República Bolivariana de Venezuela

My Reflection

Nation:
República Bolivariana de Venezuela

Name:
María Miranda de la Coromoto Paez (OC from lh-development.livejournal.com/6705.html)

Gender:
Female

Appearance Age:
18 years old

Actual Age:
513 years since Discovery.
182 years since Independence

Appearance

Hair Color:
Dark brown

Eye Color:
Bright green

Height:
160cm
5'3''

Weight:
59kgs
132lbs

Appearance:

María is a small girl, her skin is light but with a slightly red tan because of her mixture of Spanish and Indian blood, she has large eyes, big lips and a long dark hair. Her face has sharp features when compared to some other South American nations. She has well defined cheekbones, straight nose and bright green eyes that reflect the colors of the Amazon forest that is found in her country. Normally she leaves her hair loose, with only a purple flower or some macaw feathers on the side.

Her everyday outfit is a long red cotton skirt with a pretty sash tied around it’s band, all kinds of leather sandals and a large tee, cut both at the bottom and at the collar, resulting on a top that is usually falling down one or both of her shoulders. She’s always wearing a bikini underneath her clothes, ready for a change of plans that will lead to going to the beach or some other outdoor activity. She rarely wears suits, only a formal government meeting will make her do that, and even then she’ll be wearing the newest style, with a colorful silk ribbon in the place of a tie and make sure she looks her best.

Though she mostly goes for the effortless pretty, natural kind of look, she does go over the edge some times when it comes to clothing, make-up and hair styling, usually the reason is a beauty pageant, but parties will have the same effect. You’ll never see her in a “stay at home” outfit, even if she’s going to stay inn the hole weekend, she’ll do so looking stunning.

She likes animals quite a lot, they are an important part of her
country’s scenery. She used to have a red guacamayo(macaw) as a pet, the only one Spain let her keep. Centuries later when she realized how animal traffic was starting to affect her fauna and the way the animals were being treated, she released her pet back in the forest to set an example. It still visit her some times. It’s not rare for different kinds of parrots and macaws to appear out of nowhere and just perch on her shoulder, in the beginning she’d be surprised and get excited about it, nowadays she just smiles and continues whatever it is she is doing.

Defining Features:

Her bright green that reflect the perfect hue of green from the leaves in the Amazon forest. She has a beautiful easy smile, for her it is very important to not only look good but make others feel good and she’ll flash her smile at anyone who seems sad in hopes they’ll cheer up. Her long hair also stands out quite a lot due to it’s volume and shine. She has a habit of walking with a sway or dancing instead of making a straight line.

The few scars she has are too small to be seen unless you are looking for it. They’re all small scratches from the battles she has had in the past, som times for a specific piece of land, some times for independence.

She has a series of small dark spots on her shoulders, arms and legs, all representing the deaths of native Indians due to diseases brought by the Spanish colonizers.

Who Am I?

Personality:

María has a fun, mostly easy going personality. She rarely shows it when she’s hurt and will do her best to keep others around her happy. She usually dances according to the song, which means her behavior will often be a reaction to what others bring with them. She mostly behaves as a beauty pageant participant, smiling and being kind and polite to all...that is unless you push her buttons of course. She’s not an aggressive woman, but when in an argument she is known to make a scene, and will occasionally become physical though that usually happens when dealing with other Latin American nations.

It is no wonder Venezuela is known as the entry way to south America, this girl likes making others feel at home and if she has visitors she’ll go the extra mile to make them feel welcome and at home. She likes to learn about different cultures and for her having someone visit is just such a situation. She’ll both offer the best there is to her country and give her guests space to share their own customs, what she loves learning about the most is the different dances from each country and their music.

Her cheerful personality means she’ll often seem silly or air-headed and if truth be told there was a time she was truly like that, but after being disappointed in the past when asking for help, she learned not to trust other too easily. Nowadays she mostly pretends to be clueless so that others won’t see her as a rival until she’s already ahead of them. She’s the kind of woman calls everyone in affectionate ways, she’ll often call someone as “dear” or “sweetheart” even if they’re not close. Some times she’ll call someone like that even if she’s about to insult them. The opposite scenario happens as well, when she’s with someone
she’s close to or likes she can both call them in an affectionate way or call him stupid or silly. Usually if she treats you in a too formal way, some times even cold, that’s when it means she does not like you.

With her there are two kinds of anger. The first kind, she will turn into a storm of yelling, name-calling and rage, with occasionally the throwing of whatever object is near her. The second type she will treat you silently, being could and giving sharp answers i a classical passive aggressive way...but in the end it will turn into the first type and you will regret it was you did to make her mad.



