When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Venezuela

Venezuela To Germany: Give Us Back Our Sacred Rock!

TELSUR (Venezuela)

CARACAS Venezuelan authorities have vowed to submit a formal request for the repatriation of a 30-ton rock that currently sits in the downtown Tiergarten park in Berlin, Germany.

The 12-cubic-meter "Kueka" stone used to belong to an indigenous tribe in Venezuela called the Pemón, which consider it to be sacred. Kueka translates as "grandmother" in the language spoken by the Pemón, Telesurreports.

(Wikipedia)

Then-president Rafael Caldera offered the stone in 1998 to a German artist named Wolfang von Schwarzenfeld, who took it from its original display site – in the Canaima National Park in southern Venezuela – and transported it to Berlin. Von Schwarzenfeld carved and polished the Kueka rock before putting on display as part of a project called "Global Stone."

Members of the Pemón tribe tried in vain to prevent the rock's departure from Venezuela, at one point blocking the highway along which the Kueka was being transported. Venezuela's ailing president, Hugo Chávez, has said on several occasions that Germany – which considers the stone a legitimate gift – should give up their claims.

Read the full story in Spanish

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

This Happened — June 7: Yellow River Flood

On this day in 1938, the Yellow River experienced a major flood during the Second Sino-Japanese War when the Chinese Nationalist government deliberately destroyed the dikes along the river to halt the advancing Japanese forces.

Get This Happened straight to your inbox ✉️ each day! Sign up here.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest