Hugo Chávez claims Simon Bolívar was murdered not backed by science

Venezuelan president accused of trying to rewrite history after dismissing scientists’ conclusions that liberation hero died of TB It was approaching 3am when a cluster of masked forensic doctors appeared on national television clad in white, astronaut-like suits. Few Venezuelans were tuned in for the pre-dawn exhumation of Simon Bolívar, the South American liberation hero, on 16 July last year. But for the country’s president, Hugo Chávez, it was an event of monumental importance. “My God. Bolívar lives,” he tweeted, as a tiny skeleton was hauled from its tomb in Caracas’ National Pantheon. “It’s not a skeleton. It’s the Great Bolívar, who has returned.” Chávez had hoped Bolívar’s exhumation would help solve what he has called “the great farce” surrounding his death. While most historians believe the inspiration for Chávez’s “Bolívarian revolution” died of tuberculosis in 1830, Venezuela’s outspoken president thinks otherwise. He claimed Bolívar was the victim of a murderous conspiracy and had been poisoned by Colombian oligarchs. He wanted forensic scientists to prove it. But was Chávez right? One year on and the answer is almost certainly, no. “We could not establish the death was by non-natural means or by intentional poisoning,” the country’s vice-president, Elías Jaua, admitted on Monday. DNA samples failed to provide the smoking gun sought by the Venezuelan leader. Scientists found traces of toxins, including arsenic, in Bolívar’s bones, leaving the door open to the idea that he had been accidentally poisoned, possibly by medicines, but no proof of deliberate assassination. Despite the findings, Chávez was unmoved. “They killed Simon Bolívar. They murdered him and, even though I don’t have proof, the circumstances in which he died point to that,” he insisted in an interview with state-controlled television. “The Venezuelan bourgeoisie continue to say that we are trying to change history. No. They changed it,” he said. By most accounts, Bolívar died of TB on 17 December 1830 at the age of 47. But a series of alternative theories have surfaced over the years, among them the Colombian conspiracy. In 2010, Dr Paul Auwaerter, from Baltimore’s John Hopkins University, provided Chávez with ammunition, casting doubt on claims that Bolívar had died from TB. “There were features that were incompatible with TB, like for example that he never coughed up blood,” he pointed out. Auwaerter, however, has distanced himself from the idea that Bolívar was intentionally poisoned. “Although President Chávez took my comments about arsenic to mean that he was assassinated, I thought Bolívar’s physicians were giving him arsenic medicines, which was quite popular at this time, to improve his health,.” he told the Guardian. “To me it was unintentional, but I think President Chávez took some of our discussions to make it fit into his own hypothesis.” Critics have dismissed the hullabaloo over Bolívar’s death as a handy distraction from more pressing domestic issues. With a tricky presidential election coming up next year, some opponents see the exhumation as a media spectacle designed to distract from economic and security problems. Others see the exhumation as a reflection of Chávez’s obsession with highlighting his image as a modern-day “liberator”. “You cannot force history’s arm to fit your whims,” said Inés Quintero, a historian and the biographer of Simon Bolívar’s sister, María Antonia Bolívar. “We know that Bolívar was not assassinated. There is no historical evidence or any documents pointing to an assassination,” she added, describing the exhumation as “irrelevant and unnecessary”. “It does not modify our understanding of who Bolívar was as a historical figure. Regardless of the actual reason for his death, the moment, the condition, the complexity of his human condition all combined for a fatal ending.” Still Chávez remains undeterred. On Monday he ordered forensic scientists to continue their hunt for the truth. “We must continue investigating and seeking new information about how Bolívar died. I invite you to carry on studying this mystery. I have no doubt that they killed Bolívar.” Venezuela Hugo Chávez Tom Phillips guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 26, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.