Film about South American Liberator Simon Bolivar shown at Her Majesty’s Prisons

On the occasion of the 189th anniversary of the death of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, the Venezuelan Embassy here showed a film entitled “Bolívar, the Man of Difficulties” to inmates of Her Majesty’s Prison in Kingstown.

More than 80 male and female inmates viewed the film last Tuesday, December 17. They learned about the history of the “Father of the Motherland” Simon Bolivar, who led the independence exploits of several Latin American countries and liberated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

The head of the Venezuelan mission in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Francisco Pérez Santana, explained to the inmates part of Bolivar´s history, his fight against the domination of the Spanish empire in favor of the freedom of the peoples, his great loves, his passage through the Caribbean, where he wrote one of his most important political documents “The Charter of Jamaica” in which he called upon other countries to continue the independence struggles and proposes the union of countries of Latin America, as well as his political ideals of freedom, fraternity and union.

He placed special emphasis on the support provided by a free Haiti to the command of Petion for the consolidation of the freedom of the Venezuelan homeland.

Mike Browne, President of The Venezuelan Vincentian Friendship Association (VENVIFA), spoke of the independence struggles of SVG and Venezuela and highlighted the similarities between the father of the motherland, Simon Bolivar, and SVG Garifuna leader Joseph Chatoyer.

“What Chatoyer is for St Vincent and the Grenadines, is Bolivar for Venezuela and Latin America.” He explained that ever since Hugo Chávez became part of the Venezuelan Government he worked on the continuity of Bolivar’s legacy and provided the Constitution with the Bolivarian humanist ideal.

Andreína Bermúdez, Academic Coordinator of the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Co-operation “Hugo Chávez Frias” stated that: “thanks to Commander Chávez, Venezuelans know the true story about Simón Bolívar”. She explained that before the arrival of Commander Chávez only the aristocratic ancestry of Bolivar was told and only with the Bolivarian Revolution did the Venezuelan people know that Simón Bolívar was a very sensitive person to the subject of slavery and fought for its abolition.

Bermudez showed those present a digital reconstruction of the face of the Liberator by experts who exhumed his remains and reconstructed the face of the hero as part of a scientific research requested by Commander Chávez. “Look at his appearance, he’s not just a white man, Bolivar has aspects of Africa, Europe and also indigenous origins,” she stressed.

The inmates thanked the Bolivarian Government for carrying out these activities within the prison space. “We now learned about Simón Bolívar, about the revolutionary processes and the liberation of the peoples of Latin America. We are very happy to learn more about Bolivar and his revolution,” said one of the inmates present.

A release from the Venezuelan Embassy said this type of cultural activity is carried out within the framework of the Diplomacy of Peace promoted by the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela with the aim of publicizing the history and culture of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and strengthening the bonds of brotherhood with the Vincentian people.