The "pseudogabbro" associated with peridotite at Tinaquillo, Venezuela, is believed to be of magmatic rather than metamorphic origin principally because: (1) there are major mineralogic and compositional differences between the "pseudogabbro" and the most highly metamorphosed country rock; (2) rocks intermediate in compositional between peridotite and "pseudogabbro" are present; (3) augen of lamellar pyroxene which occur in the "pseudogabbro" but not in the country rock are of a kind found elsewhere rarely except in igneous rocks; (4) gabbroic rocks are associated with peridotite elsewhere in Venezuela and in the Carribbean region; (5) textural and structural features of the kind found in the Tinaquillo rocks are characteristic of alpine-type peridotite-gabbro complexes.