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Venezuelan opposition leader and National Assembly head Henry Ramos Allup said Friday that his political rivals had tried to make South American independence leader Simon Bolivar “mulatto” in the portrait previously hung in the National Assembly.
Ramos Allup, who ordered the removal of portraits of Bolivar and former President Hugo Chavez from the hall after taking over as National Assembly president early this month, justified the removal saying that there should be no images of former leaders in the parliament.
He added that if Bolivar is featured, it should be a traditional depiction of the liberator and not a “darkened” version as he claims the portrait was. The portrait was a 3-D reconstructed image of Bolivar created in 2012 based on a study of the liberator’s remains.
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Henry Ramos Allup says portrait of #SimonBolivar was removed parliament due to its 'darkened' skin. Is this racist? pic.twitter.com/7ZYoDGC5eV
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
January 16, 2016
Hundreds of Venezuelans protested the removal of the portraits and condemned the move as disrespectful.
Bolivar is a key symbol of Venezuela’s socialist Bolivarian Revolution, launched by Chavez with the namesake of the South American liberator. Like most Venezuelans, he was of mixed Indigenous and European descent.
ANALYSIS: Tackling Racism In Venezuela to Build a Society of Equals
Over half of Venezuela’s population is mixed race, around one-fifth is of European ancestry, one-tenth of African origin, and about 2 percent from indigenous groups. Despite that diversity, Venezuela’s oil wealth and power structures were long dominated by a minority, and mainly white, elite.
Hugo Chavez was the first president in Venezuela's history to claim his Indigenous and African ancestry and championed policies to counter racism and honor African descendent heritage in the country.
A drawing of Simon Bolivar (L) and a reconstructed computer-generated image made in 2012 (R), the version formerly hung in the National Assembly. I Photo: AFP
Overcoming long-held structural racism remains a challenge in Venezuela.
In October, Ramos Allup criticized the government’s decision to replace a monument of Christopher Columbus in Caracas with a statue of famed historic Indigenous chief Guaicaipuro. The replacement of the monument was meant to be a reclamation of history to honor those that resisted colonization, instead of the colonizers, as was also done in Argentina.
Ramos Allup vowed to take down the Guaicaipuro if the opposition won the National Assembly, a promise President Nicolas Maduro slammed as racist.
Ramos Allup has said the main priority of the right-wing controlled assembly will be to oust President Nicolas Maduro within six months
WATCH: Venezuela’s Enduring Legacy of Racism
