Andean Group - February 2008 (ISSN 1741-4466)

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela has established a temporary presidential commission to conduct a "historic and scientific investigation" into the death of 'El Libertador', Simón Bolí­var, almost 180 years ago.

The decree creating the commission was made public via the Official Gazette of the Republic on 30 January. The commission is tasked with "reconstructing the historical facts" linked to Bolí­var's death and dispelling the "considerable doubts" which, Chávez says, surround it. He has speculated that 'El Libertador' may not, after all, have died of tuberculosis - as the history books claim - but rather have been assassinated. This, it seems, would make a more fitting ending - at least in Chavez's books - for the man the Official Gazette describes as "the most relevant independentist hero in the Americas".

Chávez 's decree stated that, given today's "technological and scientific progress", it would be possible to reveal details confirming the true circumstances of Bolí­var's death on 17 December 1830, in Santa Marta, Colombia. He announced that the time has come to open the coffin in the Panteón Nacional in Caracas, citing documents from 60 years ago in which Venezuelan doctors hypothesised that the remains contained therein may not actually belong to 'El Libertador' at all. Chávez made it clear that he will be counting on the assistance of both private and public institutions - particularly universities - to carry out the forensic investigations required to establish the identity and cause of death.

The commission comprises nine ministers, the attorney general, the director of cultural heritage, and will be led by Vice-President Ramón Carrizales. This high-profile team indicates the significance Chávez is attaching to the investigation. Not only does he hope it will distract attention away from his domestic troubles, but also that it might justify some of his wilder accusations against Colombia. Chávez claimed recently that the same "oligarchs" who run Colombia today are direct descendents of those who were behind Bolí­var's assassination in 1830.