Short answers, pulled from the story.
Amerigo Vespucci named the region Veneziola or Little Venice because stilt houses in Lake Maracaibo reminded him of Venice, Italy. Martín Fernández de Enciso stated that indigenous peoples called themselves Veneciuela, suggesting the name evolved from a native word.
Spain's colonization of mainland Venezuela started in 1522 with the establishment of its first permanent South American settlement in Cumaná. The German Welser family received a concession to govern Klein-Venedig from 1528 to 1546 under Charles V Holy Roman Emperor.
The discovery of massive oil deposits in Lake Maracaibo during World War I transformed Venezuela's economy from heavy dependence on agricultural exports. This prompted an economic boom that lasted into the 1980s and made Venezuela Latin America's highest per capita gross domestic product by 1935.
Evidence exists of human habitation in the area now known as Venezuela from about 15,000 years ago. Late Pleistocene hunting artifacts including spear tips date from 13,000 to 7,000 BC found on high riverine terraces of the Rio Pedregal.
Hugo Chávez won elections in 1998, 2000, 2006, and 2012 while launching the Bolivarian Revolution beginning with a 1999 constituent assembly. He founded the Fifth Republic Movement in 1997 and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela in 2007 to implement Bolivarianism and socialist rhetoric.