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Caracas - Capital District (Venezuela)

Distrito Capital

Last modified: 2004-08-07 by dov gutterman
Keywords: caracas | venezuela | lion | santiago cross | regimant | amaranth |
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by Guillermo Aveledo, 4 October 1999


by Raul Jesus Orta Pardo, 2 August 2000

Libertador Municipality (Municipio Libertador), City of Caracas


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Overview

"Caracas" is the word used by the aboriginal tribes which lived on the north coastal regions of the earlier Venezuela, for named an autochthonous kind of a plant called "Amaranth" in another places of the World. Besides, this plant was one of their principal sources of nutrition. When the Spanish conquerors arrive to these lands, they find the tribes eating it. After their inquires by words and mimics about the name of the plant, one of the aboriginal could understood the questions of these rare men and standing up, saying "CARACARA, CARACAS", and fluttering a bundle of that herbs at the same time.
Sometimes, the Spanish conqueror's custom was to name the cities and towns, which they founded during the earlier times of their dominion over Latin America. However, they composed these names with autochthonous voices in combination with Spanish holy sponsors, places or authorities at that times.
According to that tradition, on July 25th, 1567, the Captain Diego de Losada y Osorio founded the City of "SANTIAGO DE LEON DE CARACAS" (Saint James of the Lion of Caracas), in the same place where it exists today , the "Plaza Boli'var" (Bolivar Square), then called "Plaza Mayor" (Major Square). Later, the Spanish King Felipe II (Philippe II) granted to the City their first Coat of Arms by means of negotiations realized by Don Simo'n de Bolivar, called "El Viejo" (The older), sixth ancestor of "El Libertador" SIMON BOLIVAR, our greatest national hero. These arms only show a brown lion rampant subjecting a golden scallop with a red St. James Cross inside, all on an argent (silver) ground. Few years after, it was enriching with a five points coronet in the crest and war trophies crossed in saltire at the back in attention to the notable services of their subjects to the Spanish Crown. By royal schedule signed on March 15th, 1766, the king Carlos III (Charles III) granted to the Caracas CoA's a pennant with a motto, which express the devotion of the Caraquenian people for the Holy Mother of God: "AVE MARIA SANTISIMA SIN PECADO CONCEBIDA EN EL PRIMER INSTANTE DE SU SER NATURAL" (God Bless You Holiest Mary conceived without guilt in the first instant of her natural being). Therefore, the meaning of the Caraquenian CoA its really very simple because it is "Canting Arms": the golden scallop is representation of the Apostle Santiago (also called Saint James in English), one of the holy sponsors of Spain and particularly, for the Spanish Cavalry; the Lion reminds the Spanish kingdom and the Province of Leo'n (Lion) where the Conqueror Losada y Osorio was born and besides, it is an homage for Don Pedro Ponce de Leo'n, Spanish Governor of the province of Venezuela at that times, who provides the sources for the successful conquest of the region where was established the actual Caracas. The argent (silver) ground represents the Integrity. The golden five points coronet (called "Coronel" in Spanish) is symbol of Nobility and Loyalty. The Arms crosses in saltire represents the courage of the Caraquenian People, whose example of behavior, ever has been an obligatory reference for the another peoples of Venezuela and Latin America. So, the full ancient form of the name of the Capital City of my Country and my birth place too, is "LA MUY NOBLE Y MUY LEAL SENORIA DE LA CIUDAD MARIANA DE SANTIAGO DE LEON DE CARACAS" (The Most Noble and Most Loyalty  Seigniory of the Marian City of Saint James of the Lion of Caracas). In this case,"Marian" has the meaning of "Devote of the holiest Virgin Mary".
Raul Jesus Orta Pardo, 2 August 2000

The CAPITAL DISTRICT: According to the "Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela" (Article 16) recently approved, it is implicatly abolished the "Federal District" by the creation of the CAPITAL DISTRICT formed by the same Municipalities which were in the FD. However, the real dimension of the City exceed its original limits of the last 60 years and now also contain the Municipalities of Baruta, Chacao, El Hatillo and Sucre which belong to the Miranda State. The "Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela" establishes, besides, that the regulations about the matter will be specifying in a Special Law.
Raul Jesus Orta Pardo, 2 August 2000

The special law on the regime of the Capital District, hindsighted on the 18th article of this
Constitution, wil be approved by tne National Constituent Assembly and it will preserve the territorial integrity of the MIranda State. Meanwhile the law is to be approved, the Organic Law of the Federal District and the Organic Law of Municipal Regime."
The National Constituent Assembly issued a Special Law on the regime of the METROPOLITAN DISTRICT OF CARACAS, on March 8th, 2000. This would make the Constituent Assembly deaf to its own voice, since:

1. The Constitution dictated that the Assembly would approve a law for a CAPITAL DISTRICT of CRACAS, not a METROPOLITAN DISTRICT of CARACAS, which it did.

2. According to the very 'Bolivarian' Constitution they wrote, the members of the National Constituent Assembly should've known we can only have a "Metropolitan District": "when two or more municipalities belonging TO THE SAME FEDERAL ENTITY have economic, social and phsical relations which would give to their union the carachteristics of a metropolitan area (...)".

What happens is that the Municipios Chacao, El Hatillo, Baruta and Sucre belong to Miranda State, and the Municipio Libertador (colloquially Caracas) belongs to the Capital District (which lurks back again, without many explanations, in article 1 of the special law ). Miranda State and the Federal district are two separate, distinct, unique entities; this makes the name (and even the entire law) of the Metropolitan District utterly wrong!! But that doesn't seem as good enough to make it null and void ... Although it may seem like a rumbustious "legalese" complaint, I am sure it will hold many problems for the future, especially when stating the actual responsabilities of each municipal government and that of the Metropolitan mayor, and these frictions will grow when the time comes for the National Treasure to be distributed and no one caves i