Porto Caballo
| Puerto Cabello | |||
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 Puerto Cabello
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| Coordinates: 10°28′00″N 68°01′00″W / 10.46667°N 68.01667°W | |||
| Country | Venezuela | ||
| State | Carabobo | ||
| Counties | Puerto Cabello | ||
| Demonym | Porteño | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Economista Rafael Lacava Evangelista (2008 - 2012) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 729 km2 (281 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2001) | |||
| • Total | 201.511 (INE, 2,010) | ||
| • Density | 276.42/km2 (715.9/sq mi) | ||
| Website | |||
Coordinates: 10°28′00″N 68°01′00″W / 10.46667°N 68.01667°W
Puerto Cabello (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweɾto kaˈβeʝo]) is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil industry. The word 'cabello' translates to 'hair'. The Spaniards took to saying that the sea was so calm there that a ship could be secured to the dock by tying it with a single hair.
Puerto Cabello's location made it an easy prey to buccaneers and was a popular trading post for Dutch smugglers during the 17th century. Most of the contraband trade consisted of cocoa with neighboring island Curaçao, colonized by the Dutch. Puerto Cabello was also at that time under Dutch control.
It was not until 1730 that the Spanish took over the port, after the Real Compañía Guipuzcoana had moved in. This company built warehouses, wharves and an array of forts to protect the harbor.
During the War of Jenkin's Ear, Puerto Cabello was the careening port of the Company, whose ships had rendered great assistance to the Spanish navy in carrying troops, arms, stores and ammunition from Spain to her colonies, and its destruction would be a severe blow both to the Company and the Spanish Government. The commodore Charles Knowles at command of the 70-gun HMS Suffolk in 1743 received orders to carry out attacks on the Spanish settlements at Puerto Cabello and La Guaira. The Spanish governor Gabriel de Zuluaga, well informed of the plans, recruits extra defenders and were supplied with gunpowder by the Dutch. Consequently, an attack on La Guaira, on 18 February 1743, the English fleet was beaten off by the defenders. Knowles withdrew his force and refitted at Curaçao before attempting an assault on Puerto Cabello on 15 April, and again on 24 April, but both assaults were beaten back. Knowles called off the expedition and returned to Jamaica.
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Wikipedia