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Arauca according to the colonizing account before 1870 was an Arawak indigenous village (which was located in the current location of the Caldas park). On December 4, 1870, Fr. Juan Isidro Daboín belonging to the Society of Jesus, from Barinas. For these same dates the first parish is built near the current cathedral. By 1816, the town of Arauca was the scene of passage and recruitment for the troops led by Simón Bolívar. Thus constituting itself for a period of four months as the capital of the Republic of New Granada. In 1899, Colombian-Venezuelan relations reached the most critical point, with Arauca being taken under control of the Venezuelan federal troops with the consent and participation of liberated members who would participate in the Thousand Day War alongside General Foción Soto and Rafael Uribe. Uribe. Amid the political consternation and the hegemony of the conservative elite, Antonio Laverde revolts against the Boyacá conservative authority, creating havoc for the local authority and promoting the cessation of Arauca towards Boyacá, he is militarily defeated and emigrated to Venezuela. In 1911, a district was erected by departmental ordinance of Boyacá and by Law. This same year the Apostolic Prefecture was created with the French bishop Monsignor Émile Larqueré being its first manager.

In 1916 the independence regime of Humberto Gómez and Arévalo Cedeño was established, who proclaimed the independence of the population and the current departmental territory. Although the Republic of Arauca did not have the formal recognition of any State entity, it was a clear expression of the self-denial and neglect that this region has suffered. During the seizure of power on the eve of independence, the headquarters of the Colombian National Guard was taken, ´´as a result of that attack the special commissioner, General Esteban Escallón and Colonel Pedro Ramírez died with eight of his companions. Gómez and his subordinates burned the files of the special police station, circuit court and Mayor's Office; More than two thousand pesos were stolen from the customs and administration of the hacienda; They also stole cattle, beasts and money in a non-depreciable quantity, from all the wealthy people they found; they set fire to the town of El Viento and some foundation houses isolated from the towns; An honest citizen who refused to give them a certain sum of money was tied by a rope around his neck and hung on a pole, then tied to the tail of a horse. In the El Viento fire, apart from the houses that were burned, it was reduced to ashes to a warehouse that contained valuable stocks. From these events in 1917, the village of El Viento became part of Venezuela, this due to the impossibility of Colombia in defending its territories. For this same year the mission of the Daughters of Charity (Vincentians) arrived at the head of the French sister Sister Marie Margarite Desplat.

In 1953, it was the center of support for the liberal guerrillas of Guadalupe Salcedo during the time of violence in the 1950s. During these years, Arauca once again became the political center of the region, being the meeting place of the guerrilla forces with the military government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla for the year 1955. For this same year the village of Arauca became the capital of the Arauca National Intendancy headed by the Civil and Military Chief My. Alfonso Lamus and My. César Ferro Duque. In 1958, the Avianca company inaugurated flights from this city, making regional and national routes to Cúcuta, Bogotá and Medellín. In 1959 it became a Municipality being its immediate manager Alberto Pérez Delgado. The municipality of Arauca was not immune to the presence of the guerrilla groups that currently operate. In 1968, the Domingo Laín Sáenz front of the ELN originated as a product of the colonizations of the Araucanian Sarare, a year later the tenth front of the FARC-EP would be present. The Apostolic Prefecture of Arauca is elevated to Apostolic Vicariate, with Bishop Miguel Builes' Bishop Jesús Emilio Jaramillo of the Misiones de Yarumal community in charge of it. In 1974 the first evangelical missionaries arrived from Bogotá, the Mission of the Pentecost Church being the first to have a membership. In 1978 the palm trees were knocked down in the so-called Avenida de las Maporas, due to their physical deterioration and the paving plan of the main streets of Arauca.

