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Coronel Hugo Chavez say some time ago that he want to change
the national flag if they win the elections. Currently Chavez is
president and in the last elections won 120 of 131 seats in the
Constituant Assembly. We can wait some change in the new
Constitution. Anyone has the proposal of Constitution?
Jaume Ollé , 7 September 1999
The popular proposals today are many. The new Government, led
by Lt Cl (R) Hugo Chavez (an ardent Bolivar fan), has proposed
unofficially a flag with eight stars, rescuing the wishes of
Simon Bolivar. But projects vary: not only they change the
positions of the stars from one day to another, but they even
change their minds on the right number of stars
Guillermo Aveledo , 8 September 1999
According to Spanish newspaper "El País" of 22nd
August 1999, page 2, one of Venezuela's new National Constituent
Assembly suggestions for the Constitution being drafted is to add
one more star to the national flag, as homage to what was before
called the Province of Guayana.
Santiago Dotor , 14 September 1999
I have received from the Dutch vexillologist Jos Poels some
informations concerning the possible future flag of Venezuela,
that is the present flag but with one more star. This flag
already existed in the past. It was adopted on 20 November 1817
and lasted until 1830. I got the official text of Bolivar's
decree in Spanish.
Pascal Vagnat , 14 September 1999
Here is the translation of the information that was provided
by Pascal Vagnat :
Having increased (or augmented) the number of Provinces which
make up the Republic of
Venezuela, through the incorporation the Province of Guayana
decreed last
October 15th, I have decreed and I decree :
Single Article (or Article One) - A star shall be added to the
seven stars displayed on the national flag of Venezuela, as
emblem (or symbol) of the Province of Guayana, so that the number
of stars shall hereforth be eight.
Given, signed by my hand, sealed with the provisional State seal
and endorsed by the Office Secretary, at the Government Palace in
Angostura city, on the 20th November 1817.
Santiago Dotor and Gonzalo Guerra , 15
September 1999
As far as I know, the "Province of Guayana" is a
stripe of territory formerly in dispute between Spain and the
United Kingdom, sometimes addressed as the "Spanish
Guayana", and later and up to today between Venezuela and
Guyana. According to different claims and adjudications, the
territory can be considered anything from a very thin strip of
land close to the Venezuelan border up to 2/3rds of Guyana's
territory, with a Venezuelan claim reaching the Essequibo river
line.
Santiago Dotor , 15 September 1999
There were more than one Guyana. There were the French and
English Guyanas. When the strategic importance of keeping the
Guyana as a safe harbor near the caribeean diminushed, Great
Britain conceeded independence to the British Guyana. By this
time, the claim on this territory was been made not by Spain, but
by Venezuela. In most Official Venezuelan maps, it is shown as
"Territorio Esequibo" or "Zona en
reclamación".
As of today, I see no way that Venezuela can regain this land,
and there is little to gain from doing so. Legally, Venezuela may
still claim it, but in the mean time the Venezuelan goverment has
recognized the State of Guyana, and we have bilateral
arrangements, including the sale of Hydroelectric power to this
claimed territory.
Please check out this site for more information, it's the Guyana
side of the story <www.guyanareview.com>.
So, in short, yes, the Province of Guyana is no more. It is now
an independent country simply called Guyana. That change probably
was enough to justify a change in the flag.
Ricardo Kowalski , 15 September 1999
Anyway, even accepting the broadest Venezuelan claims over
Guyanan territory, there would still be about 33% territory left,
so there would be four Guayanas:
Santiago Dotor , 15 September 1999
Well, in fact Venezualan Guayana does still exist, and it's
named the state of Bolivar. At the time of the declaration of
Angostura (renamed 1864 Ciudad Bolivar) Simon Bolivar had a
grandiose scheme for the Province of Guyana, where Alexander von
Humboldt had just found vast mineral richess. He planned the
South American capital there (Ciudad Guyana) and connections from
there through the Amazone region, etc. That scheme never became a
reality; neither was it completely forgotten. Two aims are still
on the agenda: 1. Development of Venezuelan Guyana, that is the
state of Bolivar (possibly already renamed (or part of it), hence
possibly the extra star) with as its center the new town, founded
1961 as Ciudad Guayana, renamed Santo Tome de Guayana, planned to
be a metropolis of over a million inhabitants, with (1980)
250.000 inhabitants. It is now the capital of Bolivar state (and
as eccentric lying as Ciudad Bolivar; it might become the new
capital of Venezuela, in which case it would be quite central).
2. Claims to large parts of the independent state of Guyana (see
above), first claimed by the independent state of Venezuela in
the second part of the 19th century. This claim has been on the
diplomatic table for some 140 years now and concerns about
135.000 sq. km, that is c. 62 % of Guyana.
