Like most of the Llanos states, Portuguesa was practically isolated from the center of the country until the middle of the 20th century. The only way to move from this entity to another was by means of carts pulled by horses or oxen, or by using the waterways. After the overthrow of General Isaías Medina Angarita, the Revolutionary Government Board began to materialize the existing projects designed by the previous rulers on sustainable agricultural development based on the colonization of large areas. It was in the 1940s, when work began on the Los Llanos road, which meant the economic take-off of the region. The foundation of the Turén Agricultural Colony through the work of 20,000 immigrant refugees, mostly Italian, drove the rice plan, and the incorporation of hundreds of hectares of irrigated land were key to the development and growth of this state known as the granary of Venezuela.