Puerto Cabello

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Coordinates: 10°28′00″N, 68°01′00″W

Puerto Cabello

View of Puerto Cabello

Flag

Seal

Puerto Cabello

Coordinates: 10°28′00″N 68°01′00″W / 10.466667, -68.016667

Government

- Mayor

Osmel Vicente Ramos Dolande (2004 – 2008)

Area

- Total

729 km² (281.5 sq mi)

Population (2001)

- Total

154,000

Website: Alcaldía de Puerto Cabello

Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in the state of Carabobo about 75km west of Caracas. As of 2001, the city has a population of around 154,000 people. The city is the home to the largest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil industry. It literally means Port Hair.

1 History
2 Law and government
3 Tourism
- 3.1 Attractions
4 See also

[edit] History

Due to Puerto Cabello's location it was attacked by buccaneers and was a popular market for Dutch smugglers during the colonial era. It was the last Spanish royalist stronghold during Venezuela’s war for independence, it was captured by José Antonio Páez in 1823.

[edit] Law and government

Puerto Cabello has one municipality: Puerto Cabello Municipality, Venezuelan law specifies that municipal governments have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning. The executive function is managed by the mayor, who is in charge of representing the municipality's administration. The legislative branch is represented by the Municipal Council, composed of seven councillors, charged with the deliberation of new decrees and local laws. The comptroller tasks are managed by the municipal comptroller's office, which oversees accountancy. Finally, planning is represented by the Local Public Planning Council, which manages development projects for the municipality

[edit] Tourism

A beach in Puerto Cabello.

Puerto Cabello has exhibited strong tourist potential and has been shown to have a local, growing tourist industry, this is mainly because of its position as the main trading area in the country, its communications, its rich historic heritage and its location in front of the Caribbean Sea.

The streets of the Colonial ages preserve their rustic and picturesque appearance, with their beautiful households and mansions and the cobblestone paving on the streets, all this features make the city a nice and growing tourist destination.

In the jetty, one can see the Caribbean Sea, as well as the massive Fortín de San Felipe, also known as the Castillo del Libertador, this imponent fort worked as a refuge to citizen during the Colonial times, because pirates invaded the city constantly.