Ciudad Bolívar

From Free net encyclopedia

Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of the eastern Venezuelan state of Bolívar. It was founded with the name Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2000, had an estimated population of 312,691.

The town lies at a narrowing of the Orinoco River and the original name was a contraction of the town's full descriptive name, 'Santo Tomé de Guayana de Angostura del Orinoco', "Saint Thomas of Guyana of the narrows of the Orinoco." The city lies at a spot where the Orinoco narrows to about 1 mile (1.6 km) in width, and today is the site of the only bridge across the river. Two more bridges are under construction. Ciudad Bolivar's historic centre is in a good state of preservation, with charming colonial buildings around the "Plaza Bolivar", including a cathedral.

It today serves as an important port of eastern Venezuela on the Orinoco River. One of the Orinoco Basin's chief commercial centers, its main products include gold, iron ore, cattle, hides and rare woods.

The town also gave its name to the Angostura tree (Cusparia febrifuga) which grows in the area. The bark of the small shrub-like tree was traditionally used as a bitter tonic and fever reducer. Angostura bitters were invented there, although the company has since moved to Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1973 a Museum of Modern Art opened. It was designed by Carlos Raúl Villanueva and was named after the city's famous son, the kinetic sculptor Jesus Soto.

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Congress of Angostura

The city served as the headquarters of the national revolutionary government fighting its War of Independence against imperial Spain.

In 1819, the Congress of Angostura declared South American military leader and revolutionary Simón Bolívar the President of Venezuela, and on December 17, 1819, declared the creation of the Republic of Gran Colombia, with Bolívar still as president. Bolivar's famous prophetic and inspiring address to the congress (see link), distinguishing the Venezuelan character from the North American one, with its "weak and complicated system" of government, and emphasizing the Venezuelan revolutionaries' extraordinary and complicated position ("We are not Europeans; we are not Indians"), advocated a parliamentary system based on the British model, with a hereditary senate.

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