From fiction to myth: the “llaneros” in Venezuelan Independence

The role of the llaneros during the war of Independence in Venezuela bears some ambiguity. The national memory runs them down as barbarian bandits under the rule of the peninsular Boves, and glorifies them as the saviours of the republic. This paper seeks to understand the constitution and function of the myth of these horsemen, true metaphor of the People in its contradictions, and tries to find, undermining the historiographical constructions, the sense of their participation in the process of colonial emancipation.