Likes:

•Baseball, football, basketball and rugby are her favorite sports, in that order.
•Receiving guests
•Francisco de Miranda
•Simon Bolivar
•Beauty pageants- for her the miss competition is a very serious
matter.
•Chocolate- She’s been producing cocoa since the time the land still belonged to Spain.
•Rum- Made in Venezuela of course, she’s as proud of it as
Brazilians are of their cachaça(which she hates).
•Horse riding, water sports, hiking, any kind of sport or outdoor
activity she can practice in her beautiful country.
•When people listen to her and respect her as a nation
•Good food- she’s good at cooking and makes delicious meals when she has the time.
•Beauty treatments with natural products
•The performing arts
•Things related to spiritual beliefs- astrology, nature spirits and the sort.
•All kinds of animals, specially those that can be found in
Venezuela
•Dancing, specially if the music is something from Simón Diaz

Dislikes:

•When she’s late with her work, which happens all the time since
she’s not very organized, and will often leave her work aside if
there is an opportunity to do something else.
•People who think she’s a part of some other country.
•When people mistake something from her country as being from Colombia
•The USA and Great Britain- for what happened during the crisis of
1895
•Anyone who claims to be more beautiful than her, or think
someone else is more beautiful than her.
•Nature crimes, she’s very jealous of the natural beauties of her
land.

Fears:

•That her current Revolution will come to an end.
•That said Revolution will become a dictatorship.
•Natural accidents that could pollute her beautiful territory.
•Losing her land- she’s afraid that a country with a stronger
military power will invade her country because of it’s oil.
•The pollution and climate changes that puts her forests and it’s
inhabitants in danger.
•That Venezuela will never have an animal protection legislation
that prevents animal cruelty.

Fun Facts:

•Though she was a Spanish colony, she also had a lot of
Portuguese and Italian influence.
•Because she has a very idealized way of how things should be, she can’t stay too long without making a revolution, she always thinks should be better than how they are.
•She’s the only south American country that notices when either
one of the Guianas are missing in the meetings, but that’s only
because she still claims all of the British Guiana region should be
hers.
•Though her country’s know for it’s tropical climate, during the
winter there is always snow in the part of the Andes present in
Venezuela, because of this she’s okay with both the hot weather
and the cold.
•She has a long lasting rivalry with Colombia, but deep inside she
really likes her.
•Despite the anger she feels now, in the past she had a crush on
Alfred because of the American War of Independence.

Strengths:

•Her beauty, specially her smile- which she often uses when she
needs help with something.
•Agility- she’s lithe and exceeds in activities that require speed or
balance.
•Being resilient- she’s a tough one to fall and will survive even in
times of crisis by cutting what expenses she can.
•Her friendliness- she rarely makes real enemies and will deal withanyone as long as it’ll be to her benefit.
•Street smart- Though not many people know this, Caracas, the
capitol of Venezuela, is a very loud and confusing city, with all the
street dangers this kind of city posses.
•Her wit- though she’s been fooled in the past, it made her grow up and now she knows how to get what she wants from others andhow to see what they truly want from her.
•Determination- to be a land or her own, a country, even when she was nothing more than a province.

Weaknesses:

•Organization- her time schedule is a mess, she’s rarely punctual
and very often has trouble with deadlines regarding work.
•Keeping calm- though she’s overall very friendly and pleasant,
some subjects just push her buttons, it’s not very rare of her to
start yelling during an argument and make a scene
•Her protectiveness over her country and it’s resources that
borders on paranoia (I see you looking at my oil Alfred, don’t think
I don’t cause I do!).
•Pride- To insult her is to release Hell on earth for she’ll rage for
hours, with yelling, name calling, non-stop bickering and at times
object throwing.
•She tends to easily think people are ignoring her(even when
they’re not), so she gets sad and angry at them though they have
no idea why.
•Laziness- specially towards paperwork, when you live in a land as beautiful as hers, it’s hard to feel like working.

Your History

15th Century
•1498: Christopher Columbus lands on the gulf of Paria and names
the region Land of Grace, a phrase that has become the country’s
nickname.

16th Century
•1522: Spain begins the colonization of mainland Venezuela, starting it’s first south American permanent settlement. Natives attempted to resist the Spanish incursions, but were ultimately subdued.
•1528-1546: Germany attempts to colonization in Klein-Venedig
(modern day Caracás). It was the most significant part of the german colonization of the Americas, in which the Augsburg-based Welser banking family obtained colonial rights in Venezuela Province, in return for depts owed by Charles I of Spain.
•1567: The town of Caracás is founded.

18th Century
•1717: Most of Venezuela becomes part of the newly united
Viceroyalty of New Granada.
•1775 and 1776: Spanish is pushed further inland along the Orinoco river, there the Ye’kuana(also known as Makiritare) have organized serious resistance.
•1776: The area is reorganized as an autonomous Captaincy General, Caracás being it’s main city.

