Under this venerated title, the image is the patron saint of Colombia, the Venezuelan state of Zulia, and the town of Caraz in Peru.

Pope Pius X in 9 January 1910 authorised the Canonical Coronation of the image but was not carried out until 9 July 1919 due to the political turmoil prevalent at the time.

Pope Pius XI raised her sanctuary to the status of minor basilica via the Pontifical decree Exstat in Colombia in 18 August 1927.

In August 2020, the Colombian government was approved to donate a Marian image of the same namesake in the Vatican Gardens at the 18th slot.

[6][7] In 1562, the portrait was placed in a chapel with a roof that leaked, and in time the humidity, air, and sun had damaged the painting, leaving the subject unrecognisable.

Eight years later, María Ramos, a pious Spaniard from Seville, refurbished the modest chapel and enshrined the faded painting in it.

Tradition has it that the miraculous restoration of the painting occurred on Friday, 26 December 1586: scratches and holes in the cotton were gradually sealed, with light and colour overlaying them.

These include the lack of any prepared ground to size the cotton support, the method of painting, and the nature of the pigments used which tend to degrade after exposure to light and humidity.

Álvarez White concluded that the single greatest cause of pictorial degradation occurred over the 50 years preceding her examination, when the painting was exposed to more or less continuous, intense electric light.

[9] In addition, for three hundred years the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá was exposed to the faithful without any protection, permitting thousands to touch the flimsy cloth.

[5] One day in November 1709 (1749 according to other versions), a woman washing her clothes by the shores of Lake Maracaibo saw a small, wooden tablet floating towards her.

[10] From that day on, the inhabitants of the state of Zulia in Venezuela, where Maracaibo is situated, found their Queen in what they call “La Chinita”.

The tablet depicting the image of the Virgin Mary was first taken to a small sanctuary built to honor San Juan de Dios and later, under the rule of the governor Francisco de la Roche Ferrer, a bigger chapel was erected to venerate the newly found image of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá.

In the year 2004, the local government inaugurated the “Square of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá”, an open sanctuary reminiscent of the old times.

Around November 6, Bella Vista Avenue sees itself lit up by Christmas decorations, and the local government promotes a series of public concerts with national and international artists to begin the “real” fair.

The “Toros coleados” finds many “gaiteros” in front of the basilica singing their best gaitas in honor of Our Lady, keeping alive a long-standing tradition of folk music.

The crisis started on March 1, when Uribe ordered a military raid into Ecuador's territory, against a rebel camp used by Marxist guerrillas to launch terrorist strikes.

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Correa's political ally, ordered a massive military surge to the Colombian border as well.