Llanero

thumb|Llanero, 19th century, photography from [[Alphons Stübel.]]

thumb|[[Camille Pissarro dressed in a Llanero outfit, reclining, c. 1852-1855.]]

thumb|A group of Venezuelan hunters wearing the countryman cavalry attire from the region with a Bahareque house.

A (, 'plainsman') is a Venezuelan and Colombian herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela.

During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both armies and provided the bulk of the cavalry during the war. They were known for being skilled riders who were in charge of all the tasks related to livestock and other ranch-related activities. The historical figure emerged in the 17th century until its disappearance at the end of the 19th century, with the Andean hegemony and the birth of the Venezuelan oil industry.

Its ethnic origin dates back to the union of the Arawaks, Andalusians, Canarians and to a lesser extent the slaves brought by The Crown during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The way of working and being comes from the current Apure and Barinas states of the Venezuelans who adapted and modified Andalusian customs, and then exported them to the New Kingdom of Granada. Thanks to their mannerisms, ethnic origin, dialect, culture, and role in the Spanish American Wars of Independence, Venezuelan civil wars and in Montoneras it has been romanticized and idealized and become the Venezuelan national hero and mythos.

First settlements

thumb|330x330px|A Criollo wearing the horsemen attire from Colombia and Venezuela, 19th centurythumb|General officer [[Pedro Pérez Delgado, and José Dáger, two Caudillo Llaneros in the 20th century.]] In the 16th century, the first herd was introduced about twenty-five leagues from the city of Calabozo by Cristóbal Rodríguez along with eleven families from El Tocuyo. He founded the town that he called San Luis de la Unión. From there the plains began to populate thanks to the mares and foals brought from the New Kingdom of Granada and the different Andalusian families from Seville, Almería, Granada, Cádiz, Jaén and Córdoba.

By the middle of the 17th century, there were some 137,800 cattle in the most important hatos. The natives of the region, that is to say, the Achaguas, the Yaguales, the Arichunas and Caquetíos (Arawakan language family) were already almost destroyed by a war that lasted eighty years before the conquest, so that evangelization and its eventual miscegenation was given without much trouble. The indigenous component in the region was quite predominant, but today, it does not represent a third. For the 16th century the Spanish Crown prohibited amerindians, blacks or creole whites from riding an equine since it was only a privilege for the peninsular, however, the economy expanded to such an extent that they had to promote legal reforms so that the excluded classes may have this privilege in the short term.

The

alt=|thumb|Llaneros, painting by [[Ferdinand Bellermann (1843)]]

thumb|A soldier by [[Ramón Torres Méndez]]

thumb|Saddle and utensils of the region, [[François Désiré Roulin, 1823.]]

In the beginning, these riders lived in a semi-nomadic way, being hired by different herds to carry out their tasks; in these journeys there was always a cook, a doctor, and a physician apart from the team of cabresteros and baquianos. They practiced fishing, hunting, bartering, and trading with each other. Due to the hostile flora and fauna of the plain, these adapted to combat it, so it was frequent the taming of alligators, bulls and pimps with their different utensils such as rope and knife. Tall in stature, lean bodies and strong muscles, adapted to the tropical climate. According to Ramón Páez, the llanero had several physical characteristics that resembled the Arabic one. Bolívar Coronado said

Participation in the wars of independence

thumb|[[Arturo Michelena, Vuelvan Caras. At the Battle of Las Queseras del Medio, José Antonio Páez ordered his to turn and attack the pursuing Spanish cavalry.]]

At the beginning of the independence process, the plains were an indispensable region due to its rich livestock and agricultural resources, and for having above all many strong, fast, disciplined riders, accustomed to a harsh environment.

The plains (as the Andes), due to its difficulty of transportation, were an abandoned area compared to the others in the Captaincy General of Venezuela, this caused its inhabitants to develop their own way of life apart from the rest of the population, with their own codes, but it was also a canton with many qualities that would be used by the different Caudillos on duty to raise montoneras.

The lion of the Llanos, José Tomás Boves, taking advantage of the precarious situation of the peons of the field of the plain, made a large part of the llaneros join the Royalist Army, under the idea of the exploitation of the Mantuanos towards the llaneros. The main causes of the union of the llaneros with Boves was the repression made by the republicans towards them, the capture of black maroons who had escaped in the skirmish of the First Republic, the recruited peons and slaves, among others. All this had as a reaction a complete rejection in this land towards the republic.

