 The Caribs were Christianized by the early Spanish Franciscan missionaries.The episcopal city, Ciudad Bolívar, was established in 1764 by two Jesuits under the governorship of Joaquín de Mendoza, on the right bank of the Orinoco, and called "San Tomás de la Nueva Guayana"; but owing to a narrowing of the river was commonly known as "Angostura".It played an important part in the national history, and in February 1819 Simón Bolivar was elected president there by the Congress of Colombia; in his honor the city has been renamed Ciudad Bolivar.