FLORENCIO ANTONIO PORRAS Governor of the state of Mérida

Out with the old and in with the new are the by-words for the regional government of Mérida. The closing of some departments, the merger of others, the creation of new official positions and the reorganisation of a public administration in complete disarray are only part of what Florencio Porras’s state government has had to face in the period following the re-election of Hugo Chávez as president of Venezuela.What the Porras administration terms ‘the revolution’–in reality massive extra funding from central government– arrived in Mérida last year.
The Mérida region is rich in agricultural products such as coffee, cocoa, and bananas. There are trouts in the lakes and cedar forests below the mountains. There are also some mineral deposits and a tradition of pig farming. All eleven municipal zones are rich in natural tourist attractions and further development of eco-tourism is a central platform of the new agenda. The snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada in the northern extremity of the Andes are the best in the country for mountaineering. The area is also ideal for hang-gliding and paragliding. Trekking through the villages and staying in family-owned ‘posadas’ is another tourist
activity. The region, high in the tropics, also has over 40 glacial lagoons and twelve natural parks.

Some 120 companies have signed up to Mérida’s free zone project

A massive injection of public and private funds has enabled Mérida to undertake significant infrastructure development.

The city of Mérida, a 45-minute flight from Caracas, nestles in the shadow of Venezuela’s highest peak, Pico Bolívar, standing at just over 16,400 feet, and the highest cable car in the world links the city to its neighbour Pico Espejo at 15,623 feet.
The state government has unveiled an ambitous development plan combining private investment and government funding. One of the priorities of the state authorities is the upgrading of the existing transportation system, especially the road network. In the high Andes the population has been called on to clean up the roadside ditches, open up rural roads, maintain mountain pathways and link up rural hamlets, while protecting the environmental balance. Special measures are being taken, for instance, to protect the high Andes Condor.

A monumental sight. At 16,430 feet, Pico Bolívar (state of Mérida) is Venezuela’s highest peak.

The city of Mérida is also undergoing a major infrastructure upgrade. This includes an enlarged and reconstructed transport system, with new urban trolley buses, a funicular railway linking densely populated but remote parts of the city to its center, and a new stoplight system. Whereas seed money is required in the mountains, a $108 million loan has been guaranteed by German, French and Spanish banks to fund the first phase of the city reconstruction.
Mérida is also undertaking a series of social initiatives, which include the founding of an organization to protect children and adolescents, part of a nationwide initiative directly requested by the Venezuelan President.
The administration, backed by the largest information technology network in the country, has declared Mérida a ‘free zone’. On offer are attractive incentives for companies looking to invest in science and technology, as well as Andean culture. The region’s vision is to develop a highly sophisticated zone for science, technology, industry and culture. So far 120 companies have signed up.