Boves, under a pirate flag as the main banner and a montonera made up mainly of lancers, started his participation in the dissolution of the Second Republic. Participating in different campaigns and battles such as the Campaign of the Valleys of Aragua and El Tuy, the Second Battle de la Puerta, the Siege of Valencia and the emigration to the East until achieving the dissolution of the Second Republic and commanding its own militia made up of thousands of llaneros.

The fall of the Second Republic brought with it several consequences for the population. Several of the promises made to the llaneros were not kept. Various charges were removed from different pardos and llaneros that were decorated by Boves and Monteverde. The prohibition of looting, and the fear of losing autonomy in their regions by the royalists led several troops to desert the Royalist Army. In some regions the war was constant for five, ten or even fifteen years and the only authority that could be used for protection during and after the conflict was the Caudillo whose dominion was thus legitimized; that is why after independence a stage of wars between rival chiefs was ready. As the Portuguese Joaquim Pedro de Oliveira Martins (1845-1894) said about the Iberian devotio

Neither Boves nor Morillo managed to achieve the dominance of the llaneros, they were men like General José Antonio Páez, Manuel Cedeño, José Gregorio Monagas, José Antonio Anzoátegui, Francisco de Paula Santander, Ramón Nonato Pérez, Juan Ángel Bravo, Juan Mellado, Manuel Camacaro, Juan Nepomuceno Moreno and the Liberator Simón Bolívar (the Llaneros called him culo de hierro – or "iron buttocks" – for his endurance on horseback). Those who in the end would get the llanero's sympathy for their cause.

Páez, el centauro de los Llanos, the clarified citizen or the Taita was a man of the people, of humble and Canarian origin but above all llanero; Raised as one to become an excellent spearman, cabrestero, baquiano and leader, he made an image in the plain until he became caporal. The precarious situation of the plain and its inhabitants led to his companions persuading him to enter the Ejercito libertador. Due to his character and being someone for and for the people, it was not difficult for him to raise people in arms, reaching not only to command his own montonera, but to an entire country. Becoming not only the first Llanero president of Venezuela, but also one of the few cowboy presidents that history has seen. Contrary to Boves, Páez did not raise the llaneros based on their hatred, but based on their needs, first freeing them from Spanish rule and then the future Bogotá oligarchy. Bolívar Coronado points out that

Animals

Alligators, caribs, babas, eels, wild pigs, bulls and jaguars are animals native to the region. The alligator was hunted as a game and also for being an obstacle, usually with the falseta it is immobilized, but its skin, being so hard and resistant, it has to be nailed with the knife at specific points such as under the legs. Eels, capable of killing a stallion, are a real danger, the hunting method is to use a horse as a hook, when passing through the river, the horse would be attacked by the eels until it was immobilized. Upon revealing their position, the llaneros would hunt them down, and the other eels flee the field to make way for the riders and cattle, and the horse recovers instantly, with no repercussions from the incident.

Llanero culture

Cattle form an important part of Llanero culture. There are 12 million cattle on the llano. During the year, the Llaneros have to drive cattle great distances. During the winter wet season, the Llaneros have to drive the cattle to higher ground as the poor drainage of the plains means that the annual floods are extensive. Conversely, they have to drive the cattle towards wet areas during the dry summer.

The Llaneros show their skills in coleo competitions, similar to rodeos, where they compete to drag cattle to the ground.

Llanero music is distinctive for its use of the harp, the maracas and a small guitar called a cuatro. The joropo, a Llanero dance, has become the national dance of Venezuela, and of the Llanos of Colombia. While Llanero music is relatively unknown outside of Colombia and Venezuela, the musical groups Los Llaneros and Cimarrón have toured throughout the world.

Llanero cuisine is based on meat, fish, chicken, meat (also known as capybara), rice, arepas, and other starches, although wheat is not used. Llanero Ken, a doll dressed in the distinctive Llanero costume liqui liqui, including a customary starched hat, has become a popular doll in Venezuela.

North American usage

The Spanish also used the term to describe the nomadic tribes of the Llano Estacado of Texas and New Mexico and was applied to the Apache in particular.

In Spanish, The Lone Ranger is known as El Llanero Solitario.

Further reference

About.com article on the Llaneros.
Llanera music.
Donald Mabry article on Military Aspects of Venezuelan independence.
Last Frontiers article on the Llanos.
Handbook of Texas Online.
Estuche Digital blogspot Llanero 2015

First settlements

The

Participation in the wars of independence

Animals

Llanero culture

North American usage

See also

Further reading

Further reference

References