(1783-1830) South American politician
Many villages, cities and even planets bear the names of outstanding figures who left their mark on the history of mankind. The name Simon Bolivar became the name of an entire country in South America.
His activities were largely determined by his upbringing and time. He came from a very rich Spanish family that settled in Venezuela. He was orphaned early and was sent by relatives to Spain, where he studied law. Then he traveled a lot throughout Europe and North America, and in 1809 he returned to his homeland, Caracas. Bolivar wanted to be like two historical figures of his time - Washington and Napoleon, although by nature he seemed neither power-hungry nor cruel, but rather was a romantic who dreamed of liberating his native country, Venezuela, from Spanish rule.
However, the reality turned out to be much more prosaic and required completely different actions. Simon Bolivar began his revolutionary activities in 1810 in the revolutionary junta of Caracas, which instructed him to purchase weapons and obtain a cash loan in London.
Bolivar then fought as a colonel in the army of Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda. Once during a battle, he retreated under the pressure of government forces, and Miranda’s detachment was defeated. As they later believed, it was Bolivar’s fault.
In 1812, he led the movement against the Spaniards, setting himself the goal of recapturing his hometown of Caracas from them at any cost. He managed to accomplish this in 1813. It was then that Simon Bolivar was awarded the title of Liberator and elected dictator of western Venezuela.
However, the liberation of all of South America was a matter of the future. In June 1814, Simon Bolivar's army was defeated at La Puerta, and he himself barely managed to escape to New Grenada (modern Colombia and Panama).
Over the next two years, Bolivar was involved in organizing the liberation struggle in South America and gathering forces. He was joined by local revolutionaries, volunteers from North America and even from Europe.
Young South Americans considered themselves part of a free and independent nation. They wanted to work and trade independently, without submitting to the dictates of Spanish and Portuguese officials. The year 1819 proved successful in their struggle for independence. The troops of Simon Bolivar defeated the Spaniards in Colombia and liberated it. From that time on, the task of liberating the South American continent, proclaimed by Bolivar at the national congress in Angostura, became real and began to be gradually implemented. The Federal Republic of Colombia was formed, which included what is now Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. Simon Bolivar was proclaimed its president.
He began to liberate primarily the Spanish colonies. In February 1824, after the decisive battle of Ajacuccio, Peru was liberated. In 1825, the northern part separated from Pepy and, under the name of Bolivia, recognized itself as an independent republic. Simon Bolivar was given the functions of life protector. He enjoyed special honor - by resolution of the Bolivian Congress, equestrian statues of him were installed in all major cities.
Interestingly, in 1826, Simon Bolivar drafted a constitution for Bolivia based on the European system of government. It became a model for other South American countries.
Thus, three large states came under his rule. In 1819, he became president of Gran Colombia, which included Baja Grenada (modern Colombia and Panama) and the province of Quito (modern Ecuador). Soon, however, new unrest began in these countries, and they, in turn, began to seek independence from each other. This happened primarily because Bolivar turned from a Liberator into a despot and a typical dictator.
He was never able to implement many noble thoughts: not only the USA and Great Britain interfered, but also internal political contradictions. By 1830, Bolivar remained the ruler of only Colombia, but he resigned from this post as well. On March 1, 1830, the resignation was accepted; he was going to leave for Europe, but did not have time to do so. On December 17, 1830, Simon Bolivar died. However, in the memory of the people he remained under the name of the Liberator. His ideas of state management turned out to be higher and nobler than their implementation.
In 1832, by order of the Venezuelan government, the ashes of Simon Bolivar were solemnly brought to Caracas. Subsequently, monuments to him were erected in different cities of South America and even in New York.
Jose Gil de Castro. Bolivar.
“Your name - a diamond - is not subject to the waves of time that wash away the names of all kings from memory” - Cuban romantic poet Jose Maria Heredia dedicated these lines to his older contemporary Simon Bolivar. The poetic prophecy, as often happens, came true. The waves of time not only did not carry away the name of the great Liberator of Latin America into bottomless oblivion, but gave it even greater radiance, revealing for posterity new, hitherto unknown facets of his talent.
Simon Jose Antonio Bolivar was born on June 24, 1783 in the city of Caracas into an aristocratic Creole family, whose ancestors settled in Venezuela back in the 16th century. Nobility and material wealth seemed to guarantee him a cloudless life. However, a series of losses soon followed: his father died in 1786, his mother died in 1792, and a year later his grandfather, who was caring for Simon, died.
