residents of Caracas started selling food via ship to Spanish soldiers stationed in Cartagena, who docked there to load goods from other parts of South America. Wheat was becoming increasingly expensive in the Iberian Peninsula, and the Spanish profited from buying it from farmers in Caracas. This cemented the city in the empire's trade circuit.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the coast of Venezuela was frequently raided by pirates. With the