http://scienceblogs.com/speakeasyscience/2010/05/dont_eat_the_weeds_part_2.php"...
Naturally, poisoners took advantage of this abundance. Arsenic, is after all, a rather murderous metallic element, capable of spreading throughout the body and efficiently disrupting cellular metabolism. In the early 19th century, it was the poisoner's favorite weapon - its symptoms were similar to those of natural infections, from respiratory distress, to nausea and severe cramping. Perhaps the most obvious warning of arsenic poisoning was a yellowing or darkening of skin, if the poison was taken in low doses over some period of time, with sensitivity to touch and even formation of sores on hands and feet.
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Which brings us - although you might not see it coming - to the Latin American general Simón Bolívar, famed for helping to liberate much of continent from Spanish domination, in the early 19th century. Bolívar died in 1830 but even 180 years later he remains one of South America's most revered heroes. The country of Bolivia is named after him, statues abound across the continent, his bones are enshrined in Caracas, Venezuela, the country of his birth. But Bolívar did not die a glorious death. He was in the process of leaving for Europe, following several attempts on his life by political enemies, when he died at the age of 47, reportedly from tuberculosis.
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Which brings us - although again you might not see this coming - to this year's Historical Clinicopathological Conference, an annual event which re-examines the deaths of famous figures in history. In previous years, the conference has its medical attention on leaders ranging Abraham Lincoln to the United States to Akhenaten of ancient Egypt. This year's meeting, in early May, was on Simón Bolívar and the keynote speaker was an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University announced that Bolivar's symptoms didn't fit that diagnosis. Rather, Dr. Paul Auwaerter, said they were a better match with chronic arsenic poisoning, right down to the darkening of the dying leader's skin.
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Which brings us - at last - to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The leader of Venezuela has long venerated his famous countryman, often comparing his fight against "Yankee Imperialism" to the heroic deeds of El Liberator. He sent two members of the Venezuelan Embassy to hear Auwaerter speak and promptly announced that the doctors' report confirmed what he, Chávez, had long suspected - that his hero had been murdered by his enemies from Columbia.
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Now, the conference itself seems mildly odd. I'm not completely sure of the value of such a conference. Still, I find the claim by Chavez to be even more bizarre. What's the point? I mean, at one point in time, I had mild high hopes for Chavez. But he seems to inhabit one of more bizarre "worlds" around. It's entertaining for observers, but I'm not sure if it's much else, anymore.