The 2021 regional elections marked the first time since 2006 that the EU was allowed to send an electoral observation mission to Venezuela.The MADURO regime places strong restrictions on freedoms of expression and the press. He spent 15 years wrongly imprisoned instead. Caracas, city, capital of Venezuela, and one of the principal cities of South America. However, the origin of it is uncertain. Caracas has more recently relaxed some economic controls to mitigate the impact of its sustained economic crisis, such as allowing increased currency and liberalizing import flexibility for private citizens and companies. Venezuela has a warm climate with rainy and dry seasons. There are many variations inVenezuela climatebecause of certain factors such as topography, altitude and the intensity and direction of prevailing winds. Even as Venezuela's inflation reached an estimated 305 percent last year, gov't did not adjust em . Other major waterfalls in the region are Torn, Karuay, and Yuri. )permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est. )from petroleum and other liquids: 57.378 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est. Though, Venezuela's proximity to the Equator . ), production: 22,694,584,000 cubic meters (2019 est. The city's official name of Santiago de Leon de Caracas roughly translates "Heaven's Branch on Earth," which hardly seems fitting because it is known as being the most murderous city in the world. Within two years Venezuela would be free. The mountainous Andean regions are significantly cooler, and temperatures can drop to around 9C (48F). )$93.485 billion (2017 est. The best time to visit Venezuela is during the dry season, from November to April. Mean annual temperatures range from 2C (36F) to 10C (50F). Largest Cities in Venezuela. Updated every day by a dedicated global editorial team, the portal logs 1 million+ unique users monthly. The second-largest urban center is Maracaibo with 2.2 million. The country consists of four distinctive regions: the Venezuelan Highlands in the west; the Maracaibo Lowlands in the northwest; the vast central plain of Los Llanos around the Orinoco River; and the Guyana region in the extreme south, which includes part of the Amazon rainforest and the Guyana highlands. About 40 languages are spoken in Venezuela. )note: data are in 2017 dollars, 146,101.7% (2019 est. Venezuela's economy contracts. A physiographically diverse country, Venezuela incorporates the northern Andean mountain chains and interior highlands, the main portions of the Orinoco River basin with its expansive Llanos (plains), Lake Maracaibo, which is the largest lake in South America, and the spectacular Angel Falls, the worlds highest waterfall. Naiguat Peak, at 9,072 feet (2,765 metres), is the highest point in the coastal system. Venezuela Bordering Countries: Guyana, Brazil, Colombia. At the same time, Venezuela . ), conventional long form: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuelaconventional short form: Venezuelalocal long form: Republica Bolivariana de Venezuelalocal short form: Venezuelaformer: State of Venezuela, Republic of Venezuela, United States of Venezuelaetymology: 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", name: Caracasgeographic coordinates: 10 29 N, 66 52 Wtime difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)etymology: named for the native Caracas tribe that originally settled in the city's valley site near the Caribbean coast, 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, Zulianote: the federal dependency consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands, history: many previous; latest adopted 15 December 1999, effective 30 December 1999amendments: 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, civil law system based on the Spanish civil code, has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction, citizenship by birth: yescitizenship by descent only: yesdual citizenship recognized: yesresidency 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, chief of state: Notification Statement: the United States recognizes Juan GUAIDO as the Interim President of VenezuelaPresident 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 governmenthead 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 presidentelections/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 election in 2024)election results: 2018: Nicolas MADURO Moros reelected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 68%, Henri FALCON (AP) 21%, Javier BERTUCCI 11%; note - the election was marred by serious shortcomings and electoral fraud; voter turnout was approximately 46% due largely to an opposition boycott of the election2013: Nicolas MADURO Moros elected president; percent of vote - Nicolas MADURO Moros (PSUV) 50.6%, Henrique CAPRILES Radonski (PJ) 49.1%, other 0.3%, 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 electionelections: last held on 6 December 2020 (next 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, 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; the Government of President 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 exilesubordinate 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, 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 UZCATEGUIHope 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]We Are Venezuela (Somos Venezuela) or MSV [Delcy RODRIGUEZ and Vanessa MONTERO], 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, chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos Alfredo VECCHIO (since 8 April 2019)chancery: 1099 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007telephone: [1] (202) 342-2214FAX: [1] (202) 342-6820email address and website: despacho.embveus@mppre.gob.ve, chief of mission: James Jimmy STORY, Ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit (since November 2020); note - on 11 March 2019, the Department of State announced the temporary suspension of operations of the US Embassy in Caracas and the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel; the Venezuela Affairs Unit is located at the United States Embassy in Bogota, Colombiaembassy: Venezuela Affairs Unit, Carrera 45 N. 24B-27, Bogotapreviously - F St. and Suapure St.; Urb. Lightweight cottons and jeans will be suitable in most locations, whether in the lowlands or on the coast. )-$3.87 billion (2016 est. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. However, the vastness of the territory and the presence . The coldest is Capital. Mild or Temperate climate can be found in the mountainous areas between 1,350-1,600 to 2,400 m. It features temperatures around 13C (55F) to 18C (64F) and precipitations that ranges from scarcely rainy (300 700mm) to pluvial (more than 3300mm) conditions.