Villanueva, Casanare

Villanueva is a town and municipality in the Department of Casanare, Colombia. It is a growing town with many new neighborhoods being developed. It is a town with a strong and well-developed economy despite being one of the younger towns not only in the Casanare department, but in Colombia as a whole. The inhabitants of Villanueva proudly participate in the Llano culture of Colombia.

History
Villanueva is the youngest town in Casanare. The exact date of its foundation is unknown but the first time Villanueva is mentioned in an official document on November 13, 1962. The first inhabitant of this municipality was Mr. Idelfonso Lopez. The first community, the peo that helped him creating the town were: Pablo Arévalo and family, Angel Barreto and family,Urias Duque and family, Rafael Espinosa and family, Claudino Salgado and family, Pedro Segura and family, Misael Mora and family, Custodio Mora and family Bernavé Vera and family, Miguel Vera,Luís Mendoza and family, Pascual Daza and family, Anacleto Rodríguez and family, and Bernardo Doncel and family.

Idelfonso built the first house in the town with moriche and bahareque (types of palm and mud). The house was finished the following year, in 1963. That same year, the first school in Villanueva was created and began classes on July 28, 1963. The first teacher was Misaelina Vargas Salinas and she arrived in Villanueva on July 23 of that year. Another important thing that happened in 1962 was the creation of the plans for the first market square (today's Parque de los Fundadores or Parque Principal or Parque de la Alcaldía).

At the beginning, the hectares in Villanueva were available for free because the government felt that the need to populate the small town was great. Later the hectares were worth between 200 and 400 thousand Colombian pesos (about 97.33 dollars). Today a hectare is worth approximately 3 million Colombian pesos (about 729.95 US dollars).

Villanueva used to be a small village with 2 or 3 small houses and a school. Today it is a growing town with 20 neighborhoods

in its urban area, 22 villages and 3 townships (Caribayona, San Agustin and Santa Helena del Upia).

Government
In Villanueva, mayors are elected by ballot. Since the first mayor, Rodrigo Rueda Arciniegas, on 30 December 1982, there have been around 10 mayors in the municipality. All of these mayors have been from the right and center right including the most recently elected mayor of Villanueva, Héctor Vizcaino Cagüeño, who was elected on the 29th of October, 2023. The Municipal Council helps the mayor make important decisions. It is made up of 13 people elected, as is the mayor, by vote.

Economy
Villanueva is the youngest department of Casanare as it was only officially founded in 1982. However, its economic foundations are strong. Agriculture is the main economic sector of the town. This is based on the cultivation of rice, cotton, yucca, wood and livestock being a fundamental point. There is also a rice mill to process local production. The production of palm oil is especially important and there are three leading companies in this field. These are Palmar del Oriente, Palmas Casanare and Palmas Santana. The third most important economic sector involves businesses involved with the distribution of local products either for further processing or for consumption. Finally, Villanueva's economy is also well-known for its participation in the livestock sector. In Villanueva raising livestock is carried out on between 100 hectares and 2000 hectares of land, where ranchers raise these animals. Some of these animals are horses, pigs, birds and fish. The town's population is able to benefit from the production of food which is widely used for the consumption of the town's population. The town also benefits from other smaller scale industries such as soybeans, cotton, bananas, cassava, citrus fruits, wood for furniture and posts, and cattle.

Education
 Most schools in Villanueva Casanare are public. The best known and most important public educational organizations are: Ezequiel Moreno y Díaz, Fabio Riveros and Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Manare. Each of these organizations maintains multiple branches to educate students of different ages. For example, the Ezequiel Moreno Y Diaz school has its main headquarters where elementary and high school is studied. However, it has other locations in which elementary grades are specifically taught, and so on with the rest of the public schools. These schools also have regional importance as each operates branches in Villanueva and in surrounding villages and rural districts. Villaneuva has many schools but almost all of them are branches of one of these three of the three schools already mentioned. Most of the town's students attend one of these many public institutions.

In addition to public schools, there are several private schools within Villanueva. These include Lontananza Institution, Maria Montessori Educational Foundation, Grandes Sabios. These schools mostly maintain early childhood education programs and are attended by many students. Finally, M&M Foundation Forming Leaders, which is not not affiliated with the secretary of education but acts informally as an additional source of education for Villanueva students. The M&M Foundation has two headquarters, one for elementary education and another one for secondary school. There are probably others, but these are the best known.

Culture
Villanueva has a mixture of different cultures, the stronger ones are Boyacense ( which comes from the mountains) and LLanera (which is from the valleys). And in the important local celebration and festival, Colonias, both of the different kind of cultures that coexist in Villanueva are on display.

Colonias is held on the anniversary of Villanueva's foundation. By 1962 it was founded and by 1982 it was recognised as a "municipio" or municipality level settlement in Colombia. So if you are looking forward coming to this beautiful town, you should definitely come on colonias dates for celebrating with the community that is well-known for receiving guests with warmth and generosity.

During this festival you will find a quite wide variation of dances. You will also see beautiful parades representing regions of Colombia. These daytime activities are considered marvelous activities for spending time with family. However when the night arrives you can spend your time on the many affiliated concerts that are arranged.

Villanueva has a typical dance, it is called Joropo. Most people in Villanueva know the dance. There are many academies where children learn to dance from a very young age. In Villanueva live people from all over the country, so in August all people their celebrate their shared local culture for about three days.

Cuisine
Villanueva is a town located in a well-known zone in Colombia, called "Llanos Orientales". Here the local farmers work with cattle so that meat is very fresh and delicious. In almost all this part of the country the traditional dishes are Pisillo (a kind of dried and minced meat), Sancocho (a soup with yucca, potato, local banana, beef and pork), Hallacas (a mixture of pieces of chicken, beef vegetables and flour), Tungos (made of rice flour, butter and sour milk, wrapped in banana's leaves and it can be either salty or sweet).

Parks
In Villanueva there are six parks in total. The first and best known is the main park which is located in front of the town hall. There is also the playground, which is a park that is located near the central area of the town and in front of the police station. The fire park is located next to the fire station, as well as the municipal library. There are also the Morichal, El Bosque and Villaluz parks which are located in the neighborhoods of the town with the same names.

Climate
The climate of Villanueva is temperate. Most days are usually very hot days and there are many rainy days as well. Usually the beginning and ending months of each calendar year make up the summer season, while the winter or rainy season begins in the eighth month. However, because of climate change, seasons have become less predictable. Sunny days come more often now even in the winter season as do rainy days in the summer season. The average temperature throughout the year varies from 22 °C to 35 °C. The summer average high temperature is 34 °C with some days even more than that and the winter average temperature is less than 30 °C. From March to January is usually the wet time in Villanueva, which can last around nine months. The humidity level is usually high and is considered by some to be oppressive.

Notable residents
Braian Angola (born 1994), basketball player who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He was born in Villanueva, April 6, 1994. Villanueva's best known athlete has carried Villanueva's name in basketball both onto the national and international stages. But most importantly Braian Angola has earned Villanueva's community respect and love because of his fantastic project, Angola's club. This project provides opportunities for young athletes to train. It supports the development of physical spaces to train and compete and also runs leagues with coaches for free for deserving young children.

Edgar Mauricio Gómez Sánchez was born in Villanueva, Casanare, Colombia, December 21, 1993. He is a Colombian soccer player. He plays as a midfielder and currently plays for Patriotas de Boyacá of the Colombian First A Category.

Also in Villanueva there are other very talented people but they are only well-known regionally in the town like Jhon Ostos who is a dancer and singer in the Joropo tradition.