San Carlos de la Barra Fortress is a seventeenth century star fort protecting Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. The fort is one of a number of coastal fortifications which the Spanish built in Venezuela in colonial times. In the nineteenth century Venezuela achieved independence and the fort continued to be maintained as part of the country's defences. It saw action in the Bombardment of Fort San Carlos when it was attacked by the Imperial German Navy during the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–03. It also served as a prison. Those held there included the poet Eduardo López Bustamante.