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Discrepancy in Oral History and Official (Religious) Records

According to Carmen, her mother Pancha was raised by her older sister, Dominga, from the age of two (after her mother Rafaela died). However, based on the records—Rafaela’s burial in December 1900 and Pancha’s baptism stating her birth in October 1896— Pancha would have been four years old when she lost her mother. This suggests that Dominga began caring for Carmen later than she stated.

Carmen Andrea was the first child of Julián Bernal and Francisca “Pancha” Piñate. At the time of ther birth, the Bernal Piñate family was living in a house built by Julián on a route known locally as El Camino de los Indios (The Road of the Indigenean People). This path was believed by older residents to be haunted with the memories of violent deaths during the Independence War.

According to family accounts, unusual events began to occur in the home soon after Carmen’s arrival. Pancha described hearing persistent, plaintive sounds she likened to a small creature (un bicho que se quejaba), and finding unexpected curds (quesillos) in the household. On one occasion, Pancha reported encountering the source of the sound near a stone water-filter stand (tinajero). Startled and frightened, she felt unable to reach and grab the baby, who was Carmen Andrea. At that moment, Fidela (Carmen’s aunt) and Ramón Escalona (a close family friend) intervened and took Carmen to safety, while other family members assisted Pancha.

Interpreting the experience through the cultural frameworks of the time, where spiritual disturbances were understood as warnings tied to place and history, the family decided to abandon the house immediately and relocated shortly thereafter.

María’s Illness, Death, and the Attribution of Julián’s Affliction

This segment reconstructs, based on oral testimony, the events associated with María’s illness and death—she was Julián’s niece and Dominga’s daughter—and the subsequent interpretation of these events as the origin of Julián’s physical affliction.

According to the account, María developed a sudden illness characterized by convulsive episodes and extreme bodily symptoms, which were interpreted within the local cultural framework as the result of witchcraft. Julián intervenes to seek help for her and takes her to a woman recognized for her specialized knowledge in Santa Lucía. This practitioner attributed María’s illness to a malicious action carried out by a healer identified as Juan Pancho and warned that Julián would also suffer consequences for becoming involved.

The testimony portrays this healer as an ambiguous figure who combined healing practices with abusive behavior, including the prolonged isolation of María under the pretext of treatment. These practices are said to have contributed to the deterioration of María’s personal circumstances, including the dissolution of her previous romantic relationship. María later experienced persistent reproductive difficulties and died shortly after giving birth in a domestic setting during her final pregnancy, a practice that remained common in rural Venezuelan areas at the time. The newborn presented with severe neurological complications.

In early twentieth-century rural Venezuela, childbirth typically occurred in domestic settings and was attended by empirically trained midwives rather than by medical professionals (Armus, 2002; Cueto, 2004). Access to healthcare was non-existent for this social class.

Julián's Death

Julián died young, at 48 years old, from a very strong fever in July, having been seriously ill for only 24 h. By the time of his death, Carmen Andrea was married and raising her son, Enrique. Also, she commented that her dad was of Spanish descent.
Discrepancies in Oral History and Official (Religious) Records:
According to Carmen, her father died in July while she was raising her son Enrique. Official burial record shows Julián death in June of 1941, when Carmen was still pregnant of Enrique (he was born in September that year)

Pancha’s parents were Abuelito Fabián and Abuela Rafaela. She had eight siblings: four sisters (Dominga, Márgara, Justa, Fidela), two brothers (Manuel and Benjamín), and two siblings who had already died (Isabel and another whose name is unknown).
However, birth and religious records indicate the existence of an older sister, also named Francisca, who may have died before Pancha’s birth, as she was not recalled in the oral history transmitted to Carmen.
According to Carmen’s account, Abuela Rafaela died while pregnant, with the baby still in her womb.

History of Half-Sister Rosa (Daughter of Julián and Vicenta)

The interview shifts to the specific history of Carmen Andrea’s half-sister, Rosa, confirming her as Julián’s natural daughter.
Background: Rosa was Julián’s daughter with another woman, Vicenta, born before Juliancito, the Julián's last legitimate child with Pancha.
When Vicenta was widowed, she brought her six children to Julián’s house, and Julián welcomed them into his home. Pancha, unhappy with the situation, reported them to the civil authorities and demanded their eviction. Vicenta not only left the house but also abandoned her children, who were then distributed by the civil chief among relatives and acquaintances.
Rosa, the youngest, initially stayed with her grandmother Mari Pita along with her half-brothers. Later, Vítora (Pancha’s mother) took care of her alternately with Pancha, who eventually raised her with Julián until she was a young woman.
Rosa later moved to Caracas with a cousin, who took her to a brothel. Fortunately, Rosa managed to avoid becoming involved and instead found work as a maid caring for children, although she continued to face mistreatment and instability. The family searched for her, and eventually Carmen’s brother, Juliancito, located her.
Later, Rosa met Teófilo, who fell in love with her. They lived together and had children; however, he became an alcoholic and always lived in rented housing. He later developed mental illness and spent several years in an asylum. Rosa was left to raise their children by selling arepas in Caracas, with Pancha’s help. During this difficult period, Rosa became involved with the landlady’s son, who supported her and fathered several of her children.
After his release from the asylum, Teófilo returned to Rosa, unemployed due to his age and health condition, and remained with her until his death.

