Arsenic helped kill Simon Bolivar, according to a Johns Hopkins doctor who is questioning the tuberculosis diagnosis given as the official cause of the Latin American liberator’s death in 1830.
Doctors, not treachery, led Bolivar to take arsenic, however, said Paul Auwaerter, who presented his case on Friday at an annual University of Maryland School of Medicine conference on the deaths of famous figures.
Arsenic was a common treatment at the time and may have contributed to Bolivar’s death, he said.
“Tuberculosis has been the conventional explanation for so many years, but that doesn’t make sense … It really doesn’t explain his final six months,” Auwaerter said before the presentation.
Bolivar is not reported to have coughed up blood and green phlegm, and green fluid later found around his heart suggests a bacterial infection, not tuberculosis, he said.
The Venezuelan-born Bolivar is a favorite of current Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan embassy sent two representatives to the event, including an official who headed a council convened by Chavez to reexamine Bolivar’s death.
Reacting to the doctor’s findings, Chavez reiterated on Friday that he believes Bolivar was murdered.
“They killed him. Here in my heart for years I’ve had the conviction that Bolivar didn’t die of tuberculosis … I don’t know if we’ll be able to prove it, but I think they assassinated Bolivar,” Chavez said during a televised speech in western Venezuela. Auwaerter said his finding do not support any claims of intrigue.
While arsenic probably led to many of Bolivar’s health problems, it was most likely taken as a tonic, though he may also have been inadvertently exposed through tainted food and water, Auwaerter said.
Bolivar is one of Central and South America’s greatest heroes, leading countries from Peru to Venezuela to independence from Spain.
However, by 1830 he was in ill health, suffering fevers, loss of consciousness, headaches, shortness of breath, weight loss, skin problems and other conditions.
John Dove, a retired orthopedic surgeon and Bolivar scholar from Acharacle, Scotland, was also invited to speak at the conference. He said a number of attempts were made on Bolivar’s life and the list of suspects included his generals, who were engaged in a power struggle with the leader.
“There were plenty of people who would have liked to have finished him off,” Dove said.
However, he believes that by 1830, Bolivar was dying and although arsenic could have played a role he continues to support the tuberculosis diagnosis.
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