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 Germany |  Venezuela |
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Germany–Venezuela relations have a long tradition and were officially established in 1871. DuringNicolás Maduro's tenure, relations have deteriorated and in 2019Venezuela declared theGerman Ambassador Daniel Kriener apersona non grata; however, he was able to return to the country soon after.[1] Close relations with Venezuela continue to be maintained by parts of the Germanleft and the political partyDie Linke.[2][3]
Germans were involved in the colonization of Venezuela as early as the 16th century. In 1528, EmperorCharles V granted governorship over the colony ofKlein-Venedig (Little Venice), referring to the etymology of Venezuela being based on Venice, to theWelser family fromAugsburg. Under the nameNeuer Augsburg (New Augsburg), the city ofCoro was founded as the capital of the territory. A year later,Ambrosius Ehinger founded the city ofMaracaibo under the name ofNeuer Nuremberg (New Nuremberg), although the settlement did not permanently last. In 1535, Georg Hohermuth von Speyer andPhilipp von Hutten attempted to reach the mythicalEl Dorado from the colony. The Welsers were finally deprived of the governorship of Little Venice by theSpanish Crown in 1556 after a legal dispute.[4]
In the 17th and 18th centuries,Jesuits from Germany may have been present inSpanish Venezuela, although sources are uncertain. In 1799, the South American voyage ofAlexander von Humboldt began with his arrival inCumaná. During theWars of Independence in the 19th century, German officers and mercenaries fought on the side ofSimón Bolívar's army for Venezuelan independence, including Johann von Uslar. TheHanseatic cities established representations in Venezuela after independence, and in the late 1820s theLübeck Merchant Georg Blohm established a regular shipping connection betweenCaracas andHamburg. German merchants, explorers, and migrants settled in the country, and in 1843 immigrants fromKaiserstuhl founded theColonia Tovar. German immigrants established cultural and educational institutions, learnedSpanish, and integrated into the majority society.[5]
TheNorth German Confederation opened alegation in Venezuela in 1868, which was converted into anembassy three years later afterGerman Unification, and in 1893 a Venezuelan legation was established in theGerman Empire underJoaquín Crespo. In 1899, theGerman-Venezuelan Club was founded. In 1902, a diplomatic conflict arose after German citizens in Venezuela were dispossessed. As a result, British and German shipsblockaded the coast of Venezuela. The dispute was settled a year later. AfterWorld War I, economic relations between the two countries deepened and Germany became one of the most important trading partners for Venezuela. DuringWorld War II, Venezuela first remained neutral and finally broke off diplomatic relations withNazi Germany in 1941. After GermanU-boats disrupted shipping off Venezuela, German assets in the country were expropriated and German institutions were closed.[4]
After World War II, diplomatic relations were re-established on April 28, 1954, between theFederal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Venezuela were established. German companies became increasingly active in the postwar period in the country, which at the time was one of the wealthiest in Latin America. A German-Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established soon after. After the end of theHallstein Doctrine, Venezuela also established diplomatic relations with theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR).[6] After theGerman Reunification,BundespresidentRoman Herzog visited Venezuela in 1996.Hugo Chávez became president of Venezuela in 1999 and adopted an anti-Western course in foreign policy. He made German sociologist Bernard Mommer his deputy minister in the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum in 2005.[4]
In 2008, Chavez attacked German ChancellorAngela Merkel, calling her part of the German right "that supportedHitler".Martin Schulz then called Chávez a "political scatterbrain."[7] After Chavez's death in 2013, his successorNicolás Maduro ruled in an increasinglyauthoritarian manner, which further deteriorated relations with Germany. In 2019, followingmass protests in Venezuela, Germany joined other Western countries in recognizing opposition politicianJuan Guaidó as the country's interim president[8] while at the same time the foreign policy spokesman of theDie Linke party,Andrej Hunko, met President Maduro in Caracas on a "state visit" and expressed solidarity with him, which was met with criticism in Germany.[9] However, after the protests in Venezuela subsided, the recognition of Guaidó as president of Venezuela was reversed by the German government in 2021.[10]
There is an investment promotion treaty and a double taxation agreement between the two countries. However, with the severeeconomic crisis in Venezuela starting in 2013, economic contacts have collapsed and many German companies have withdrawn from the country. In 2016, direct flights betweenCaracas andFrankfurt am Main was discontinued.[11] Bilateral trade volume in 2021 was only 93 millioneuros, a fraction of that with neighboringColombia (2.6 billion euros).[12]
There are numerous cultural contacts between the two countries. German institutions active in the country include theGoethe-Institut, the Asociación Cultural Humboldt, and theevangelical and theRoman-Catholic Church in Germany. With theColegio Humboldt Caracas there is a German school abroad in the country.[11]
Since the 16th century, German migration to Venezuela occurred and Germans founded cities such asCoro,Maracaibo andColonia Tovar. The latter settlement shows a strong German cultural imprint until the 21st century.[13]
In 2018, just under 6000 Venezuelans lived in Germany.[14] Nearly six million Venezuelans fled their homeland under the Maduro government as part of the economic crisis in the country, with nearly 10,000 of them settling in Germany by 2020.[15]
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