Italy–Venezuela relations refers to the diplomatic relations between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. Both nations enjoy friendly relations, the importance of which centers on the history of Italian migration to Venezuela. There are approximately over 140,000 Italians living in Venezuela with more than a million Venezuelans of full or partial Italian descent.

History

In 1498, Italian explorer

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

(in the service for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) explored the

Paria Peninsula The Paria Peninsula () is a large peninsula on the Caribbean Sea, in the state of Sucre in northern Venezuela. Geography Separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Paria, the peninsula is part of the mountain range, in the Venezuelan Coa ...

on his third voyage.Relaciones bilaterales Italia y Venezuela (in Spanish)
/ref> After the dissolution of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1 ...

in 1831, Venezuela became an independent nation. In March 1856, Venezuela opened a consulate in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and in 1857, Italy opened a consular legation in the city of

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

and then a second consular legation in

La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...

in 1859. In 1861, Italy and Venezuela signed a "Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation". Venezuela was the first country in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

to recognize the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...

. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, thousands of Italians left their homeland and immigrated to Venezuela with the majority settling in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

and

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

. Several prominent Venezuelan politicians and well-known figures are of Italian descent. In 2017, the Venezuelan government protested against Italy's recommendation to release political prisoner

Leopoldo López Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza (born 29 April 1971) is a Venezuelan opposition leader. He co-founded the political party Primero Justicia in 2000 with Henrique Capriles and Julio Borges and was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Ca ...

. In March 2018, Italian Vice-Minister for Italians abroad, Luigi Maria Vignali, paid a visit to Venezuela to assess the situation of approximately 140,000 Italian citizens living in Venezuela under economic duress. Since the crisis, over 50,000 Venezuelan citizens have immigrated to Italy, many of them also having Italian citizenship by descent.

High-level visits

Presidential visits from Italy to Venezuela * President

Giuseppe Saragat Giuseppe Saragat (; 19 September 1898 – 11 June 1988) was an Italian politician who served as the president of Italy from 1964 to 1971. Early life Born to Sardinian parents, he was a member of the Unitary Socialist Party (''Partito Socialis ...

(1965) * President

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...

(1995) Presidential visits from Venezuela to Italy * President

Raúl Leoni Raúl Leoni Otero (26 April 1905 – 5 July 1972) was the president of Venezuela from 1964 until 1969. He was a member of the Generation of 1928 and a charter member of the Acción Democrática party, and the first Labor minister of Venezuela ...

(1965) * President

Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as '' El Gocho'' (due to his Andean origins), was a Venezuelan politician and the president of Venezuela from 12 March 1974 to 12 M ...

(1976) * President

Jaime Lusinchi Jaime Ramón Lusinchi (27 May 1924 – 21 May 2014) was a Venezuelan politician who was the president of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the external debt, populist policies, currency de ...

(1988) * President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Repub ...

(1999, 2001, 2006) * President Nicolás Maduro (2013, 2016)

Bilateral agreements

Both nations have signed several bilateral agreements such as a Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation (1862); Agreement on Agrarian Cooperation (1985); Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation (1987); Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments (1990) and an Agreement on the avoidance of Double-Taxation and Tax Evasion (1990).

Trade

In 2017, trade between Italy and Venezuela totaled US$338 million. Italy's main exports to Venezuela are food based products. Venezuela's main exports to Italy include petrol, cement and

coltan Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original ...

Resident diplomatic missions

* Italy has an embassy in

and a consulate in

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

. * Venezuela has an embassy in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and consulates-general in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

and

.Embassy of Venezuela in Rome
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Italy-Venezuela relations

Bilateral relations of Venezuela

History

High-level visits

Bilateral agreements

Trade

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References