Velásquez, the fifth of six children, was born in Zulia, Venezuela to a Venezuelan father of Native and Spanish descent and a mother who came from the Wayuu tribe. Her parents were both teachers; her father also worked for UNESCO and as a result, she spent some of her childhood in Mexico and France. She attended San Vicente de Paul High School, graduating in 1987. After a year of college studies, Read more...

In 1997 she studied acting in Los Angeles and New York. In 1998, she paced down runways in ready-to-wear fashion shows for designers such as Antonio Berardi, Bella Freud, Corinne Cobson, Claude Montana, and Dolce & Gabbana. As for print advertising, Velásquez appeared in ads for Chanel's Allure, Roberto Verino's Verino fragrance, as well as Victoria's Secret. Early in her modeling career, Read more...

Velásquez has stated she is bisexual and dated comedian Sandra Bernhard in the mid-1990s. In 2002, Velásquez founded the Wayúu Tayá Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the Wayúu, a Venezuelan indigenous group. She is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish. She is 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m) tall.