This term also sometimes refers to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Venezuelan society such as the arts, traditions, music, religion, race, and language.

These slaves belonged to various ethnicities from present-day Angola, Senegal, Gambia, Benin, Nigeria and the Congo, such as: Kalabari, Igbo, Yoruba, Kongo, Wolof, and more.

Throughout the sixteenth century, slaves were brought to toil in the gold mines in Coro and Buría (Yaracuy) and to Isla Margarita and Cumaná for fishing and pearl diving.

Cimarrones were frequently aided by indigenous tribes living in the area (e.g., the Tomusa in Barlovento), and cumbe populations were composed not only of Blacks, but also of Indians and even of poor Whites.

[4] Numbers of runaway-slave communities continued to increase throughout the seventeenth century, and by 1720 there were between 20,000 and 30,000 cimarrones in Venezuela, as opposed to the 60,000 slaves still working on the plantations (Rout 1976, 111112).

Barlovento was the site of intense cimarrón activity throughout the eighteenth century, with several cumbe settlements being established around Caucagua and Curiepe.

In 1732, there was an uprising of enslaved people led by Andresote against the monopoly of the Royal Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas had in Puerto Cabello and Capaye.

[5] After he led raids on various plantations both to liberate slaves and to punish overseers, a special army was raised to destroy Ocoyta and execute Rivas.

A military expedition led by German de Aguilera destroyed the settlement, killing Guillermo, but only succeeded in capturing eight adults and two children.

[6] One of Guillermo's deputies, Ubaldo the Englishman, whose christened name was Jose Eduardo de la Luz Perera, was initially born a slave in London, was sold to a ship captain, and took a number of trips before eventually being granted his freedom.

The emergence of Black intellectuals such as Juan Pablo Sojo and Manuel Rodrigues Cárdenas in the 1940s, and more recently of younger writers such as Jesús García, has helped counter the forces of blanqueamiento, or assimilation.

Drumming and dancing, which figure in the celebrations of patron saints' days and other religious ceremonies, bear a close resemblance to various forms of African ancestor worship.

Because the slave population was so heterogeneous, no African religious system dominated in this syncretization process although some have continued the Yoruba religion, as it did for example in Cuba, Brazil, and, to a lesser extent, in Trinidad as well.

It Revolves around an indigenous goddess originally called Yara, but when the Spanish came, she became Santa Maria de La Onza (Saint Mary of the Jaguar) She is said to reside in the Cerro María Lionza Natural Monument, also known as Mount Sorte, near Chivacoa, Yaracuy.

Practicioners heal patients using herbs and other paraphernalia and invoke saints through trance possession and the occasional animal sacrifice.

The Nativity, Holy Week, Corpus Christi, the Cruz de Mayo, and patron saints' holidays are central to Afro-Venezuelan expressive culture throughout the country.

The Día de los Inocentes (Feast of Fools, 28 December) is also celebrated and is particularly important in Barlovento, where "governments of women" are set up parodying male authority with absurd decrees and other actions such as cross-dressing.

Carnival celebrations (the week before Lent) are significant, especially in eastern Venezuela, where in communities such as Carupano, Maturin, Güiria and El Callao there has been a large Caribbean influence.

Around Lake Maracaibo, the fiesta of a Black saint San Benito (26 December to 2 January) is prominent and is celebrated with the playing of chimbánguele drums.

In Cata, Chuao, Cuyagua, and Ocumare de la Costa (Aragua), Naiguatá (Distrito Federal), San Francisco de Yare (Miranda), and Canoabo and Patanemo (Carabobo), the Diablos Danzantes (organized into cofradías) are the centerpiece of the Corpus Christi celebrations, performing in particularly vivid costumes and masks that incorporate African imagery.

[citation needed] The Parranda de San Pedro [es] is a religious festivity of Saint Peter that is celebrated every June 29 in the cities of Guatire and Guarenas in Miranda State, Venezuela.

Along the central coastal region, the cumaco is widespread, used in San Juan celebrations as well as the secular bailes de tambor (dances).

To the west, in Zulia, the chimbángueles are used to accompany San Benito festivities, and a friction drum called furruco is commonly played during Nativity celebrations and the singing of gaitas.

In the eastern coastal regions and Guayana, influence from Trinidad is evident in the performance of steel-band (estilban) music as calypso and soca.

[citation needed] In addition to musical, dance, and costume traditions, oral lore forms an essential part of Afro-Venezuelan expressive culture.

In the twentieth century a small body of Afro-Venezuelan literature has been established, including the works of novelist and folklorist Juan Pablo Sojo and the poet Manuel Rodrigues Cárdenas.

There are also important Afro-Venezuelan communities along the coasts of Carabobo (Canoabo, Patanemo, Puerto Cabello), the Distrito Federal (Naiguatá, La Sabana, Tarma, etc.

Smaller pockets are also found in Sucre (Campoma, Güiria), the southwest area of Yaracuy (Farriar), and the mountains of Miranda (Yare).

An important Afro-Venezuelan community is also to be found in El Callao, in the southernmost state of Bolivar, where miners from Guyana, Brasil, both the French and British Antilles settled since the mid-nineteenth century.