alternatehistory.com

Venezuela, meaning "Little Venice", was so named by Amerigo Vespucci (the explorer, not the AH.com poster who wrote the Cuban Missile War timeline ;) ) because the natives built out on water using buildings on stilts etc., which reminded Vespucci of Venice.

Aside from that, there's no connection between the two: Venezuela was colonised first by Germans and secondly, obviously, by the Spanish. So your challenge, with a POD after say 1520 AD, is to make Venezuela a colony of the Republic of Venice by the year 1800.
Top