INTRODUCTION
Political: The Republic of Venezuela is a representative democracy with division of powers as follows: Executive Branch headed by the President and 22 Cabinet Ministers; Legislative Branch, comprised of two Chambers, Senate and Deputies elected every five years; and a Judicial Branch, headed by the Supreme Court of Justice. The National Territory is divided into 22 states, 1 Federal District and 72 islands. Caracas, the capital of the Republic and the Federal District, is the permanent site of the headquarters of the National Executive. Much of Venezuela's 19th-century history was characterized by periods of political instability, dictatorial rule, and revolutionary turbulence. The Venezuelan economy shifted after the First World War from a primarily agricultural orientation to an economy centered on petroleum production and export.
Economy: The economic rights contained in the Constitution of the Republic of Venezuela include the right to exercise any lucrative or commercial activity. This right, however, is subject to the limitations stipulated in the Constitution. There are some sectors of the economy reserved exclusively for national investors which will be discussed herein below. Recently, Venezuela has opened its frontiers to foreign investment in such important fields of the economy as banks, insurance companies and, most notably, the oil sector. The oil opening has been made pursuant to Article 5 of the Oil Nationalization Law, through joint venture
The economy of Venezuela is based on oil, although efforts have been made to develop heavy industry, e.g. steel and aluminum, and revive the agricultural sector. From the 1950s to the beginning of the 1980s the Venezuelan economy was the strongest in South America. The continuous growth during t ...