Independence
•1811: Francisco de Miranda declares independence on July 5, starting the war of independence.
•1812: A devastating earthquake hits the city of Caracás and the rebellion of the Venezuelan llaneros, help bring down the first first Venezuelan republic.
•1816: With Haitian soldiers and vital material support(in the
condition that he abolish slavery), Bolívar landed in Venezuela and
captures Angostura(Ciudad Bolívar).
•1818: In Caracás, Pablo Morillo makes Venezuela stop being a
Spanish captaincy. Bolívar decides that he will first fight for the
independence of New Granada, to gain resources of the vice royalty, intending later to consolidate the independence of Venezuela.
•1819: The campaign for the independence of New Granada was consolidated with the victory at the Battle of Boyacá. From this newly consolidated base of power, Bolívar launched outright independence campaigns in Venezuela and Ecuador, concluded with the victories at the Battle of Carabobo in 1821 and the Battle of Pichincha in 1822.
•1821: On September 7, the Gran Colombia (a state covering much of modern Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, northern Peru, and northwest of Brazil) was created, with Bolívar as president and Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president.
•1830: a rebellion led by Páez allowed the proclamation of the
independence of Venezuela from Gran Colombia. Páez becomes the first president of Venezuela. The colors of the Venezuelan flag are yellow, blue and red, in that order: the yellow stands for land wealth, the blue for the sea that separates Venezuela from Spain, and the red for the blood shed by the heroes of independence.

19th Century
Independence leader José Antonio Páez, gained the presidency three times and served a total of eleven years between 1830 and 1863 leading to a civil war.
•1859-1863: The Federal War, a civil war between conservative
and liberal party, about the monopoly of the conservatives and the government positions, and their reluctance to grant any reforms. It was the biggest and bloodiest civil war Venezuela had since it’s independence.
•1895: Crisis between Venezuela and Great Britain, a dispute for the territory o Guayana Esquiba became a diplomatic crisis when Venezuela’s lobbyist, Willian L. Scruggs argued that British behavior over the issue violated the United States' Monroe Doctrine. He used his influence in Washington, D.C. to pursue the matter.

20th Century
•1899: Cipriano Castro seizes power in Caracas. Castro defaulted on
Venezuela's considerable foreign debts, and declined to pay
compensation to foreigners caught up in Venezuela's civil wars.
•1902-1903: Venezuela Crisis in
which Britain, Germany and Italy imposed a naval blockade of
several months, before international arbitration at the
new Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague was agreed.
•1908: Another dispute broke out with the Netherlands, which was
resolved when Castro left for medical treatment in Germany and was promptly overthrown by Juan Vicente Gómez.
•1914: Oil production begins in Lake Maracaibo during World War I, prompting an economic boom.
•1935: Venezuela's per capita gross domestic product is Latin
America's highest.
•1941: under the rule of Isaías Medina Angarita,
the gomecista dictatorship system was relaxed, with the granting of a range of reforms, including the legalization of all political parties.
•1045: After World War II the globalization and heavy immigration from Southern Europe (mainly from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France) and poorer Latin American countries markedly diversified Venezuelan society.
•1945: A civilian-military coup overthrew Medina Angarita and
ushered in a three-year period of democratic rule.
•1947: Rómulo Gallegos wins the presidential election (generally
believed to be the first free and fair elections in Venezuela).
•1948: A military junta led by Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Defense
Minister Carlos Delgado Chalbaud overthrown Gallegos government in a coup d'état.
•1958: Military dictator Pérez Jiménez is forced out on 23 January. In an effort to consolidate the young democracy, the major political parties (with the notable exception of the Communist Party of Venezuela) signed the Punto Fijo Pact. Democratic Action
and COPEI would dominate the political landscape for four decades.
•1960: There was substantial guerilla movements, including
the Armed Forces of National Liberation and the Revolutionary Left
Movement. Most of these movements lay down their arms
under Rafael Caldera's presidency.
•1960: Together with Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Venezuela
creates the OPEC
•1973: Oil crisis which caused Venezuela's income explode as oil
prices soared.
•1976: Oil industries were nationalized
•1980: Collapse of oil prices crippled the Venezuelan economy.
•1983: As the government started to devalue the currency in order to face its financial obligations, Venezuelans' real standard of living fell dramatically. A number of failed economic policies and increasing corruption in government led to rising poverty and crime, worsening social indicators, and increasing political instability.
•1992: Two attempted coup d’états.
•1993: Impeachment of President Carlos Andrés Pérez for corruption.
•1994: March, president Rafael Caldera pardons coup leader Hugo Chávez leaving him with a clean slate and his political rights intact.
•1998: Chávez is elected president.
•1999: With a Constituent Assembly to write a new Constitution of Venezuela ,the “Bolivarian Revolution” begins.

