TUMEREMO FOUNDATION.

Tumeremo, <In the dialect of the Indian Guayans it means Painted Snake>
was the last town founded by the Catalan Capuchins, despite the opposition of
Miguel Marmion, Governor of the Province of Guayana, in 1784. Marnion believed
that creating missions near the Essequibo would facilitate access for the conquest,
smuggling and piracy that at that time was carried out by the Caribbean Indian
Warriors and enemies of the Spanish, however the evangelizing Capuchins
disobeyed the governor's suggestions and proceeded to found a herd for raising
cattle that was called Villa de Españoles, then came the formation of the town that
was baptized with the name of Tumeremo, on January 26, 1788, (according to data
extracted from Constitutive acts dated October 25, 1790 in which all the references
of the nascent town appear).

It is Fray Mariano de Perafita who officially informs the higher authorities of

the founding of the town, so that the consecration ornaments, bells and other
supplies can be sent to him for the proper functioning of the Church erected to the
"Virgin Mary", as patron. under the adoption of "Our Lady of Belén", a mission that
in its first 30 years was populated by Guayan Indians and amounted to 416
inhabitants who lived from fishing, hunting and agriculture, since the fertility of the
lands and fauna They were abundant.

By the year 1816, at the height of the Independence War, the Mission "Our
Lady of Belén" entered into a conflictive process, if you will, the Capuchins from
other Missions sought refuge fleeing from the constant attacks that as a
consequence of the war for Independence suffered the Caroní Missions and
aboriginal populations of important towns in the Yuruari region, which began to
decline in population. The Mission of Our Lady of Belén, at that time, emerged as
one of the most important missionary towns in Guayana where General Manuel
Piar supplied himself with horses, mules, cattle and people to complete his
emancipatory and patriotic work. On November 10, 1982, the Legislative
Assembly, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter IV, Title I, of the National
Constitution, Article 3, of the State Constitution and articles 3, 157 and 158 of the
Organic Law of the Municipal Regime, groups in the District the Foreign
Municipalities Tumeremo, Dalla Costa (El Dorado) and Urdaneta (Santa Elena).

In 1920, the first Church was built by Father Jaime Olivera, this was
modified in 1960 by the Governor of the Bolívar state, Engineer Horacio Cabrera
Sifontes, a native son of this population. Today, 54 years after the modification, the
same structure is maintained.

The Plaza Bolívar de Tumeremo was founded in 1923 by the Capuchin

monks and the first Bust of our Liberator was placed in 1978 by a group of
characters at that time: Dr. Matías Carrascos, Mr. Carlos Rosales, Sr. Vicente
Latorraca, Mr. Miguel Ángel González Mr. Cipriano Fry. Barrios, Mr. J. Yánez
Delgado, Priest Jaime Olivera, the pedestal was built by Miguel Odreman and
Ernesto Pizarro. This bust was replaced on July 24, 2002 by an Equestrian Statue
3.00 meters high and the Pedestal 2 meters high. By Mayor Carlos Chancellor
Ferrer.

The San Pedro Reservoir, built in 1968 by the citizen President of the
Republic at that time Dr. Raúl Leoni and under the direction of the Ministry of
Public Works, in charge of Eng. Leopoldo Sucre Figarrella native son of this land. It
is formed by the dam of the same name and which supplies drinking water to the
population of Tumeremo. With an approximate area of 1000 square meters, it
represents one of the most important water reservoirs in our municipality.

The first Rural House of papier-mâché was built as a rest house for teachers
in 1944 and was in charge of the teacher Juan Crisóstomo Marquina. This house is
located on Sifontes Avenue next to the house of As Monjas. 70 years after it was
built, it still maintains its structure.

El Muerto de la Carata a story that goes back 100 years. It is a ghost that
they say appears occasionally in the La Carata herd. Fundamentally, the ghost
impressed the llaneros who went after the cattle or checked pastures.

They say that Manuel Rivas "Manuelote" takes charge of the La Carata herd
to J. M. Matos. Manuelote did not believe in ghosts or anything. One day,
Manuelote notices that a calf has gone missing and decides to go on his horse to
look for it. He heads to the rough sheets of his herd. In the middle of a small forest
a strange man appears. A man on horseback, elegantly dressed in white, asks
Manuelote.

---What are you looking for in these sheets that are mine. Where Matos is
standing is mine, from the calf that is there to the hill. Tell Matos that this entire
sheet is mine. The man felt a strong cold and the whole environment smelled of
sulfur. And he saw how the trees turned. The horse was scared.

