It’s not one of those South American nations that immediately springs to mind. But of course it has its own rich history and flag and money and large quantity of leaders with short terms in office. 

Antonio Jose de Sucre, the fellow on the five note, was a Venezuelan who fought with Bolivar in the wars of independence. He was elected president of Bolivia, but never enjoyed the murk, the intrigue, the institutional perjury of politics. Politics didn’t like him either, apparently, for he was murdered by foes at the age of 35, in 1830.

According to his Wikipedia bio,  the name derives from his French-Flemish descendants, the de Succres. However! Says the all-knowing Wiki: According to the German "Lexikon des Judentums", however, Sucre is a descendant of a Bavarian Jewish family named "Zucker". Leave it to those guys to have the definitive list of Jewish names. Becuss vun can never be too zertain, jah? Okay, cheap shot. A cheap shot with vast historical underpinnings, but hardly relevent here. Save that for the upcoming salute to Weimar hyperinflation notes!

Back to the note. It's odd how QUITO has a comma, as though they were going to say something else about the city but thought better of it. Makes the bill look like a letter someone began, only to pause, wondering what to say. And then the phone rang.