Venezuela has exhumed the remains of 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar and will test them to see if he was poisoned by enemies in Colombia. President Hugo Chavez rejects the traditional account that Bolivar, a brilliant Venezuelan military tactician who freed much of South America from centuries of Spanish rule, died of tuberculosis in Colombia in 1830.
He insists Bolivar was murdered by Colombian general Francisco de Paula Santander and Venezuela's newly inaugurated state forensics laboratory is taking as its first case the death of the hero some call Latin America's George Washington. Analysts have warned that revisiting the case could put more pressure on strained ties between the neighbors.
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