Italy–Venezuela relations are the diplomatic relations between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. 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 (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

(in the service for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) 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"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...

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

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

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

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

and then a second consular legation in

La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan Vargas (state), state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port, founded in 1577 as an outlet for nearby Caracas. The city hosts its own professional baseball team i ...

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 is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

to recognize the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (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 northern p ...

and

. 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. López was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Caracas in the 2000 Venezuelan regional elections, regional elections held in July 2000. He is the N ...

. 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 and statesman who served as President of Italy from 1964 to 1971. Early life Saragat was born on 19 September 1898 in Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy, to Sard ...

(1965) * President

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1 ...

(1995) Presidential visits from Venezuela to Italy * President Raúl Leoni (1965) * President

Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...

(1976) * President

Jaime Lusinchi Jaime Ramón Lusinchi (27 May 1924 – 21 May 2014) 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 depreciation, inflation and corrupt ...

(1988) * President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

(1999, 2001, 2006) * President

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

(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 A ...

Resident diplomatic missions

* Italy has an embassy in

and a consulate in

. * Venezuela has an embassy in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and consulates-general in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

.Embassy of Venezuela in Rome
/ref>

References

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