Cultural Routes and the Legacy of Simón Bolívar in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela
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Copyright by George Genung McQueen 2011 The Thesis Committee for George Genung McQueen Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Heritage Tourism in Latin America: Cultural Routes and the legacy of Simón Bolívar in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Bjørn Sletto Co-Supervisor: Michael Holleran Heritage Tourism in Latin America: Cultural Routes and the legacy of Simón Bolívar in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela by George Genung McQueen, BA Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning and Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2011 Dedication To Vanessa, For sharing this journey. Acknowledgements As much as I have tried to make this project seem like an individual effort to gain knowledge on—or “master”—a given subject, it is really more a testimony of the virtues of knowing and working with many generous people. I am most grateful to my family for their unwavering support and especially to Vanessa Vaughan, who endured the many joys and frustrations of this process. I am also grateful for the help of friends, such as Rosa Donoso (MSCRP ’08) and Simeon Floyd who so graciously shared their home, friends and family in Quito. I am indebted to my advisers Bjørn Sletto and Michael Holleran, whose advice was always timely and challenging. Had Professor Sletto not invited me to help with a research project in Venezuela, this topic would have never entered my mind. Furthermore, had professors Sletto and Holleran not hosted a forum on “Historic Preservation in a Global Context,” I would have not met Jonathan Poston of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who so graciously recommended me to Don Jones of US/ICOMOS who generously helped me work as an international intern. As a result, Gustavo Araoz, president of ICOMOS, then kindly connected me with other ICOMOS representatives in Ecuador, who in turn opened doors for me in Colombia and Venezuela. I also wish to thank the people and institutions who patiently entertained my research questions: in Ecuador, Alfonso Ortiz Crespo, Dora Arízaga, Wilson Herdoiza, the Ministerio de Turismo, the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio y Cultura (INPC), and the Ministerio Coordinador de Patrimonio; in Colombia, the Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of Boyocá; and in Venezuela, María Eugenia Bacci, and the Ministerio de Turismo in Venezuela (MINTUR). May 1, 2011 v Abstract Heritage Tourism in Latin America: Cultural Routes and the legacy of Simón Bolívar in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela George Genung McQueen, M.S.C.R.P.; M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: Bjørn Sletto Co-Supervisor: Michael Holleran Heritage tourism is one of the fastest growing sub-categories of the tourism industry, which is arguably the largest industry in the world. When communities and regions compete for a greater share of the heritage tourism market, the authenticity and integrity of a heritage can be compromised by the way it is represented. One way to represent heritage is a “cultural route,” which has recently been added to definition of “cultural heritage” in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The interpretation of a “cultural route,” however, continues to evolve, especially in Latin America. In anticipation of the bicentennial celebration of independence from Spain, two cultural routes were separately inaugurated in 2009: the Ruta del Libertador in Ecuador and Venezuela, and the Ruta Libertadora in Colombia. After providing an overview of the historical, political and cultural contexts that surround these routes, this paper draws upon a website content analysis to explores how national identity, cultural heritage and vi the legacy of Simón Bolívar are represented by the governments of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. These observations and analyses show that while both routes represent a shared heritage, the differences in their representations straddle the definitions of “authenticity” and “cultural heritage,” as the Ruta Libertadora in Colombia is a “cultural route” and the Ruta del Libertador in Ecuador and Venezuela is a “cultural tourism route.” However, when considered together, the Ruta del Libertador and Ruta Libertadora are a cultural route that more accurately represents a crucial moment in Latin American history: the liberation of South America from Spain, led by Simón Bolívar, “El Libertador.” vii Table of Contents List of Tables ...........................................................................................................x List of Figures ........................................................................................................ xi Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 How this Topic Chose Me ..............................................................................1 How I Chose this Topic ..................................................................................2 Central Issues ..................................................................................................4 Specific Issue ..................................................................................................5 Research Questions and Methodology ............................................................6 Chapter Overview ...........................................................................................7 Chapter One: Cultural Heritage and Tourism Routes ..............................................9 Cultural Heritage ...........................................................................................10 International Definitions of Cultural Heritage .....................................11 The Commodification of Heritage .......................................................14 Cultural Routes .............................................................................................17 Cultural Routes symposium in Quito, June 2010 ................................19 Difficulties of heritage translation .......................................................21 Examples of Cultural Routes ...............................................................22 Cultural Heritage Tourism ............................................................................25 Promoting economic development ......................................................26 (Re) defining national identity .............................................................28 Challenges with heritage preservation and tourism .............................30 Chapter Two: The Life and Legacy of Simón Bolívar ..........................................31 Biography of Bolívar ....................................................................................33 First Revolution ............................................................................................35 Second Revolution ........................................................................................38 Third Revolution ...........................................................................................39 The Legacy of “El Libertador” .....................................................................40 viii The Significance of Bolívar in Contemporary Culture .................................44 National Identity and Nation-Building .........................................................55 Chapter Three: One Heritage, Two Routes ............................................................59 Ruta del Libertador and Ruta Libertadora ...................................................60 Ruta del Libertador in Ecuador and Venezuela ............................................63 Ruta del Libertador in Ecuador ...........................................................66 Ruta del Libertador in Venezuela ........................................................69 Ruta Libertadora in Colombia ......................................................................73 Tangible and Intangible Heritage ..................................................................76 Chapter Four: Findings and Analysis ....................................................................78 Website Analysis Methodology ....................................................................79 1. Website Comparison ...................................................................80 Accessibility ................................................................................80 Usability ......................................................................................81 Audience .....................................................................................82 2. Sites selected for inclusion ..........................................................83 3. Determining site values...............................................................85 4. Heritage Representation ..............................................................91 Text Frequency Analysis ............................................................91 Image Analysis ............................................................................93 An “Entrepreneurialist” and an “essentialist” Route ....................................97 Chapter Five: Discussion .......................................................................................99 Appendix A ..........................................................................................................104