1.
GV STREET SCENE PAN TO GUESTS WAITING
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2.
SV ATTACHES PAN TO MILITARY ATTACHES AND GUESTS AND LORD ECCLES
0.21

3.
SV CEREMONIAL GUARD
0.27

4.
SV PAN AMBASSADORS AND GUESTS
0.35

5.
SV LORD ECCLES SPEAKING AND UNVEILING PLAQUE
0.54

6.
SV AMBASSADORS AND GUESTS CLAPPING
0.58

7.
CU PLAQUE "SIMON BOLIVAR GREAT LATIN STATESMAN AND PATRIOT WHO LIBERATED ...STAYED IN THIS HOUSE 1810."
1.02

8.
TGV GUESTS IN FRONT OF HOUSE
1.05



Initials OS/2256 OS/2314



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Britain's Minister for the Arts, Lord Eccles today unveiled a plaque commemorate the visit to Eland in 1810 by the South American soldier-statesman Simon Bolivar. The plaque has ben fixed to the wall of a house in central London where Bolivar stayed during his visit. He left London in the same year and returned to Caracas to begin the fight against Spanish domination. During his lifetime Bolivar was instrumental in gaining the independence six South American nations from Spanish rule and saw the establishment of Bolivia...the country which took his name. Ambassadors from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Bolivia attended today's ceremony.

SYNOPSIS: AMBASSADORS AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM NEARLY ALL SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES TODAY ATTENDED A CEREMENT IN LONDON TO MARK THE VISIT OF SOLDIER-STATESMAN SIMON BOLIVAR IN 1810.

PRESENT AT THE COLOURFUL CEREMONY WERE THE AMBASSADORS FROM VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PANAMA, PERU AND BOLIVIA.... COUNTRIES WHICH ALL HAD A STRONG CONNECTION WITH BOLIVAR.

DURING A SPEECH TO GUESTS, TRIBUTE WAS PAID TO BOLIVAR AS A GREAT STATESMAN. THE SOUTH AMERICAN SPENT SOME MONTHS IN LONDON DURING A TRIP TO EUROPE IN JULY, 1810. HIS MISSION WAS TO GAIN SUPPORT FOR THE COUNTRY OF HIS BIRTH, VENEZUELA. THE VISIT GAVE HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM WHICH REMAINED FOR HIM MODELS OF POLITICAL WISDOM AND STABILITY.