several years. In 1567 the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas was founded in the Caracas valley. The Spanish worried about the nearby presence of Guaicaipuro and his men, and given his previous attacks, they decided not to wait for him to attack, and as a pre-emptive move Diego de Losada, (founder of Caracas) ordered the mayor of the city, Francisco Infante to undertake Guacaipuro's capture. In 1568 Infante and his men were led by native guides to the hut where Guaicaipuro lived and they set it on fire to force the native cacique out. Guaicaipuro was then killed by the Spanish soldiers. Spiritism Guacaipuro is one of the main figures in Venezuelan spiritism, alongside María Lionza and Negro Felipe. Legacy The county of Guaicaipuro in the state of Miranda, Venezuela was named in his honor. Later the county became the Guaicaipuro Municipality. Amidst the new policy started by former president Hugo Chávez of re-assessing and valuing the role of Venezuela's caciques and indigenous peoples in a historical narrative which has traditionally given greater prominence to the Spanish conquistadores, Guaicaipuro's remains were symbolically moved (his actual remains have never been found) under ceremonial pomp to the national pantheon on December 8, 2001. Under the same policy, Chávez often mentioned Guaicaipuro and other native chiefs in his speeches with the purpose of inspiring Venezuelans to resist what he called the policies of American imperialists and interventionists directed towards Venezuela. Most notably, he did this every year during the October 12 holiday, which after being renamed several years ago Dia de la Raza (previously Americas Discovery Day), was recently renamed as Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance). The Venezuelan government named as Mission Guaicaipuro'' one of its ongoing Bolivarian Missions; this specific program seeks to restore communal land titles and human rights to Venezuela's, still remaining, 33 indigenous tribes. See also Cacique European colonization of the Americas References 1568 deaths History of Venezuela Venezuelan people of indigenous peoples descent Indigenous leaders of the Americas Year of birth uncertain