Tomorrow, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) opens two new galleries devoted to pre-Columbian art and artifacts from Latin America. A large part of the material comes from the collection of Venezuela’s wealthy Cisneros family.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Cuban-born sculptor Jorge Pardo was hired by LACMA to design ”a contiguous display of Latin American art through the ages, despite aesthetic disparities. The road leads from engaging pre-Columbian ceramics to finely detailed Spanish Colonial artworks and furnishings, stringent Modern abstractions and edgy contemporary creations.”

To read more, click here. Also, check out the Cisneros Foundation online.

Meet Latin pop music’s new Juanes, the saucy young Johnny Sigal of Venezuela.

This baby-faced singer is very familiar with the stage, for he became famous whie starring in a stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar — that’s right, he played Jesus.

In the past few months, Johnny has thrown off his robes, released a self-titled album, and spent time touring the U.S. If all goes well, he may be vying for Best New Artist at the Latin Grammys next year.

Check out the video for his catchy single, “Quedo en nada.”

Today is the birthday of Venezuela’s most honored indpendence Hero, Simon Bolivar.

As a gift, we bring you an historical comic book version of the life of this revolutionary man, who led wars of independence in Venezuela and several other countries. His political ideals, particularly, the notion of a unified South America, are still held dear today.

To read the comic, click on each page using the linked index below. Believe us, it is worth it! Read through to the end and find out where Bolivar died and where he is currently buried.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

Our favorite Detroit Tiger, Magglio Ordonez, has been recovering from a recent injury while sitting in with the minor leagues’ West Michigan Whitecaps, and he is wildly popular at games. Fans in sold-out crowds have begun wearing Magglio caps and wigs to mimic the player. Watch a video of his minor league escapades here.

In case you forgot, Magglio is a powerful right fielder who hails from Coro, Venezuela. He was picked last year as the American League Batting Champion, and has played in the U.S. since 1997.

The plight of some of the newer recruits in the minor leagues has made news recently. The New York Times reported this week that young players from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic sometimes have their bonuses pocketed by club officials. We say, have some respect!

The Venezuelan-owned gas subsidiary Citgo has been providing cut-rate home heating oil to poor communities in the U.S. for three now. Last winter, 23 states relied on the donations, which exceeded $100 million in value. New Hampshire has just become the latest to sign on.

The small state, which borders Canada and registers brutal temperatures in the winter, has suffered from high energy costs just as much as any other. State leaders have been pressured to address the economic conundrum by accepting the help from Venezuela.

Last year, hundreds of New Hampshire residents in fact went around the system to apply on their own to get the aid despite the state’s hesitance. As the owner of a local heating oil company put it, “It’s actually a pretty good program.”

To read more, click here.

Lately, it seems like Venezuela’s history is being chronicled in film like never before.

Take, for example, the biopic Miranda Regresa (”Miranda Returns”), which came out last fall. The movie is a dramatic reimagining of the life of independence hero Francisco de Miranda.

It was produced at Cinema City (in Spanish, Villa del Cine), the government- funded studios that have revived the film industry in recent years.

The trailer below is in Spanish without subtitles, but you’ll probably understand what’s going on without them. It looks like a beautiful film!

For many low- and middle-income people in the U.S., helping the environment can take a back seat to the everyday demands of simply making ends meet. Citgo, the Venezuelan-owned gas company, is helping to address this problem through its new Energy Efficient Lighting Program.

The program donates energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs to families in cities across the U.S. It is based on a successful initiative in Venezuela that oversaw the nation-wide switch to eco-friendly bulbs. Also, it marks a second phase of the Community Assistance Program by Citgo, which has donated discounted home heating oil to more than 1.2 million U.S. residents since 2005.

At the launch in Washington DC on Tuesday, neighbors watched Shirley Braxton (pictured above) install the first free light bulbs in her home. Speeches were made by the CEO of Citgo, the Venezuelan Ambassador, and Joe Kennedy of the host charity Citizens Energy.

By distributing nearly half a million energy efficient bulbs, Citgo will help recipients in 23,000 households to save $14.9 million and cut their energy use by 165 million kilowatt hours.

The lighting program is taking place in DC and everywhere Citgo refineries operate, in Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas; Lemont, Illinois; and Lake Charles, Louisiana. Other cities set receive the aid include New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Madison, and Minneapolis. To see figures for each city, click here. For information about how you can participate, call 1-800-315-7682.

UPDATE: Read news articles from the AP and the Houston Chronicle.

A Venezuelan-born artist living in Florida was profiled in the Miami Herald over the weekend.

Francisco Sheuat, who owns an art gallery, is making his name in Fort Lauderdale by creating colorful papier-mache replicas of pink flamingos. Embellished with paint or mosaic, each is unique and beautiful. One looks like a motorcycle rider, another features an antique map of the Bahamas.

Sheuat embraces other mediums, too, like the traditional flat canvas. A common theme among all of his work is birds — not surprising for a man whose home country continues to inspire him. Venezuela boasts over 1,300 species of birds, and the country is known among travelers as a haven for birdwatching.

After we posted last week on a documentary about Miss Venezuela, it seems that the country has nabbed its fifth Miss Universe title.

The victorious Dayana Mendoza is from Amazonas State (yes, that’s where the tributaries of the Amazon River are), but like so many Venezuelans, she also has family in New York City.

Yesterday’s win makes Venezuela second only to the U.S. — and tied with Puerto Rico — for the record number of Miss Universe titles. The last time Venezuela took home the sash was in 1996.

Read more about how Venezuelans are reacting to the news.

Venezuela’s most-visited national park turns 50 this year!

Parque Nacional El Avila is just outside of Caracas, encompassing the steep, forested mountains that stand between the capital city and the aquamarine waters of the Caribbean. Hiking on the more than 100 miles of trails that criss-cross El Avila is a common Sunday ritual for many residents of Caracas, who take in breathtaking vistas of the landscape and the city below.

Alternately, visitors can take the teleferico (the cable car seen here) to the top, which stands 7,000 feet above the city. Here, there are refreshments resting spots, including an ice skating rink and the famous Hotel Humboldt.

El Avila was decreed a national park on December 12th, 1958. This year, to mark the anniversary of its founding, events are taking place throughout the year. To read more in Spanish, click here.

You’ve probably heard that Venezuelan women are some of the most beautiful in the world. Well, it’s part coincidence, part hard work.

This 22-minute documentary by Journeyman Pictures ventures into the Miss Venezuela scene — and the strange world of head honcho Osmel Sosa — to see the drama and the personalities behind the scenes of Venezuela’s huge beauty industry. Get ready for some controversial stuff: plastic surgery, dieting, and racism.

Click here to watch.

The Caracas metro is a point of pride for the city. It’s fast, clean, affordable, and safe — a favorite means of transportation for residents of the nation’s capital since 1983. Want to know more? Visit C.A. Metro de Caracas.