Los Llanos: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Los Llanos (the plains) is a vast region of tropical savanna and wetlands that has been supporting native wildlife and indigenous Arawak tribes for millenia.

Barinas, the region's biggest city, was the first town founded in the western Llanos when Spanish conquerors arrived from Pamplona in Nueva Granada (now Colombia) in 1577. At the beginning of the 17th century, tobacco gave the town an economic base and overseas fame - it was the only region in the colony that the Spanish Crown allowed to grow tobacco. Other crops, including sugarcane, bananas and cacao, were subsequently introduced into the region, as was raising cattle. By the end of the 18th century, Barinas was Venezuela's largest and wealthiest town after Caracas.

Meanwhile, Guanare (founded in 1591) became famous in 1642 after reports that the Virgin Mary had made a divine appearance at an Indian village about 25km (15mi) down the road. As the story goes, Indian Chief Coromoto and his wife were crossing a stream near their hut, when a radiant lady of incredible beauty appeared and walked over the water toward them. Speaking in their own language, she urged the chief to go with his tribe to the white men to have holy water poured over their heads so that they could go to heaven. Astonished and confused, the chief promised to comply. He told the story to the Spaniard who owned a nearby plantation and, with his permission, the whole tribe soon moved onto the settler's land and built their huts. They were put to work and given religious instructions. The chief became increasingly unhappy about this turn of events, but the beautiful vision appeared again. This time he tried to catch the apparition with his hand but the dazzling creature vanished. When he opened his hand, all he found was a small image of the divine lady. He threw the image down and ran into the dark night. As he ran madly through the woods, he was bitten by a venomous snake. Only then, moments before his death, did he ask to be baptized, telling his tribe to do likewise.

Guanare quickly became an important pilgrimage center and the Basílica Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Coromoto was built in 1710-42 as a place of worship to house the holy image. The Virgen de Coromoto is today the patron saint of Venezuela, while the tiny image the chief found in his hand is the object of devotion by millions of Venezuelans.

Modern History

Civil wars plagued Venezuela during the 19th century, affecting the development of Barinas state. Afterwards, however, a steady revival began. Agriculture and the cattle industry were joined by a short-lived timber industry, which took advantage of the extensive tropical forest in the region, chopping it down rapidly and indiscriminately. Meanwhile, oil was discovered south of Barinas and is today pipelined to the coast near Morón.

Since the 19th century, most of Los Llanos has been divided into large cattle ranches known as hatos . From this cattle-country came the llaneros - the Venezuelan cowboys, whose reputation as tough, fierce horsemen led Simon Bolívar to describe them as his best soldiers during the Indpendence wars.

Recent History

Today, Los Llanos' economy revolves around beef production, agriculture, oil reserves in Barinas state and, increasingly, tourism. In recent years, many hatos have turned to ecotourism to supplement cattle raising, building campamentos (lodges equipped with tourist facilities) and offering excursions to see the wildlife. Most have strict conservation measures in place to maintain the natural resources; some have set up scientific research stations and breeding programs for endangered species.

The hatos , however, are currently under threat from the Chávez government, which looks askance at these large, private landholdings. The promise of land reform helped bring Chávez to power in 1999 - he charged that land should be redistributed. As a result, owners of many hatos have been forced to negotiate with the government to sell or give away portions of their landholdings - or risk having it confiscated. Some, such as Hato El Frío, are seeking Unesco recognition to prevent confiscation.

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