But Manuelote did not learn to respect visitors from beyond. And he laughed
at people because he lit candles to the soul of an old lottery salesman who for
many turned out to be miraculous. He laughed at those who lit candles for
Maromero. One day when Manuelote was walking along a path, Maromero came
out and hit him four times with his head. Almost fainting, Manuelote ran to Matilde
Salazar's house. After the scare had passed, Manuelote recommended lighting
candles for Maromero. The grave of the old lottery seller remained lit by the
candles that Manuelote brought him.

Tumeremo lived its flowery era at the beginning of the last century due to
the privilege that balatá and gold gave it.
 Balatá was the product extracted from a thorny tree known as purgo. And
the man of the time, guayare on his back, advanced through the jungle climbing
the stem of this tree. It was the purguero who crossed the roads and day after day,
on foot, by mule or on horseback, he came down from the jungle with the pasta to
sell it to the warehouses that were ready to market this highly sought-after product
for the manufacture of rubber, rubber and others. Juan Manuel Sucre and Carlos
Miguel Rosales formed one of the most prestigious stores of the time. It was The
Balatá Company warehouse.

Other business builders in history were Chikle Rassi, father of Anís Rassi.
The warehouse was called La Tacita de Plata.

These businesses were located in the heart of Tumeremo that sold and
bought everything. Francisco Bucarelli was also there, as was Armando González,
specialized in buying paper and coffee.

The balatá remained until oil was imposed and vegetable gum had no more
value. The balatá arrived in plates calculated in quintals of 46 kilos each. On that
date, Carlos Hinojosa (the Turk) was entrusted to chop the pasta to discover the
adulteration. They threw stones, sticks, pieces of spurs, backpacks and other
inappropriate ingredients. This Hinojosa was an employee of Juan Sucre, the
father of the Engineer. Leopoldo Sucre Figarella. The balata, gold and diamond left
Tumeremo along the Gold Mail route that reached San Félix to board steamers
that headed to Europe or some point in the Antilles.
Tumeremo, a populated center that, although at first it only served as a seat
for the small religious community made up of the main founders and a few
indigenous people who arrived there on their own or brought by them, over the
years it became a town that It contributed a lot in the past to the development of
the country and currently has significant importance in the global sphere of the
Bolívar State.

When El Callao, or properly the Peru of Gold, began its activity generating
wealth from its famous gold quarries, Tumeremo already had its mines of Sor
Teresita, Botanamo, Guarampin and others no less important in full production. On
the other hand, the exploitation of balatá was booming, the importance of which
was greater since its demand in world markets was increasing every day. In
Tumeremo there were large businesses that were dedicated exclusively to the
work of marketing rubber, among them the company "The Balatá Company" and
the businessmen Miguel Ángel González, Juan Rondón, Narciso Castillo, Agustín
Gómez, Pedro José Cachutt and many others more than the same. or smaller
scale invested significant capital in the exploitation of this product of the purgo tree.

It was a flourishing time for Tumeremo where the Morocota, the Golden
Luis, the Doubloon and other coins made of pure gold were commonly circulated
and the banknote or silver coins were hardly known. Along with the bullfighting and
gold boom, agriculture and livestock processing were areas that significantly
increased the local economy. Years later, when the well-known "placeres" of the
Gran Sabana such as El Polaco, La Faisca, La Esperanza, Icabarú and others
began diamond production, Tumeremo was a key player in the commercial
movement to that area. The aviation companies Taca and Aeropostal had their
offices established here and flights to the Gran Sabana carrying cargo and
passengers occurred several times a day. Tumeremo was the center of
concentration of all the people, miners and merchants who had to move to the
various diamond producing centers, giving a tremendous boom to commerce and
the population in general.

After the Second World War, balata exploitation decreased considerably

since synthetic products replaced balata in much or almost everything in which it
was used and the local economy declined significantly because gold was worth
very little and the depletion of gold was present. the diamond mines, so many
people who had come to Tumeremo, attracted by these activities, emigrated to
other places, mainly to the oil fields of Oriente.
Former and current Plaza Bolívar de Tumeremo
Former and current Church of Tumeremo
Our Lady of Bethlehem Patroness of Tumeremo
 Flag of the General Domingo Antonio Sifontes Municipality
Designed by Educator Yesenia Guevara
Hoisted for the first time on July 24, 2002.

Coat of arms of the General Domingo Antonio Sifontes Municipality

Approved by the Municipal Chamber on August 17, 1994
 Victory Square

Monument to the Miner