The launching of the book Historia básica de Bucaramanga, an original work that gathers the most significant research of professional historians from the origins of our city to the present, became an important event.
Before a large and select audience in the Santander Hall of the UIS Bucarica headquarters, which included academic historians, representatives of cultural entities, the head of Governance of the Mayor’s Office, former mayors of Bucaramanga, office secretaries, the new representatives to the House for Santander, councilors, deputies, representatives of unions, former rectors, professors, special guests and media, the book was officially delivered by the UIS to the people of the city.
As an appetizer of the event, historians Germán Rodrigo Mejía Pavoni, professor and dean of History at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and Armando Martínez Garnica, president of the Academy of History of Santander, in an interesting conversation made a tour through the chapters of the history of the city, with data that illustrated to the audience the most remarkable situations in these 400 years of Bucaramanga, from the gold sand washing crews that gave rise to the Pueblo de Indios de Bucaramanga in 1622, to its transformation into a municipality since 1887 and to the present day.
Later, the rector, Hernán Porras Díaz, made the presentation in which he emphasized: “This book has the UIS seal…, it is a product dreamed and developed in our house of studies, with the active participation of the Publications Division and the commitment and passion of many people and institutional dependencies. For the Universidad Industrial de Santander, a source of thousands of professionals who serve the city from different fields and edges, it is a pride to be associated with the fourth centenary of Bucaramanga with this basic history, which should inspire new studies and specialized historical research”.
In turn, José David Cavanzo Ortiz, head of Governance of the Mayor’s Office of Bucaramanga, said: “For the city of Bucaramanga this book is a recognition of the efforts of entrepreneurs, citizens, politicians, of all of us who have worked to build a better city. It is a recognition of what Bucaramanga has achieved today as an enterprising city, a friendly city, a beautiful city, and that from the government of the administration Juan Carlos Cardenas we are honoring in its 400 years, with the strong support of the rector of the UIS and the entire institution.
Subsequently, the rector, Hernán Porras Díaz, made the presentation in which he emphasized: “This book has the UIS seal…, it is a product dreamed and developed in our house of studies, with the active participation of the Publications Division and the commitment and passion of many people and institutional dependencies. For the Universidad Industrial de Santander, a source of thousands of professionals who serve the city from different fields and edges, it is a pride to be associated with the fourth centenary of Bucaramanga with this basic history, which should inspire new studies and specialized historical research”.
Álvaro Acevedo Tarazona, Ph.D. in History and one of the authors of this book, commented: “Bucaramanga is not a city founded as was Pamplona, Vélez or Girón; that means that, in that circumstance, it was a town of Indian’s washers, of Spanish washers and also of slaves washing gold sands; that is the origin of Bucaramanga. And of course, the history of Bucaramanga is linked to alluvial gold, to the gold that came down the streams and rivers that flowed into the Rio del Oro, and those alluvial mines were the ones that attracted the settlement of this place”.
Historian Rodrigo Mejía Pavoni, professor of history at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and who participated in the discussion, said that “this is a fundamental work for several reasons: because it covers the 400 years of history of the city and even before the event that created the pueblo de Indios; second for the broad scope of the subject matter that is covered, practically all the topics that matter for the history of a city are contained in the book, which makes it an obligatory reference work for anyone who wants to have an idea of the history of the city, and also for those who want to start as researchers of the city, they have a fundamental work.”
Guillermo Vargas, Caballero, one of the two architects and authors of this book -together with Diana Carolina Sevilla-, explained that the downtown area of Bucaramanga has five of the best and largest parks donated by the residents. If the city had kept that flavor of handing over public space to the mayors, we would have the ideal balance point of free square meters per inhabitant that very few cities in the world have. But that was lost and we have to do it again”.
Erika Tatiana Sánchez Pinto, elected representative to the House of Representatives for Santander as head of the list of the League of Anti-Corruption Governors and social worker who graduated from the UIS, said she was “grateful for this important space in which we all converge, it is a sample of how Bucaramanga emerged and what it means for the city that all sectors, both political, economic, social and, most importantly, from the human development that we have had present, we as Santander and as bumangueses. I was born in this wonderful city and I celebrate with honor and honor the 400 years of Bucaramanga”.
In turn, Luisa Fernanda Ballesteros, chemical engineer UIS and recently elected councilwoman of Bucaramanga by the League of Anti-Corruption Rulers, said: “This book seems to me an interesting tool that shows us the history of our city and most importantly: it is a book to inherit from generation to generation so that we citizens do not lose that patriotic sense to defend the rights of the city and the country. This event is magnificent because there can be no better gift than a book that tells the history of us, the people of Bucaramanga”.
The former governor and former rector of the UIS, Álvaro Beltrán Pinzón said: “Professor Armando Martínez has given us a real gem to the bumangueses by birth and adoption. I think it is very important for us to learn to belong and feel that our land offers us a rootedness that is determined by the confluence of multiple cultures. That makes us so varied, so open, and that is why the plurality of our municipality must be adjusted since its creation; it is the call for tolerance, respect for diversity and biodiversity, and the care of our land”.
The authors of Historia básica de Bucaramanga are historians Armando Martínez Garnica (editorial coordinator), Álvaro Acevedo Tarazona, Jerson Fidel Jaimes Rodríguez, Gabriel Samacá Alonso and Leonardo Caballero Pisa; architects Diana Carolina Sevilla Torres and Guillermo Vargas Caballero. The photography was directed by Saúl Meza Arenas and edited by Puno Ardila, head of UIS Publications. The book consists of 456 pages, contains more than 200 illustrations, is printed on fine paper and bound with hard covers.