Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has unveiled South America’s revolutionary icon Simon Bolivar’s 3-D image, who died in 1830 after leading the fight against Spanish colonial rule in the region. Constructed based on scans of the 19th century hero’s skull.

Two years after exhuming the remains of Latin America liberator Simon Bolivar, Venezuela released a new 3-D portrait of the man and said arsenic and blister beetle venom may have hastened Simon Bolivar’s death.

South America’s founding father got a unique present for his 229th birthday : a new face and a fresh autopsy of Simon Bolivar. Using forensic techniques and computerized scans of Bolivar’s skull, Venezuelan researchers created a lifelike portrait of Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar.

Simon Bolivar has long been revered in Latin America, where he helped free Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia from the Spanish. But during his 13 years in the presidency, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has helped turn the Venezuelan-born Simon Bolivar into a cult figure.

Liberator Simon Bolivar gets revamped face and death certificate to his 229th birthday

Hugo Chavez, a big admirer of the Venezuelan-born national hero Simon Bolivar said : ‘ Bolivar is the fight that does not end, he is born every day in ourselves, in his people, in the children, in the fight for life and for social justice. He was, is and will be one of the greats of humanity, a true giant of the human cause. ‘

Among Hugo Chavez’s first acts as president in 1999 was to push through a constitution that changed the country’s name to The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. El Libertador’s image is plastered in government offices and Hugo Chavez rarely gives a speech where his name isn’t dropped.

President Hugo Chavez’s fascination with Simon Bolivar / Chavez unveils Bolivar’s 3-D face image