Strength and Sovereignty
VEN99, 2016-2017, 20000 VEF

Slot Comment:

Bolivares Fuertes (Strong Bolivar)

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Note Details

  

Set Details
Note Description: 20,000 Bolívares Pick Unlisted 2016 - Printer: CMV
Grade: 66 EPQ
Country: Venezuela
Note Number: VENUNL20000a
Certification #: 2506671-019
Owner: Revenant
Set Category: World
Set Name: Strength and Sovereignty
Slot Name: VEN99, 2016-2017, 20000 VEF
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

At the time this note was announced, in December 2016, it was worth just under US$5.00.

The front of this note shows Simón Bolívar (Full name Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte-Andrade y Blanco). He is known as “El Libertado” (The Liberator) was the general and politician that led a rebellion in and won independence for what would eventually become Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama. At the time he helped make and lead a united state called “Gran Colombia.” Bolivar is considered a national icon, not just in Venezuela but in most of the countries that gained independence from Spain through his efforts. He is the reason that the Venezuelan currency was called “the Bolivar.” The nation of Bolivia is named for him.

The image on this note seems to be based on a painting called “El Libertado,” from 1860 - which would have meant the portrait was made about 30 years after Bolivar died. I do not know what that painter used as a reference.

He wanted a strong Latin American union that could defend itself against Spain, other European powers, and the emerging power of the United States. He did not get what he wanted. Gran Colombia fought a series of civil wars and uprisings over 9 years and ultimately proved unable to remain a unified state. It dissolved in 1830 and became Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada. He delivered his final address on 20 January 1830 and resigned as present in April of that year. He planned to live in exile in Europe, but he never caught up to the belongings he had sent ahead of him. He died in De 1830 of tuberculosis at the age of 47.

He said, “all who served the revolution have plowed the sea,” and “America is ungovernable.” In addressing the Colombian Congress, he said, “Fellow Citizens! I blush to say this: Independence is the only benefit we have acquired, to the detriment of all the rest.” He asked on his deathbed that his writings be burned but his wishes were ignored.

What has been done with his remains in the ~190 years since his passing raises the question of whether the Venezuelan government has ever understood the meaning of the phrase, “may he rest in peace.” See my comments on VEN111 if you want to know what I mean by this.

In Jan 2008, as the Bolivar Fuerte was being released – likely as a stunt to distract from the state the country was in – Hugo Chavez set up a commission to investigate the possibility that he was poisoned. They exhumed and tested his remains in July 2011 to test for arsenic or other poisons but found evidence of nothing. Why would someone try to kill him, leading Chavez to make claims of traitors poisoning him?

He earned a lot of enemies in part by trying to establish a strong central government for Gran Colombia with a lifetime president. A large portion of his final address to the nation in 1830 was spent on asking people not to listen to those that “have conspired to tear your hearts from me, attributing to me their own motives, making me seem to be the instigator of projects they themselves have conceived, representing me, finally, as aspiring to a crown which they themselves have offered on more than one occasion and which I have rejected with the indignation of the fiercest republican.” So Bolivar tried and failed to do what George Washington probably could have easily done but refused to in the United States about 30 years prior His decision to peacefully step down and prepare to go into self-imposed exile helped protect his legacy and history has been kinder to him than a lot of the strong men and dictators that came later.

The back of this note shows a Red siskin (Carduelis cucullata) with Cerro El Ávila in the background. Cerro El Ávila is a peak in the Cordillera de la Costa Central mountain range in El Ávila National Park. The park is known as "el pulmón de la ciudad" (the lungs of the city). The peak is home to the longest cable car ride in the world and supports recreational activities like running, biking, rock climbing, camping, and zip-lining. There are several hotels and restaurants situated in the surrounding hills and ever December a large crucifix high up the mountain that faces the city - called “Cruz de Navidad” - is lit-up and can be seen from “very far distances.”

The Red Siskin is native to Northern Venezuela and Northern Colombia. Venezuelans call it “cardenalito" (“Cardinal”). The bird is 10cm long, eats seeds and has a pleasant song. It is endangered because of a mix of environmental factors and illegal trapping. They are highly gregarious and sought-after cage birds. But there are those that think that domestication may be one of the reasons the bird has not gone extinct, with perhaps only 600-1000 pairs left in the wild. There have apparently been a lot of efforts to crossbreed them with Canaries because they are red where most finches are mostly yellow.

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