Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
Tachirense heart, noble and strong.
Rómulo GallegosA National Hero has died. In the most hideous political crime in the annals of our country, agents of the government treacherously cut down the precious life of our comrade, Dr. Leonardo Ruiz Pineda, one of the most generous and able leaders of the civil resistance commanded by our party.
Acción DemocráticaCaracas, October 21, 1952
It is difficult to write about a martyr. One has to contend with the keepers of the flame, who have strong personal and political reasons for preserving the hero's image. Moreover, myths usually contain elements of truth. Although Leonardo Ruiz Pineda is not known as widely as Zapata, Sandino, Che, or Camilo Torres, there are unmistakable efforts on the part of Venezuela's democratic leaders to include him in the pantheon of Latin America's recent revolutionary heroes.