Current Name Honors A U.S. Aviator

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he wants to return Angel Falls, the worlds highest waterfall, to its indigenous name of Kerepakupai-Meru. It is  the name used by the indigenous Pemon people of the area.

The first westerner to see the falls was U.S. aviator Jimmie Angel, who saw the falls from the air in the 1930's. They have borne his name ever since.

But Chavez, no huge fan of the U.S., said thousands of native people had seen the falls prior to Angel's overflight. The BBC reports that Chavez asked Venezuelans how they could accept the idea that "the highest waterfall in the world was discovered by a man who came from the United States in a plane?" on his weekly television address. "No-one should refer to Angel Falls any more," he concluded.

The waterfall, which has a vertical drop of about a kilometer from a mesa in the southern part of Venezuela, is one of that country's most famous tourist destinations.

Chavez reportedly initially gave an incorrect name until he was corrected by his daughter, and was unable to pronounce the correct name at first on his live television address. He practiced saying the name for several minutes on live TV.

Jimmie Angel died in a plane crash in Panama in 1956 at the age of 57.

FMI: www.salto-angel.com