Venezuela, an economic report / Presented by students of the School of Foreign Service, as an aid to the foreign trade of the United States

by Georgetown University. School of Foreign Service

[6] Consular reports from La Guaira and Maracaibo.

The next port in importance, that of Puerto Cabello, is the inlet and outlet for a district containing three of Venezuela's largest cities, Valencia, Barquisimeto and Coro. This region is preeminently agricultural in its activities and its prosperity is largely dependent on its export trade in coffee, cacao, hides, skins, copper ore and frozen meat.

Ciudad Bolívar,[7] fourth in importance of the ports of Venezuela, is situated on the Orinoco River, about two hundred miles above its mouth. In every respect its commerce is very different from that of the rest of Venezuela, depending not upon the products of manufacturing or agriculture, but upon wild products of the forests; upon gold mined and washed in Venezuelan Guiana, and upon hides which are rafted down the Orinoco and its tributaries from southern Venezuela and eastern Colombia.

[7] Consular reports from Puerto Cabello and Ciudad Bolívar.

In order to give a clear idea of the ships and tonnage entering and leaving the various Venezuelan ports, as well as their nationalities, I have compiled statistics from the official figures given by the Minister of Hacienda for the year 1918, the last year for which figures could be obtained. A study of these figures shows the relative importance of the ports of the country as well as the volume of commerce with foreign nations.[8]

[8] United States of Venezuela: Ministerio de Hacienda; "Estadistica Mercantil y Marítima."

SUMMARY

Number of Ships Entering Each Port, January-June, 1918.
Ports	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
La Guaira	52	18	102,762	962	70	103,724
Maracaibo	12	39	9,522	4,380	51	13,902
Puerto Cabello	33	24	107,041	1,563	57	108,604
Ciudad Bolívar	14	1	3,118	9	15	3,127
Carúpano	14	14	17,145	184	28	17,329
Puerto Sucre	5	33	2,474	285	38	2,759
La Vela		33		1,797	33	1,797
Cristobal Colón	13	36	13,250	1,307	49	14,557
Pampator	2	44	511	630	46	1,141
Total	145	242	225,823	11,117	387	266,940
Nationalities of Ships Entering These Ports, January-June, 1918.
Flags	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
American	51	10	77,183	2,094	61	79,277
Colombian		6		303	6	303
Spanish	7		26,439		7	26,439
French	6		14,771		6	14,771
Dutch	3	33	7,251	2,913	36	10,164
English	37	7	90,678	272	44	90,950
Italian	3		16,962		3	16,962
Norwegian	11		13,505		11	13,505
Venezuelan	27	186	9,034	5,535	213	14,569
Total	145	242	255,823	11,117	387	266,940
Number of Ships Entering Venezuelan Ports June-December, 1918.
Ports	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
La Guaira	72	53	112,498	4,835	125	117,333
Maracaibo	28	19	14,968	1,480	47	16,448
Puerto Cabello	27	25	111,369	915	52	112,284
Ciudad Bolívar	14	1	3,118	8	15	3,126
Carúpano	6	12	1,381	186	18	1,567
Puerto Sucre		15		225	15	225
La Vela		16		735	16	735
Cristobal Colón	12	34	7,720	1,148	46	8,868
Pampator		43		762	43	762
Total	159	218	251,054	10,294	377	261,348
Nationalities of Ships Entering Venezuelan Ports, June-December, 1918.
Flags	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
American	68	1	77,359	74	69	77,433
Spanish	13		50,041		13	50,041
French	14	2	3,011	3,060	16	6,071
Dutch	3	28	1,914	1,693	31	3,607
English	27	4	73,319	81	31	73,400
Italian	6		33,924		6	33,924
Norwegian	4		6,184		4	6,184
Venezuelan	24	183	5,302	5,386	207	10,688
Total	159	218	251,054	10,294	377	261,348
Number of Ships Sailing From Each Port, January-June, 1918.
Flags	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
La Guaira	49	53	79,593	3,936	102	83,529
Maracaibo	69	121	29,560	11,987	190	41,547
Puerto Cabello	33	108	86,306	5,275	141	91,581
Tucacas	4	5	4,065	557	9	4,622
Ciudad Bolívar	14	1	3,512	9	15	2,521
San Felix	3		942		3	942
Barrancas	9	1	3,494	6	10	3,500
Carúpano	17	29	17,304	614	46	17,912
Rio Carila	15	2	1,096	16	17	1,112
Puerto Sucre	2	45	118	882	47	1,000
Guanta	13	9	5,515	511	22	6,026
La Vela		91		6,954	91	6,954
Cristobal Colón	6	361	10,200	5,421	367	15,621
Pampator	3	104	139	2,687	107	2,826
Total	237	930	241,844	38,855	1,167	280,699
Nationalities of Ships Sailing from Venezuelan Ports.
Flags	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
American	63	18	82,332	5,857	81	88,189
Colombian		4		257	4	257
Spanish	6		24,141		6	24,141
French	4	2	14,331	134	6	14,465
Dutch	23	131	17,445	11,019	154	28,464
English	56	8	48,391	407	64	48,798
Italian	3		15,441		3	15,441
Norwegian	15		19,038		15	19,038
Venezuelan	67	767	20,725	21,181	834	41,906
Total	237	930	241,844	38,855	1,167	280,699
Number of Ships Sailing from Each Port, July—December, 1918.
Ports	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
La Guaira	45	48	93,167	3,449	93	96,616
Maracaibo	63	121	28,565	8,280	184	36,845
Puerto Cabello	34	135	105,769	2,521	169	108,290
Tucasas	1	9	1,021	746	10	1,767
Ciudad Bolívar	23	1	6,809	9	24	6,818
Barancas	2	17	481	249	19	730
Carúpano	14	23	6,626	578	37	7,204
Rio Cariba	4	6	280	107	10	387
Puerto Sucre	1	24	30	911	25	941
Guanta	6	12	2,080	845	18	2,925
La Vela		68		3,903	68	3,903
Cristobal Colón	8	367	7,974	5,939	375	13,913
Pampator	4	137	111	4,445	141	4,556
Total	205	968	252,913	31,982	1,173	284,895
Nationalities of Ships Sailing from Venezuelan Ports.
Flags	Ships		Tonnage		Total
	Steam	Sail	Steam	Sail	Ships	Tonnage
American	60	7	81,078	1,659	67	82,737
Spanish	15		57,788		15	57,788
French	22	9	11,893	1,910	31	13,803
Dutch	17	106	9,404	5,859	123	15,263
English	44	10	53,090	696	54	53,786
Italian	4		22,772		4	22,772
Norwegian	7		9,582		7	9,582
Venezuelan	36	836	7,306	21,858	872	29,164
Total	205	968	252,913	31,982	1,173	284,895

As can readily be seen from these figures the chief commerce of Venezuela is with American and European countries. The shipping service is of two kinds—line service and tramp or charter service. The former consists of actual steamship lines under an organized company, operating on regular itineraries and on stated dates with regular rates for freight, passenger and mail service. The latter refers chiefly to sailing vessels of small tonnage, either engaged independently in trade or under charter contract with firms or individual shippers for a certain stipulated length of time, at certain rates mutually agreed upon, and for stated cargoes and voyages.

Since, in this connection, line service is of the most importance we shall first take up the various steamship lines operating between Venezuelan ports and other ports of the world.