In 1983 the Arauca oil boom took place, thanks to the discovery of the Caño Limón oil well in the rural area of ​​the municipality, for the following year the Cravo-Norte Association began operations by the companies OXY and Ecopetrol . As of this date, the municipality's population has expanded from 14,000 to 30,000 in less than 7 years. The functions of the Diocese of Arauca began in mid-1984, under the supervision of the Archdiocese of Tunja, with territoriality in the municipalities of Arauca (Arauca, Cravo Norte), Arauquita, Saravena (Saravena, Fortul), Tame (Tame, Puerto Rondón) in the Arauca city hall; La Cabuya in the City Hall of Casanare; La Salina, Chita and Cubará in the Department of Boyacá, with its first Bishop in Chair Monsignor Jesús Emilio Jaramillo, who was later assassinated by the ELN in the vicinity of the rural area of ​​the neighboring municipality of Arauquita in 1989. In 1990 he was appointed Bishop of Arauca in his replacement Arcadio Bernal Supelano.

For 1988, the first municipal elections were held directly in accordance with Law 001/86, the first candidates being the lawyer Julio Acosta Bernal and the lawyer Manuel Caropresse Méndez, the first being the winner of the municipal elections. In 1990 the construction of infrastructure works began, among which we can find the Olympic village, which consisted of a Soccer Stadium (Estadio Municipal Julio Acosta Bernal) with capacity for 4,500 people, Velodrome (Miguel Ángel Bermúdez) and La Manga of Coleo (Chapín Bello). For the year 1991, according to the new political constitution, elections are called in which José Gregorio González Cisneros ´´Goyo´´ and Manuel Caropresse Méndez participate as candidates, with ´´Goyo´´ the winner of these elections for a three-year period. During his period, the people of Arauca were able to provide a solution to the frequent floods by building the perimeter dam, which currently bears his name, by Dutch auditors. In the same way, the first construction of the sewerage network with international standards is carried out by French firms. For the year 1993, the doctor Ricardo Alvarado Bestene was elected mayor against his immediate rival, the lawyer Caropresse Méndez.



Arauca is the capital of the department of Arauca in Colombia, it is located on the bank of the Arauca River. Arauca is communicated with Venezuela by the José Antonio Páez International Bridge; It is connected to the center of the country through the Ruta de los Libertadores that connects the cities of Caracas and Bogotá.

The trade winds from the northeast and southeast, the displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the Eastern Cordillera are the main factors that determine the climatic behavior in the department of Arauca. The longitudinal strip between the piedmont and the eastern flank between 1,000 and 2,000 m above sea level is the rainiest area; its precipitation reaches up to 4,000 mm per year, in contrast to the areas with less rainfall, which are located at altitudes greater than 4,000 m above sea level in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy and in the eastern sector of the department, where annual precipitation is less than 1,500 mm.



The rain regime is basically monomodal, with a rainy season that includes the months of March to November. In the territory there are warm, temperate, cold and snowy thermal floors. It shares the El Cocuy National Natural Park with the department of Boyacá.



Arauca's economy is mainly based on oil exploitation, cattle ranching, agriculture, services, and commerce. The importance of oil is reflected in its contribution to departmental GDP, which depends to a great extent on this activity. Livestock activity focuses on the breeding, raising and fattening of cattle; its commercialization is directed towards Puerto López, Bucaramanga and Cúcuta.



Agricultural production is mainly intended to satisfy local demand. Among the crops stand out the banana, cocoa, traditional corn, cassava, mechanized dry rice, coffee, sugar cane and beans. Catfish, bocachico and cachama fishing constitutes a line of certain importance; Its production is distributed to Cúcuta, Bucaramanga, Ibagué, Cali and Santafé de Bogotá D.C.





As in the entire region of the Orinoquía, song, music, dances, customs, myths and legends are manifestations of cultural wealth. The joropo is the genre that expresses the activities carried out by the inhabitants of the plains. Coleo, a traditional festival throughout the department of Arauca, is celebrated between the months of August to December. The contrasts between mountains and plains offer the visitor exotic landscapes, among them the La Plaza lagoon, crystalline streams, waterfalls and its imposing rocky walls; in the savannah, the diversity of flora and fauna and its beautiful landscapes attract attention.

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