I will be traveling for the next few days as South America celebrates Carnival, so let me leave you with a short history lesson. Simon Bolivar is the most revered Venezuelan of all time. His picture hangs in every public and private building in the country. Also, every town has parks and statues dedicated to this man. Why? Because he was their great liberator (El Liberator). After his birth in Caracas on July 24, 1783, he soon inherited a great fortune when his parents died. In 1810, 1813, and 1821 he fought the Spanish for Venezuelan Independence. Lasting success came in that final year. During that time period, he also gained independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. He died in 1830. The painting above hangs in a museum in Colonial Tovar.