Postage stamps and postal history of Venezuela
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Venezuela. Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea. The republic is a former Spanish colony, that won its independence in 1821. First stamps. The first stamps of the Venezuela were issued on 1 January 1859. Venezuela supported its territorial claim in the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 by printing an 1896 postage stamp with a map showing Guyana up to the east  bank of the Essequibo River as "Guayana Venezolana". Guyana years later responded with a series of overprints “ESSEQUIBO IS OURS”. British stamps. British stamps were used at La Guaira between 1865 and 1880 which may be identified by the cancel C60. British stamps used at Ciudad Bolivar (1868-80) had the cancel D22.