San Fernando de Atabapo is a town in southern
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
on the border with
Colombia. It was the capital city of the
Amazonas state until the early 1900s. The population in 1997 was approximately 5,000.
In the early twentieth century it was ruled for a long time by
Tomás Funes, a powerful
caudillo
A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
who controlled the local
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
industry (derived from indigenous rubber plants) by enslaving the local native populations. His power eventually became great enough to threaten the Venezuelan authorities and he was ultimately executed in the town square in the early 1930s. The town displays a photograph of a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
military aircraft that was shot down and crashed into the
Orinoco River
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...
around this time. A
Venezuelan National Guard
The Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela ( es, Guardia Nacional Bolivariana de Venezuela - GNB), is one of the four components of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela. The national guard can serve as gendarmerie, perform civil defense roles, ...
unit is stationed here.
Populated places in Amazonas (Venezuelan state)
Colombia–Venezuela border crossings
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