Rosa’s life was marked by hardship, instability, and dependence on others, shaped not only by poverty and limited personal choices but also by the gendered and racialized constraints that structured everyday life at the time. As a poor woman situated within a racially stratified society, her survival depended largely on relationships with men, who mediated access to housing, work, and social protection, thereby delimiting the range of possibilities available to her. Rosa’s trajectory thus offers a clear illustration of the intersecting forms of gender and racial discrimination that characterized this historical period, in which women’s lives were profoundly constrained by structural inequality. Her position as a poor woman did little to improve her material conditions or social mobility. Nevertheless, Rosa also emerges as a resilient figure who, despite exposure to exploitation and the risk of entering the sex trade, actively sought alternative paths for survival. Rather than remaining within the circuits of structural violence and abandonment to which she was subjected, she repeatedly pursued forms of work and support that allowed her to endure and care for her children under extremely precarious conditions.

Carmen’s First Kiss

Religious records show that Juliancito’s Catholic baptism was celebrated in January 1926, at which time his older sister, Carmen, was 13 years old. His godfather was her future brother-in-law, Jesús María.
According to Carmen, although they had known each other for as long as she could remember, they did not have close interaction until she was around 14 years old, when she received her first kiss (April 30, 1927). This occurred during a game in which he weighed her on a steelyard balance at the train station in Caracas.

Jesús María’s Age – Children Before Marriage

Unknown Birth Year
Jesús María did not know his own age. No birth record has been found, and his mother never told him the year he was born. Carmen estimated that he was of a similar age to her mother; within this context, Carmen and Jesús María were approximately 15 years apart.
Within the family, his birthday was traditionally celebrated on October 15; however, accounts vary. Some relatives say he was born in 1897, others in 1898, and others in 1899. All agree that he was born at the end of the nineteenth century. Pancha’s baptism record places her birth in 1896, although Carmen believed her mother was born in 1898.
Interestingly, there is a baptism record in Yare for a “Jesús María” born on October 15, 1899, listed as “natural son of” Ruperta. However, Jesús María’s mother was named Saturnina. It is possible that this birthday was attributed to him based on that record, or that Ruperta may have been his godmother. Jesús María was also a common name at the time.
Parish records from this period often contain inconsistencies due to poor preservation (humidity, insects), transcription errors, irregular handwriting, variations in names and abbreviations, language shifts, and incomplete information regarding parentage. These issues frequently require careful interpretation by researchers.
For now, his true birth year remains a mystery.

His Children: Josefina and Susana’s Son
Prior to his marriage, Jesús María had a daughter, Josefina, with one woman, and later had a son with Susana.

Nine-Year Engagement

By the time Jesús María declared his love to Carmen, their interactions had consisted mainly of brief greetings. She accepted his courtship on the condition that it would be directed toward marriage, expecting that they would have time to get to know each other. To her surprise, he went directly to her father to formalize the engagement. She accepted his proposal.
They formally began their relationship with his visits to her home, strolls to the retreta in the plaza, and outings to the movies, though not to parties or dances, as she was not that kind of woman. Her father was always suspicious, just as he was with women in general. This talk about the role imposing to the women by the patriarchy, and how they must behave to deserve to be married.
These traits reflect characteristics commonly associated with machismo, including paternalism, protectiveness, polygamy, and infidelity, among others. Machismo seeks to affirm and justify male superiority and dominance over women. Cultural norms also played an important role, reinforcing the man’s authority within the family and his role as provider.

Delayed Marriage
The following year, Jesús María wanted to marry and had the means to do so, but Carmen felt she was still too young and was not in a hurry. As time passed, the wedding was postponed for another eight years. This delay was caused by Jesús María’s financial setbacks, including ruined crops, loss of animals, and the cost of a brother’s funeral, all of which were attributed to bad luck or a curse.
They endured persistent slander and gossip during this period. He felt ashamed about the prolonged delay, and her father often complained, but Carmen did not want to live amancebada. Jesús María refused to have a shabby wedding, while Carmen insisted on having not only a civil ceremony but also a religious one—simple if necessary, but complete.

Amancebado refers to a situation in which two people live together as a couple without being legally married. It describes a marital union or a regular sexual relationship between individuals who are not formally married.
They were so respectful toward each other that they never addressed one another using the informal language “tú”.

Children

Carmen Andrea became pregnant in the same week they married and had children: Santos, (Cristóbulo) one child who died shortly after birth from a high fever, and Tubita (Gertrudis' nickname).
The family grew with seven more children!