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Julián was a young boy who lived in Venezuela. He was very ignorant about 

his culture and history. His grandpa, Pablo, kept trying to show him, but he 

was too caught up in his video games. Whenever his grandpa tried to tell 

him something about Venezuela, he wouldn't look up from his video game, 

so he grew more ignorant. 

One evening when the family was eating and Julián was forced to turn off 

his video game, his grandpa was telling him a story from when he was a kid. 

Pablo realized that he wasn't paying much attention to his story so he 

decided to take Julián for a ride around Caracas after dinner to show him 

the culture. 

To convince Julián to go with him he told him that he was going to buy him 

a new video game. Julián got in the car very excited. When Julián realized 

they were not going the right way, he asked his grandfather, "Where are we 

going?'' Pablo responded, "We're taking a shortcut.''

As he drove through the streets of Caracas, Pablo started 

telling Julián about its history.  

"Our capital city was founded in 1567 by Diego de Losada and 

its full name is Santiago de León de Caracas:

 -- Santiago for the apostle James, who is the patron saint of 

Spain

-- de León for Don Pedro Ponce de León, the governor, 

-- and Caracas for the Caracas Indians, who inhabited the 

region."

                                        Diego de Losada

Then, Pablo suddenly stopped the car and asked Julián to get out and 

walk with him.   "Grandpa, where are we?" asked Julián.   Pablo told him, 

"We are at the heart of the city -- Plaza Bolívar."   Julián looked around, 

and saw many beautiful trees and statues, and many Venezuelans 

walking through the plaza.  

"Wow, there are lots of people here," he said.   Pablo explained to him 

that Bolívar Plaza was the center of social, political, and tourist activity.  

"People pass through here every day, on their way to work or to mass or 

to visit the the mayor's office."     Pablo first showed him the Cathedral of 

Caracas.   "Most people in Venezuela -- about 96% --are Roman Catholic, 

like our Spanish founders."

                                                             Catedral de Caracas

Julián suddenly pointed to a statue of a man on a horse.   "Who's that, 

Grandpa?"   "That is Bolívar himself!"

                                                  Simón Bolívar          Bolívar Fuerte

            Plaza Bolivar, Caracas

"Bolivar?", asked Julián.   "Isn't that the name of our money?"   "Yes, our 

money is called the Bolívar Fuerte or Strong Bolívar after Simón Bolívar, 

the most famous Venezuelan ever."

Julián had heard the name of Simón Bolívar all his life, but he 

realized he knew very little about him.   "Why is he so 

famous?", he asked. 

His grandpa told him about the history of Venezuela.  

"This land was originally inhabited by Indian people, such as 

the Mariches and the Caciques.   Then, the Spanish explorers 

came, starting with Christopher Columbus in 1498 and Alonso 

de Ojeda, in 1499, who gave it the name of Venezuela, which 

means "little Venice", because of its many rivers.  

Venezuela was a colony of Spain during the 16th, 17th and 

18th century.   Then, the people grew tired of the Spanish Rule, 

and they began a fight for their independence.  

"Simón Bolívar was born in Caracas on July 24th, 1783.   His parents 

died was he was young and he inherited a fortune. When he was 14, 

he was sent to military school.   He loved learning about arms and 

military strategies."  

"He became one of South Americas greatest generals.   In 1821, he 

led the victory over the Spaniards and won independence not only for 

Venezuela, but also for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  

For that reason, he is called El Liberator and the George Washington 

of South America.   There are statues in his honor all over the world, 

in places like Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Paris and Washington, 

DC."  

Julián thought for a moment.   "So, even though we wanted to be free 

of Spain, we still kept many things from them, like our religion and 

our language?"   "That's right," said Pablo.   "Because we were ruled by 

the Spanish for over 300 years, those things had already become a 

part of our culture."

Julián was becoming more curious now.   "What other things did we get 

from the Spanish?"

"The Spanish have influenced many things in our culture -- our art, 

our architecture, our music.   But we also have been influenced from 

the original American Indians, as well as by the Africans, who arrived 

in Venezuela after the Spanish were defeated. Then, in the 20th 

century, we had many new immigrants to Venezuela, such as Italians, 

Germans, and Arabs."

"Wow, so many different kinds of people have made Venezuela 

their home," said Julián.   "Is that why we all look so 

different?"

"Yes," said Pablo. "Most people here are what we call mestizo 

or mixed race.   They are almost two-thirds of the population.  

We also have Europeans, which are about one-fifth of our 

people.   About 10% are black, and only 2% are the original 

American Indians."

Julián had never thought so much about the people living 

around him.   "How many people are there, grandpa?"   "Almost 

30 million," Pablo told him.    

Then Julián grew a bit sad.   "But Grandpa, many of the people 

who live here are very poor, aren't they?"

"Yes, Julián, I'm afraid they are.   Many people here are not as 

lucky as you and I.   One-third of the people here live in 

poverty. Almost 15% of our people live on less than $2 a day."

Julián thought about the poor neighborhoods he had seen in 

his country, and he felt bad that he hadn't paid more 

attention.     

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