Last modified: 2004-08-07 by dov gutterman
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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
Hustorical Flags:
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"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