21st Century

•2001: The recovery of oil prices boosted the Venezuelan economy and facilitated social spending.
•2002: April, Chávez is briefly ousted from power in the 2002
Venezuelan coup d'état attempt following popular demonstrations
by his opposers. U.S. government recognized the short-lived interim presidency of Pedro Carmona, which worsened the relations between the two countries since, after two days, Chávez was returned to power as a result of popular demonstrations by his supporters and actions by the military. Correspondingly, ties to various Latin American and Middle Eastern countries not allied to the U.S. strengthened.
•2006: Chávez is re-elected.
•2008: 600,000 soldiers were incorporated into a new branch of the military, known as the Armed Reserve. The President of Venezuela is the commander-in-chief of the national armed forces.
•2009: Venezuela is ranked near the bottom of countries in the
Corruptions Perceptions Index.
•2009: Ranked highest homicide rate in the world.
•2011: In 25 November, the first billion, of US$11 billion, of
repatriated gold arrives in Caracas. Chavez called the repatriation of gold a "sovereign" step that will help protect the country's foreign reserves from the turmoil in the U.S. and Europe
•2012: Chávez is re-elected for a third term.

Sample post

Caracás, October 1816

A letter arrives from Spain; it brings the news of the death of
Francisco de Miranda, a former Venezuelan revolutionary. Dead
before his process came to an end, alone in his cell; he was buried in
a mass grave, forgotten with the rotting bodies of bread thieves and
killers under Spanish soil. Most of the people did not care for this;
some might have felt bad for him, but they all move on with their
lives as if nothing had passed.

Inside the provincial government building lives a young girl. None
cares much for her, she’s been there for long but no one really knows
what exactly she is. According to her she represents the land of
Venezuela, but that is a bit of a useless. This land she “represents”
is merely a small province in a colony. The members of state, all of
Spanish birth, do not care for her, most even forget she exists, yet
she refuses to fade away. She was there when the Spaniards first
arrived, looked different, more like one of the wild natives, but as the
land changed so did she. The one who called himself Antonio took her
in, treated her as a daughter, taught her to dance and how to behave
in court. But in the end he went back to his own land and left her
behind. Some times he still sends letters to his little girl, but most
of the time she is lonely, forgotten by him and ignored by the new
inhabitants of her land.

It is this quiet polite girl that feels the impact of the news the most.
It had been on one of the few days she can go walking around town
that she met Francisco for the first time, at the time he already had

thoughts about freeing their land, but kept quiet about it though for
fear of being arrested. He had recognized her for what she was right
away. They were in a public square and therefore should not talk for
long though, her being under ignorant eyes only a young girl and he
a man. Although that was the case, he kissed her hand, told her he
knew what she was, vowed he’d one day free her, was gone before
she could say anything. That night for the first time in decades she
did not feel invisible.

He had kept true to his word; he declared her independence for
the first time in history. Even if it hadn’t lasted, he did his best and
she knew it. The night he made an agreement to cease fire, he came
to see her. He had begged for her forgiveness but she had already
forgiven him, he had a wife and children waiting for him in England
and it wouldn't be long before their small revolution ended. They
parted ways as friends and she wished him a safe return to his new
found home; if only Bolivar had seen that agreement in the same
light as she had perhaps Miranda would made it. Instead his former
friends and allies had captured her first champion, he was handed
over to the Spanish forces, and Bolivar got the passport he needed to
continue his fight for independence. She had not seen neither one of
them since that night, last she heard of Simón he was somewhere in
the Caribbean trying to gain allies to help them, Francisco she did not
know what had become of him…not until now…

Even after everything; after his, as Bolivar had called it, betrayal, his
attempt to escape, and the fact he’d leave her for a life in England,
after all that Francisco de Miranda was still very dear to her. Sure
there had been others who were now fighting for her freedom…but he
was her first one, and we never forget our first one…the first one who
vows to fight for us.

Though the people in the city streets did not notice anything
different about their day, the ones inside the government building
did. They heard the cries that came from the young girls room. It
is curious how a girl who can some times seem like she isn’t even
there, can suddenly be so present that the cleaners would stop their
work and wonder whether or not they should knock on her door.
Maybe if they had, she’d not think she was still invisible to them.

The Player

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Name:
Mariana
Age:
19
Fun Fact:
During summer break if I'm at home for too long, I start to clean the house, cook things for fun; and research the history of Venezuela even though I have a PS3 at my disposal.