The Diego Bautista Urbaneja Municipality is one of the 21 municipalities ( municipios) that makes up the eastern Venezuelan state of Anzoátegui and, according to the 2011 census by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 37,829. The town of Lechería is the shire town of the Diego Bautista Urbaneja Municipality.http://www.ocei.gov.ve/secciones/division/Anzoategui.zip The municipality is named for the independence hero

Diego Bautista Urbaneja Diego Bautista Urbaneja (December 16, 1782 – January 12, 1856) was a Venezuelan political figure. Biography In 1830, when Venezuela achieved independence after the dissolution of Gran Colombia, he became the Minister of Finance in 1830. He be ...

History

The town of Lechería was founded as San Miguel de Neverí in 1535, but resistance from native groups, among them being the Cumanagotos, caused the town to be abandoned one year later by the Spaniards. The current town of Lechería made its prominence after the Spanish Crown ordered the construction of the Fortín de la Magdalena fort in order to prevent pirate attacks on sailors that took the Barcelona-

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...

route (the fort was completed in 1799 and is located on the Cerro el Morro). Later, in 1817 during the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

briefly occupied the fort and then, in 1819, the fort was captured by

General Rafael Urdaneta Rafael José Urdaneta y Farías (October 24, 1788 – August 23, 1845) was a Venezuelan people, Venezuelan General and hero of the Spanish American wars of independence. He served as President of Gran Colombia from 1830 until 1831. He was an ...

and his men. By the middle of the 19th century, the region was developed into a big goat milk producer in order to meet the needs of the growing population of Barcelona. From this moment on, the town became known as Lechería. Later, a major fishing industry was also developed. On 12 September 1967,

Daniel Octavio Camejo Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

founded the ''Compañía Anónima para el Desarrollo de la Zona Turística de Oriente'' (CAZTOR) with the intention to develop tourism in the region on a grand scale, resulting in major construction projects to commence. Its strategic location between Barcelona and Puerto la Cruz accelerated its growth toward the end of the 1990s.

Demographics

Lechería, Estado Anzoátegui, Venezuela 314

The Diego Bautista Urbaneja Municipality, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, has a population of 26,265 (up from 22,177 in 2000). This amounts to 1.8% of the state's population. The municipality's population density is .

Government

The mayor of the Diego Bautista Urbaneja Municipality is Manuel Ferreira G, elected on 10 December 2017.http://www.cne.gob.ve/divulgacion_regionales_2008/index.php?e=02&m=00&p=00&c=00&t=00&ca=00&v=02 He replaced Gustavo Marcano shortly after the elections. The municipality is divided into two parishes; Lechería and El Morro (previous to 27 June 1995, the Diego Bautista Urbaneja Municipality contained only a single parish).

Sites of interest

*C.C. Plaza Mayor *C.C. Caribbean Mall *C.C. Aventura Plaza * Cerro El Morro * Paseo Colon * Lido Beach * National Park Mochima * Fortín de la Magdalena

References

External links