Mukas

The valley of the Mukas lies in the Venezuelan Andes, in country inhabited by the Cuica before Spanish conquest. Cuica communities cultivated crops including maize, potatoes and cotton on the middle and upper mountain slopes of the Andes. The mountains and valleys brought different elevations close together, supporting a varied agricultural landscape. Cuica farmers also grew chilli, cacao and tobacco, and their communities shared a language across the highland district.

Diego García de Paredes founded Trujillo in the Cuica country in 1557. Conflict with Indigenous inhabitants and repeated changes of site marked its early history before the town became established in the valley of the Mukas. During the independence war, Simón Bolívar issued his decree of War to the Death at Trujillo in 1813.

The later city of Trujillo lies here.