Sources:
Merriam-Webster New Geographical Dictionary, 1988
Tudyka: 'Confilcthaarden in de Derde Wereld', 1985
Kramers 'Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek', 1883
The 1980 South American Handbook
Jarig Bakker , 15 September 1999
.In fact Venezuela has a claim that covers almost 2/3rds of
Guyana, although I dont think they control any of it.
Antonio Martins , 16 September 1999
Here is some more information on the Venezuelan claims on
Guyana's territory:
"From 1682, Catalan Capuchin monks established foundations
in Guayana [west of the Essequibo river] which strengthened the
Spanish conquest of the area. (...) In 1790 the Dutch-founded
Stabrock was taken by the British and became nowadays'
Georgetown. Along the 17th century, (...) the British established
themselves on the Lower Oiapoque (Leigh Expedition); but by the
end of the 17th century only the Dutch colonies stood [ie. not
the British or French ones].
"A [Spanish] province of Guayana existed as part of the
viceroyalty of the new Kingdom of Granada from 1732 to 1763. From
that date on it belonged to the Captaincy-General of Venezuela,
and after this country's independence it became the [federal]
state of Guayana (...).
"In 1835 Schomburgk, a German naturalist, at the request of
the British government, marked the limits of its colony in
Guayana: the frontier with Venezuela was established in the
Essequibo river. According to Venezuela, the British took
territories outside the Schomburgk line between 1835 and 1897. By
the end of the 19th century, Venezuela demanded from Great
Britain more than 62000 km2 of its Guayana colony.
"In 1895 the situation grew tense and the USA forced an
arbitration: an international commission (British, Americans and
Russians: Paris 1899) gave the larger part of the disputed area
to Great Britain, drawing the frontier which nowadays Guyana
considers correct but Venezuela opposes. A 1970 treaty between
Venezuela and Guyana reconsidered [=accepted?] the Paris
frontier."
Source: "Enciclopedia Larousse", Madrid 1981
Santiago Dotor , 16 September 1999
More than half of Guyana's (former British Guyana) teritory is
claimed by Venezuela (as a matter of fact, it is legally
determined that all venezuelan maps should draw stripes over the
reclamation zone, wich gives Venezuela a second "leg").
Guillermo Aveledo , 17 September 1999
A ten-star proposal is being discussed by the Constitutional
Assembly, but it has not catched on
Guillermo Aveledo , 24 September 1999
A photograph show a meeting
of the Constitutional Commision of our Constitutional Assembly
(which is drafting a new Consitution). It appeared on the first
page of one of our daily papers, "EL UNIVERSAL". The
caption read as follows:
"PLENARY SESSIONS TO START OCTOBER 14th:
The Constitutional Commision, presided by Hermann Escarra [the
man at the left end of the picture] has agreed on the discussion
proccess, either articly by article or in blocks, should be
determined by the Assembly. The full project [of the new
Constitution] should be ready for the next 12th of Ocotber,
including the eight star on the flag, which has served as the
background for the talks among the Assembly men"
The eight-stars-flag is supposed to be Bolivar's flag (he added
the 8th star in 1817, after Guayana was liberated; the first
seven stars represent, and are an homage to, the seven provinces
which in 1810 declared their independance for Spain). However,
Simon Bolivar (our founding father) merely modified the flag
designed by the Cariaco Congresillo, de facto acknowledging the
previous design.
Beyond that, it wasn't needed to undergo Constitutional changes
to modify the flag: the 1961 Constitution (current, but de facto
suspended by the Assembly), states as follows:
"ARTICLE 5th: The National flag, with the colours yellow,
blue and red; the
National anthem, "Glory to the brave People", and the
Coat of Arms of the
Republic are the symbols of the Fatherland. Law will determin its
carachteristics and rule its use.
Guillermo Aveledo , 30 September 1999
According to Reuters (October 21), the Constitutional Assembly
of Veenzuela has started to discuss the President Chavez's
proposal of the new constitution. Two articles - intriguing for
us - were rejected: new name of the country (The Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela) and new 8-star flag.
Jan Zrzavy , 21 October 1999
Adding a star to the current design does not lead to the
november 1817 design, as that had the stars in the yellow.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 12 November 2001
Project of Venezuelan Flag, end of 20th Century: At the
request of some sectors of the Bolivar State, were materialized
and hoisted arbitrarily on national territory under the
administration of the Governor Andres Velasquez. Soon, as a
result of the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly in 1999,
one became to retake the project without higher consequences. The
argument that sustains this flag is, according to our modest
point of view, nonexistent: the Province of Guayana was annexed
on 1817 to the patriotic cause and it did not sign the Act of
Independence of Venezuela in 1811. Image is a reconstruction.
Raul Orta, 7 June 2002
