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Chavez revamps "imperialist" horse on coat of arms
Mar 9, 10:21 AM (ET)
By Patrick Markey
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's Congress, dominated by allies of socialist President Hugo Chavez, has approved a revamp of the national coat of arms to ensure its white horse gallops left instead of right.
Dismissed by critics as a whim of the Venezuelan leader, the approved changes to the official yellow, blue and red flag also add an eighth star sought by Chavez as a tribute to South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar.
Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, says Bolivar inspired his so-called Bolivarian revolution and the national icon often features in his lengthy public speeches.
Last year Chavez dismissed the horse image saying "it's not even Venezuelan, it's an imperialist horse" after researching that it was originally designed by a British diplomat. But he cited historical reasons for the change.
"The horse now faces left with its head forward to the future, a white, free, untamed horse, as our nation is free as never before," lawmaker Cilia Flores said late on Tuesday after the law was passed.
A machete, a bow and arrow and tropical fruits and flowers were also added to the coat of arms to represent Venezuela's rural peasants and indigenous people.
Chavez was elected seven years ago to the presidency of the world's No. 5 oil exporter promising to reverse years of neglect of the poor. But domestic opponents and top U.S. State Department officials say he has eroded democracy by controlling institutions such as the courts and the electoral authority.
Last year Chavez said his youngest daughter Rosines had asked him why the horse on the coat of arms was galloping to the right with its head tossed backwards.
"This is a horse being reined in, someone is holding him back, they put him looking into the past," Chavez said at the time he proposed the reforms.
Chavez said the addition of one more star to the flag was in line with a decree issued by Bolivar in 1817 to represent the province of Guayana. He made his proposals shortly before an opposition boycott allowed his allies to gain control of all 167 congress seats in legislative elections.
The changes came just in time for his planned celebration of the flag's 200th anniversary with a military parade on Sunday. Some opposition groups plan an alternate "Flag Day" march to protest the reforms.
"This is a whim of the president to change the position of the horse on our national coat of arms just because his daughter asked him to," said Oscar Perez, leader of the small opposition group National Resistance Command.
JT
Mar 9, 10:21 AM (ET)
By Patrick Markey
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's Congress, dominated by allies of socialist President Hugo Chavez, has approved a revamp of the national coat of arms to ensure its white horse gallops left instead of right.
Dismissed by critics as a whim of the Venezuelan leader, the approved changes to the official yellow, blue and red flag also add an eighth star sought by Chavez as a tribute to South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar.
Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, says Bolivar inspired his so-called Bolivarian revolution and the national icon often features in his lengthy public speeches.
Last year Chavez dismissed the horse image saying "it's not even Venezuelan, it's an imperialist horse" after researching that it was originally designed by a British diplomat. But he cited historical reasons for the change.
"The horse now faces left with its head forward to the future, a white, free, untamed horse, as our nation is free as never before," lawmaker Cilia Flores said late on Tuesday after the law was passed.
A machete, a bow and arrow and tropical fruits and flowers were also added to the coat of arms to represent Venezuela's rural peasants and indigenous people.
Chavez was elected seven years ago to the presidency of the world's No. 5 oil exporter promising to reverse years of neglect of the poor. But domestic opponents and top U.S. State Department officials say he has eroded democracy by controlling institutions such as the courts and the electoral authority.
Last year Chavez said his youngest daughter Rosines had asked him why the horse on the coat of arms was galloping to the right with its head tossed backwards.
"This is a horse being reined in, someone is holding him back, they put him looking into the past," Chavez said at the time he proposed the reforms.
Chavez said the addition of one more star to the flag was in line with a decree issued by Bolivar in 1817 to represent the province of Guayana. He made his proposals shortly before an opposition boycott allowed his allies to gain control of all 167 congress seats in legislative elections.
The changes came just in time for his planned celebration of the flag's 200th anniversary with a military parade on Sunday. Some opposition groups plan an alternate "Flag Day" march to protest the reforms.
"This is a whim of the president to change the position of the horse on our national coat of arms just because his daughter asked him to," said Oscar Perez, leader of the small opposition group National Resistance Command.
JT