Simon Bolivar exhumed - Time to raise O'Connell / Wolfe Tone from the grave?

international | history and heritage | opinion/analysis

Friday July 16, 2010 23:20

by iosaf - o as if

barcelona - catalonia

Today the Venezuelan state continued its riveting bicentinial celebrations of its war for independence from the Spanish empire led by the "liberator" Simon Bolivar by exhuming his remains in what has been officially termed a respectful and patriotic operation supervised by Venezuelan flags, Venezuelan military and no less than 50 Venezuelan scientific experts in forensic anthropology, archaeological preservation & such like if not so.

Even though dental records did not exist a little less than 200 years ago, there has been little doubt that the reliquary opened, so that it may be "preserved for posterity" in the words of state minister for Justice, Tarek El Aissami, did indeed hold the remains of Bolivar.

Simon Bolivar's remains get disturbed yet again - today exhumed from the Venezuelan pantheon

This is not the first time the bicentenial celebrations have seen remains respectfully & patriotically shunted about for TV consumption. On the 5th of July, in the first official acknowledgement of her importance to the Liberator the woman he loved, his mistress, Manuela Sanz was afforded a symbolic return flanked by Venezuelan women military officers. Her small and paltry remains were placed in the Venezuelan pantheon next to those of Simon Bolivar that same day.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10504821

Whether or not the liberator and his love are now to continue reunited in urns and a purpose built mausoleum like Lenin's against his wishes & to the perpetual worry of make-up artists is yet to be decided, debated or included in the whole media fest wanton expropriation of the past.

Even though at such an early stage since the liberator was taken from his quite well known & patriotic tomb there may be little question of him oozing goo like Lenin, there really ought be some (if even only passing) comment on this latest stage in the cult of Latin America's caudillo primero & perhaps even a suggestion that Irish people do likewise..,

After all what could go wrong for a government and ruling class flagging in popularity such as the Dublin regime should they dig up Daniel o Connell from under his round tower and give him an interpretive centre situated in a semi-detached house in some ghost estate of Roscommon whilst keen, able and highly qualified graduates from Harney's legacy of biotech figure out how to clone his mega-huge speaking voice so that future generations will win any argument monster gig style by hectoring interlocutors into stunned silence?

If perhaps our liberator is a bit outside demographic appeal of modern Irish folk, then why not dig up Wolfe Tone?

I reckon many people would relish the chance to paw the reliquaries of the father of our republicanism and the only reason to visit Bodenstown in sunglasses and green geansaí not once but several times a year.

& imagine what our future would be like if we did clone Wolfe Tone just like the Venezuelans are set to do with Bolivar?