Cumaná (Spanish pronunciation: [kumaˈna], 824,764 inhabitants) is the capital of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located 402 km east of Caracas. It was the first settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland America, in 1501 by Franciscan friars, but due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times. For example, in 1521 by a group of Spaniards under the command of Gonzalo de Ocampo re-established it, and again in 1569 Diego Hernández de Serpa had to rebuild it. After Amerindian attacks became less of a threat, the city was on several occasions destroyed by earthquakes. Thus the oldest part of the city is late 17th and 18th century; almost none of the 16th century architecture survived.

The city, located at the mouth of the Manzanares River on the Caribbean coast in the NE of Venezuela, is home to one of five campuses of the Universidad de Oriente and a busy maritime port, home of one of the largest tuna fleets in Venezuela. The city is close to the Mochima National Park which boasts some of Venezuela's finest beaches.

Dana Winner is the stage name of Chantal Vanlee (born in Hasselt, 10 February 1965). She is a Belgian singer who is famous especially in Flanders, South Africa and the Netherlands.

In 1990 she released her first single Op het dak van de wereld, (Dutch: "On the roof of the world"), a cover of The Carpenters' Top of the World from 1973. In 1993 she became really popular with Woordenloos (Dutch: "Without words"). However, it was only in 1995 that she released her only hit single so far to reach the Dutch Top 40, Westenwind. This was a cover of the former hit One Way Wind by the Volendam group The Cats.

After her first success, Dana Winner also became well known in Germany and South Africa. At the end of the 1990s, she began singing in other languages and did not release an album in Dutch between 2000 and 2006. It was also in 2006 that she got a permanent memento in Bornem, along the SIM-route.

Nicolás Maduro Moros (born 23 November 1962 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan politician who was appointed foreign minister by President Hugo Chávez on 9 August 2006.

Nicolas Maduro began his political career as a bus driver and unofficial trade-unionist representing the workers of the Caracas Metro system in the 1970s and 1980s (back then, unions within the Metro company were not allowed). He finished high school in the Liceo Avalos, a public high-school west of Caracas during the '80 (El Valle neighborhood), but lacks any university or further education. He is considered one of the founders of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), but his biggest political accomplishment was as activist for the release of Hugo Chávez from prison, and later as one of this regional political coordinators during the 1998 presidential race. Maduro was elected on the MVR ticket to the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies in 1998, to the National Constituent Assembly in 1999, and to the National Assembly in 2000 and 2005, representing the Capital District. The legislature elected him Speaker of the Assembly, even though he did not have a college degree or formal education. He held that position from 2005 until the first half of 2006. Maduro is married to Cilia Flores, herself a prominent figure within the MVR. She replaced Maduro as Speaker of assembly.