Venezuela and Cuba's ties go back to when Cuba was still under Spanish rule, when among the signers of the Act of Independence of Venezuela in 1811 was Francisco Javier Yánez native of Puerto Principe (actual Camagüey) .
In 1823 the "Conspiracy of Rayos y Soles de Bolivar" was led by the Venezuelan Carlos Aponte, who along with a group of Venezuelans and Cubans arrived in Cuba on an expedition that was discovered in Havana and executed its members by Spanish colonial forces.