Simón Bolívar's will left only the Aroa copper mines, his sisters sold them in 1832, and Hugo Chávez had his bones dug up in 2010

Bolívar was born into a rich creole family of Caracas. In 1663 the Spanish king had granted the Aroa mines, about 9,000 hectares west of Caracas, to Francisco Marín de Narváez, his great-great-grandfather. They passed to Bolívar in 1811 when his brother Juan Vicente died. In 1825 his sister María Antonia leased them to the Bolívar Mining Association for 10,000 pesos a year, and Bolívar hoped to sell them for 100,000 pounds. In 1827 he divided his other property among his sisters and nephews but kept the mines. On 10 December 1830, at the San Pedro Alejandrino estate near Santa Marta, he dictated his will: "I possess no other goods than the lands and mines of Aroa", plus some jewels held in Cartagena. He left 8,000 pesos to his steward José Palacios, returned Sucre's sword to Sucre's widow, gave two books to the University of Caracas, and named his sisters María Antonia and Juana and his late brother's three children as universal heirs. He asked to be buried in Caracas. He died a week later. In 1832 his sisters sold the mines to an English company for 38,000 pounds. His remains reached Caracas in 1842. In July 2010 President Hugo Chávez, who suspected murder, had the tomb in the National Pantheon opened. More than 50 experts confirmed the identity but could not determine the cause of death. In December 2011 the bones went into a new sarcophagus beside a mausoleum budgeted at the equivalent of 28 million dollars.