of opposition parties - Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democratica) (includes AD, EL CAMBIO, COPEI, CMC, and AP) Come Venezuela (Vente Venezuela) or VV [Maria Corina MACHADO] Communist Party of Venezuela or PCV [Oscar FIGUERA] Consenso en la Zona or Conenzo [Enzo SCARANO and Leon JURADO] Convergencia [Juan Jose CALDERA] Democratic Action or AD [Jose Bernabe GUTIERREZ Parra] Fatherland for All (Patria para Todos) or PPT [Ilenia MEDINA] Fuerza Vecinal or FV [leaders include mayors Gustavo DUQUE, Darwin GONZALEZ, Elias SAYEGH, Manuel FERREIRA, Josy FERNANDEZ, and Morel David RODRIGUEZ]; note - national spokesman David UZCATEGUI Hope for Change (Esperanza por el Cambio) or EL CAMBIO [Javier Alejandro BERTUCCI Carrero] Justice First (Primero Justicia) or PJ [Tomas GUANIPA] LAPIZ [Antonio Domingo ECARRI Angola] Movement to Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo) or MAS [Segundo MELENDEZ] Popular Will (Voluntad Popular) or VP [Leopoldo LOPEZ] Progressive Advance (Avanzada Progresista) or AP [Henri FALCON] The Radical Cause or La Causa R [Andres VELAZQUEZ] United Socialist Party of Venezuela or PSUV [Nicolas MADURO] Venezuela First (Primero Venezuela) or PV [Luis PARRA] Venezuelan Progressive Movement or MPV [Simon CALZADILLA] Venezuela Project or PV [Carlos BERRIZBEITIA]
International Law Organization Participation:	has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCT jurisdiction
International Organization Participation:	Caricom (observer), CD, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, LAS (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, Petrocaribe, UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic Representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); note - the embassy, which had been run by the Venezuelan political opposition, announced on 5 January 2023, that it had ended all embassy functions chancery: 1099 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; note - closed since 5 January 2023 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2214; note - closed since 5 January 2023 FAX: [1] (202) 342-6820; note - closed since 5 January 2023 email address and website: despacho.embveus@mppre.gob.ve
Diplomatic Representation from US:	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); as of 19 May 2023, Francisco L. PALMIERI serves as the chief of mission of the Venezuela Affairs Unit, located in the US Embassy, Bogota embassy: Venezuela Affairs Unit, US Embassy, Carrera 45 N. 24B-27, Bogota, Colombia previously - F St. and Suapure St.; Urb. Colinas de Valle Arriba; Caracas 1080 mailing address: 3140 Caracas Place, Washington DC 20521-3140 telephone: 1-888-407-4747 email address and website: ACSBogota@state.gov https://ve.usembassy.gov/

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