Socopó

The name is taken from an indigenous cacique named Socopó, leader of an Arawak tribe that inhabited the area. Some recent investigations have suggested that the pre-Hispanic Andean foothills society in the region was instead related to the Timoto–Cuica.^[3][4]

Socopó is one of the youngest settlements in Barinas State, founded unofficially in 1954 by Ronny Raciny, a Spaniard from Valencia, with the help of his associate Stiben Corro. The name was chosen in honour of an indigenous cacique named Socopó, who led an Arawak tribe that inhabited the area.^[1]

Socopó was founded on land belonging to the Ticoporo reserve, with Sierra Nevada National Park lying to the north, separated only by the recently constructed Troncal 5 highway. During the settlement process, peasants and colonists of the forest were subject to enforcement actions by state security agencies, including the burning of huts and shacks, persecution and other forms of human rights abuses.

In October 1959 parts of the reserve were partially deregulated, including the parcels of Capitanejo, Sabanas de Paiva, La Creole and Pedraza La Vieja, covering approximately 41,000 ha (410 km²; 100,000 acres). On 12 July 1972, by Decree 1041, an additional 48,000 ha (480 km²; 120,000 acres) of the northern part of the Ticoporo reserve were deregulated. This included the settlements of Bum-Bum, Socopó, Batatuy, Mirí and Chameta.^[5]

The first inhabited area was located on what is today called Kimil Street. The ethnological composition of the population is mainly drawn from the Andean states of Táchira and Mérida. A smaller proportion comes from the western Llanos states of Portuguesa, Apure and Guárico. The arrival of timber companies such as EMALCA, Kingmil and CONTACA later spurred a wave of migration to the area, dramatically increasing population density. Many of the new arrivals were undocumented Colombians or migrants from Táchira.^[1][5]

The Antonio José de Sucre Municipality was created on 14 February 1986 by Gaceta Oficial of Barinas State. Socopó, the capital, was officially founded in 1955 by the Peña family, originally from the hamlet of El Morro in Mérida State, one year after its unofficial foundation by Ronny Raciny, regarded as the father of Socopó.^[1]

Socopó is located in southwestern Venezuela at the foothills of the Andes, in the northeastern part of Barinas State. It lies between the Andean range and the western Llanos. The municipality of Antonio José de Sucre comprises three parishes:

• Ticoporo (capital: Socopó)
• Andrés Bello (capital: Bum Bum)
• Nicolás Pulido (capital: Chameta)

Socopó is marked by contrasts in both physical and human terms. Located in the transition zone between the Llanos and the Venezuelan Andes, it has a warm climate moderated by cooler air currents descending from the mountains. The Ticoporo forest reserve once provided refuge for many species of flora and fauna; however, unchecked human activity, in particular logging, livestock raising and agriculture, has greatly reduced the natural vegetation and wildlife.

The gateway to the municipality is the bridge over the La Acequía river on Troncal 5, which connects the city with the rest of the country. Along this highway, the Sierra Nevada National Park, shared by Mérida and Barinas states, can be seen to the northwest. To the south are the plains of Barinas and what remains of the Ticoporo forest reserve, now converted into pasture.

The relief is varied: in the northwest it is mountainous (Sierra Nevada National Park), in the centre it is dominated by large savannas of the western Llanos, and in the southeast it is forest (Ticoporo Forest Reserve). The municipality is one of the best-watered in Venezuela, with rivers including the Socopó, Bum-Bum, Batatuy, Michay, Zapa and Quiú. The elevation of the town is 294 m (965 ft).^[6]

Socopó has an annual average temperature ranging from 24.5 °C (76.1 °F) to 29 °C (84 °F), characteristic of a tropical moist forest climate.

According to local statistics, the urban centre of Socopó has approximately 90,218 inhabitants, while the municipality as a whole exceeds 100,000 inhabitants. The 2001 census recorded 62,002 inhabitants in the municipality, rising to 81,665 in 2011, and an estimated 84,512 in 2013, representing about 17.0 per cent of the total population of Barinas State.^[7] The municipality has an area of 2,975 km² (1,149 sq mi), giving a population density of about 27.45 inhabitants per square kilometre, slightly below the national average of 29.71 but above the state average of 23.19.

The adult literacy rate is approximately 90.4 per cent. The population of the municipality as a proportion of Barinas State increased by 0.1 per cent between the 2001 and 2011 censuses.^[8]

There are approximately 21,665 family nuclei in Antonio José de Sucre, and about 29.67 per cent of households are headed by women. The fertility rate is about 2.5 children per woman of reproductive age, above the national average of 2. There are some 25,133 dwellings in the municipality, of which 21,331 are occupied. About 47.14 per cent of currently occupied dwellings have been built since 2001 and can be considered new. Of the constructed dwellings, 80.47 per cent are houses, 3.89 per cent are villas, 1.28 per cent are apartments, and 14.17 per cent are shacks or other forms of precarious housing.

The municipality of Antonio José de Sucre has soils suitable for agricultural development, with about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) of road infrastructure, of which 500 km (310 mi) are urban and 1,300 km (810 mi) rural.

The municipality has a wide range of commercial activities supporting its development. Public services include hospitals (Hospital Dr. José León Tapia), outpatient clinics, private clinics, road infrastructure, urban cleaning, water and electricity supply, hotels and tourist lodging, including the Posada Turística La Fuente. There is private banking, gyms and commercial businesses, with prominent businesses dealing in wooden building materials. The locality has multiple commercial and community radio stations and a local television channel (Telesocopó).

About 8.05 per cent of households have access to the Internet and 16.13 per cent have at least one computer in the household. Fixed-line telephone coverage stands at 39.67 per cent, and 52.59 per cent of households have cable television. Some 71.91 per cent of households have at least one conventional radio receiver, 90.42 per cent have a television set, 87.78 per cent have a refrigerator, 97.08 per cent have a cooker, 58 per cent have a clothes dryer, 0.25 per cent have a water heater (gas or electric), and 34.30 per cent have air conditioning.

Socopó hosts a variety of cultural activities, including those organised by the Casa de la Cultura, the agro-industrial fairs held in February, and the Socopó Community Archaeological Museum.^[3] The municipality has its own symbols (the flag, the coat of arms and the anthem) as well as its natural symbols: the cayena flower, the blue-throated macaw and the apamate tree, approved on 8 October 2004 on the proposal of the artist José Javier Costejón.

Among the most practised sports are cycling, football and river rafting on the Acequía, Bum-Bum and Socopó rivers. The city has the Estadio Rogelio Matos and was home to the now-defunct Deportivo Socopó Fútbol Club. Notable footballers from the city include Anderson Contreras and Andrés Sánchez León, both of whom have played for the Venezuela national football team.^[10][11]

In 2006 a video, recorded on a Motorola Razr V3 mobile phone, briefly drew international attention to Socopó. The footage, said to depict an apparition at a hardware shop known as Materiales Sánchez, was rebroadcast in several Mexican television reports.

In 2009 the local group Los Triunfadores de Bartolo Sánchez released the music video "¿Qué tiene Socopó?", dedicated to the city and filmed at several locations across the municipality.

In late 2021 and 2022, the name of Socopó trended on social media following the viral spread of a music video proclaiming the slogan "Socopó, la ciudad más rumbera de Venezuela" ("Socopó, the most party-going city in Venezuela"). The phenomenon spawned memes and led to incidents of vandalism on the Spanish-language Wikipedia article.

• Barinas
• Antonio José de Sucre Municipality
• Sierra Nevada National Park