Post by scumbuster on Jun 17, 2016 6:03:18 GMT -5
CARACAS -- Troubled Venezuela woke up to a new horror: the tombs of two successive Presidents -- including the first to be elected by popular vote -- had been desecrated.
President Romulo Gallegos (1946-1948) had been resting in peace since his death in 1969, but his tomb and body was robbed Wednesday night, according to his grand-daughter Theotiste Gallegos.
The news came only hours after reports of a similar attack on the tomb of President Isaias Medina Angarita (1941-1945), who died in 1953.
Gallegos and Medina were interred at the “Cementerio General del Sur”, which once was the main cemetery in Caracas but has in recent decades become surrounded by one of the most violent slums in the world (perhaps aptly named “The Cemetery”) and fallen into lawlessness and disrepair.
Burials at the cemetery are usually accompanied by gunfire (often met with more gunfire from rivals of the deceased) and press reports tell of rituals carried out there involving human remains.
The younger Gallegos said her grandfather's tomb had been “ransacked.”
“They took the marble that covered [the tomb], they took his remains along with those of my grandmother. They robbed me of part of my history, and they robbed each Venezuelan of a part of theirs. They profaned our dignity, they robbed us of our decency.”
Local media reported that Gallegos’ remains had been stolen, which the Mayor of the Libertador municipality Jorge Rodriguez, denied. Rodriguez is a rabid supporter of President Nicolas Maduro and Chavez before him and the cemetery is located in his municipality.
State television tried to show that the crypt was undisturbed while interviewing Rodriguez, but the hasty repairs by the government showed the hole badly covered and grave dirt and wet concrete all around.
The Prosecutor's Office apparently didn't get the Chavista memo, however, admitted that the tomb was vandalized and agreed start an investigation.
Medina’s son, Dr Isaias Medina Felizola, told local media that one of the two niches in his father’s mausoleum had been vandalized but apparently the former President’s remains are still there.
The relationship between Caracas and Washington was crucial during World War Two: Venezuela collaborated with the Allied powers with oil and fuels and declared war on the Axis in early 1945. US-Venezuela ties intensified under Gallegos (1946-1948), a novelist better known for Spanish-language classics such as “La Trepadora” and “Dona Barbara.”
Medina was elected by the Venezuelan Congress and lost power through a mostly bloodless coup in 1945. Gallegos was elected by popular vote in 1946, the first Venezuelan to do so. He allowed most of the democratic freedoms and guarantees that Venezuelans enjoy today.
The treatment given to the final resting places of novelist Romulo Gallegos and General Isaias Medina Angarita, who ruled Venezuela in the 1940's but were not interred in the National Pantheon, stand in stark contrast to the pharao-like treatment bestowed on Hugo Chavez's remains (2000-2013).
THE FATE OF DEAD PRESIDENTS
Medina, an Army man like Chavez, helped the transition after Juan Vicente Gomez. Unlike Chavez, Medina unified the country and legalized several political parties including the Communist Party of Venezulea
Chavez has his own mausoleum, occupying the entire edifice that used to house the Army Museum, built by his successor Nicolas Maduro only days after he died. A permanent honor guard now stands in a hilltop building painted red, the color of Chavez's PSUV party, which can be seen from kilometers away. Earlier this year, Maduro said he was giving control of the building to a foundation directed by the Chavez family. Venezuela’s Liberator Simon Bolivar’s remains are buried in the National Pantheon, with other illustrious Venezuelans, heroes of the Independence War and ex Presidents.
Many Venezuelans -- including those in the government -- practice a religion called Santeria which is a local variation of voodoo. Bones and remains are used to make spells and potions in the ceremonies.
laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2414485&CategoryId=10717
President Romulo Gallegos (1946-1948) had been resting in peace since his death in 1969, but his tomb and body was robbed Wednesday night, according to his grand-daughter Theotiste Gallegos.
The news came only hours after reports of a similar attack on the tomb of President Isaias Medina Angarita (1941-1945), who died in 1953.
Gallegos and Medina were interred at the “Cementerio General del Sur”, which once was the main cemetery in Caracas but has in recent decades become surrounded by one of the most violent slums in the world (perhaps aptly named “The Cemetery”) and fallen into lawlessness and disrepair.
Burials at the cemetery are usually accompanied by gunfire (often met with more gunfire from rivals of the deceased) and press reports tell of rituals carried out there involving human remains.
The younger Gallegos said her grandfather's tomb had been “ransacked.”
“They took the marble that covered [the tomb], they took his remains along with those of my grandmother. They robbed me of part of my history, and they robbed each Venezuelan of a part of theirs. They profaned our dignity, they robbed us of our decency.”
Local media reported that Gallegos’ remains had been stolen, which the Mayor of the Libertador municipality Jorge Rodriguez, denied. Rodriguez is a rabid supporter of President Nicolas Maduro and Chavez before him and the cemetery is located in his municipality.
State television tried to show that the crypt was undisturbed while interviewing Rodriguez, but the hasty repairs by the government showed the hole badly covered and grave dirt and wet concrete all around.
The Prosecutor's Office apparently didn't get the Chavista memo, however, admitted that the tomb was vandalized and agreed start an investigation.
Medina’s son, Dr Isaias Medina Felizola, told local media that one of the two niches in his father’s mausoleum had been vandalized but apparently the former President’s remains are still there.
The relationship between Caracas and Washington was crucial during World War Two: Venezuela collaborated with the Allied powers with oil and fuels and declared war on the Axis in early 1945. US-Venezuela ties intensified under Gallegos (1946-1948), a novelist better known for Spanish-language classics such as “La Trepadora” and “Dona Barbara.”
Medina was elected by the Venezuelan Congress and lost power through a mostly bloodless coup in 1945. Gallegos was elected by popular vote in 1946, the first Venezuelan to do so. He allowed most of the democratic freedoms and guarantees that Venezuelans enjoy today.
The treatment given to the final resting places of novelist Romulo Gallegos and General Isaias Medina Angarita, who ruled Venezuela in the 1940's but were not interred in the National Pantheon, stand in stark contrast to the pharao-like treatment bestowed on Hugo Chavez's remains (2000-2013).
THE FATE OF DEAD PRESIDENTS
Medina, an Army man like Chavez, helped the transition after Juan Vicente Gomez. Unlike Chavez, Medina unified the country and legalized several political parties including the Communist Party of Venezulea
Chavez has his own mausoleum, occupying the entire edifice that used to house the Army Museum, built by his successor Nicolas Maduro only days after he died. A permanent honor guard now stands in a hilltop building painted red, the color of Chavez's PSUV party, which can be seen from kilometers away. Earlier this year, Maduro said he was giving control of the building to a foundation directed by the Chavez family. Venezuela’s Liberator Simon Bolivar’s remains are buried in the National Pantheon, with other illustrious Venezuelans, heroes of the Independence War and ex Presidents.
Many Venezuelans -- including those in the government -- practice a religion called Santeria which is a local variation of voodoo. Bones and remains are used to make spells and potions in the ceremonies.
laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2414485&CategoryId=10717