Diario las Américas., 1958-06-07
Know thy
Nei9hbor.
By ANTONIO RUIZ

VENEZUELA - The ever mis-
FERROUS and fascinating Venezuelan
Plains, called Eel Llano" by Vene-
zuelanS, occupy more than one
third of the surface Of the coun-
try, but have only about Is per
cent of its population. They r a
surface notably flat, which in part
are cleared savannahs that reach
out to the horizon and in part
gigantic jungles. There is in the
plains an enormous contrast be-
tween the rainy and dry seasons
winter and summer, as they are
called. In the winter, which is
normally from April to October,
torrential rains fall, the rivers over
flow and flood great stretches of
land. The livestock seek refuge in
the high places; travel by land is
made very difficult or impossible,
except by the main, modern high
ways.
In the summer, from October to
Apri, the air becomes dry, it stops
raining and many of the rivers,
with the exception of the largest,
are almost dry; livestock herds
migrate with the water sources, the
grass. becomes dry. and even the
jungle loses its foliage.
"El Llano" is the Venezuela re-
gion which impresses most the
imagination of sportsmen and
hunters; it is the tropics full OF
mystery. The rivers and lagoons
are filled with exotic fish; trembl-
ers, which with their electrical dis
charges can paralize a bull or a
horse, caribs, ferocious fish with
jaws with the force of pincers,
which can eat an animal or a hui
man being in a few seconds, while
at the same time causing the blood
tinted waters to boil, leaving only
the skeleton; "payaras' with their
terrible fangs; rays whose poison
Gus bite will make the bravest of
men cry; bagres of all shapes and
colors, some of which reach a
length of ten feet and weigh hun
dreds of pounds. Curious animals
like the ~ant-eating bear; gigantic
rats like the "chigiiire," wild pigs,
etc., characterize the plains, while
the jaguar stalks the livestock in
the jungle.
The landscape, beautified by
palm trees, is full of birds; the
most inquisitive "chenchena," with
its reptile-like characteristics; the
"corocoros," scarlat ibis with the
color of fire; the herons, from
the small egret formerly coveted
for its plumage, today happily pro-
tected, to the great soldier heron;
ducks of all kinds, from the ma
tive royal duck to the migratory
ones who come to protect them
selves from the Arctic cold.
The economy of the plains,
formerly known as the cattle coun-
try of Venezuela, is in a period of
transition; modern technology is
opening up to agriculture gigantic
zones in which, with a great deal
of success, rice, corn, sesame and
other crops are produced on a
scale never even suspected before.
Livestock, with the use of new
methods, insecticides and better
racial strains, steadily progresses
and herds are increasing at an
enormous rate. The modernization.
however, may bring to the LA
no the eventual loss, at least in
part, of its mystery and fascina-
ton, since the jeep is fast and adj
vantageously replacing the horse,
thus shortening enormous distan-
ces, and even worse, the radio is
pushing back the ever romantic
guitar of the "Ilanero,' or man of
The Plain, who won wide fame
with his nostalgia songs.
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