Having lost his parents in his youth, the boy matured faster than his peers. He received a good education at home, his teachers were Andre Bello - poet, philologist, lawyer and Simon Rodriguez - author of philosophical and pedagogical works. Years later, Bolivar wrote about Rodriguez: “To him I owe everything... He formed my heart for freedom, for justice, for the great, for the beautiful.”
The teacher and student visited Europe several times. In 1806, in Rome, on the Sacred Mountain, Bolivar, turning to Rodriguez, solemnly said: “I swear before you and before the God of my parents, I swear by them, I swear by my honor, I swear by my Motherland that my my hand and my soul will never tire until the chains of Spanish slavery that oppress us are broken.”
For more than three centuries, most of the peoples of the New World were under Spanish rule. During this time, insoluble contradictions arose between the metropolis and the colonies. Creoles - immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula who settled in America - were especially irritated by restrictions in the field of trade and in the political sphere. The first amounted to a ban on trade with other states, the second actually denied Creoles access to leadership positions in the colonial administration. The indigenous Indian population could not accept the encroachment on their land and freedom; black slaves - abused and exploited. The numerous prohibitions in cultural life were equally hateful for Latin Americans. After the start of the Great French Revolution, almost everything French was banned in Spain and its colonies: from the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” to vests in the latest Parisian fashion, not to mention books and newspapers.
Simon Bolivar and other war leaders behind independence (Francisco de Miranda, Antonio Nariño, José de San Martin, Bernard doO Higgins, Antonio José Sucre) were convinced that a successful outcome of the struggle of the peoples of Spanish America for liberation was unthinkable without their solidarity and unity. Already in 1812 Bolivar said that Venezuela and “all of America” are fighting for a common cause.
In a letter from Jamaica dated September 6, 1815, which became one of the program documents of the War of Independence, Bolivar stated long before its outcome: “The fate of America has been finally determined. The ties connecting it with Spain have been broken.”
Both Bolivar and many of his associates at the beginning of the 19th century. They hoped for help from the United States, the first republic in the Western Hemisphere. “We are alone, we are forced to turn to the North for help, primarily because they are our neighbors and brothers, and also because we have neither the means nor the opportunity for contacts with other countries,” Bolivar wrote. However, by declaring neutrality, “neighbors and brothers” actually sided with Spain.
Already in the 20s. XIX century Bolivar quite accurately predicted the main directions of US territorial expansion in the New World: “Look carefully at the map,” he told his aide-de-camp, General Leary. - In the north you will see the USA, our powerful neighbor, whose friendship for us is based on arithmetic: I give you so much, in return I want twice as much. The United States has captured Florida... it's setting its sights on Cuba and Puerto Rico. If the Mexicans allow it, they will take over Texas, and perhaps all of Mexico."
"Motherland, independence, freedom!" - under these slogans the war years passed - 1810-1826. Victories and defeats, failures and successes alternated. In those days, Bolivar was truly omnipresent. “He lived as if among flashes of flame and was a flame himself,” Jose Marti wrote about him. 15 years of heroic service, 472 battles - this is the track record of Bolivar, soldier and commander. The formation of a number of independent states in South America - Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador - is also associated with his name.
The fragile sovereignty of the young republics could at any moment fail to withstand the economic and political, and sometimes military, pressure of the most powerful European powers, which mainly supported Spain in its many-year campaign to retain the colonies. (And the United States did not stand aside.) In Europe, as is known, all issues related to international relations were resolved in those years within the framework of the “Holy Alliance.” Hence Bolivar’s desire to create a “Holy Union of Peoples” that could oppose the “Holy Alliance” of monarchs.
Twice he tried to practically implement the idea of Latin American unity. First of all, he wanted to achieve this by including in a broad confederation of Spanish-speaking states
gifts of the Western Hemisphere. A unique model could be the so-called Gran Colombia - a state created by the Angostura Congress of 1819, which included Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador on a voluntary basis. It existed from 1821 to 1830.
Weakness and prematurity this associations emerged very quickly. Huge distances and the lack of a wide network of communications, economic devastation, the appearance of numerous caudillos on the ground who opposed the central government - all this led to fragmentation, discord, and ultimately to the collapse of Gran Colombia.
Once again Bolivar tried to breathe life into the idea of Latin American unity in 1826 at the Panama Congress convened on his initiative. His plans included the establishment of a regularly convened congress of all Latin American states in Panama, that is, in the very center of the New World. In the event of a general danger, forces were to be concentrated there to neutralize it, and in peacetime, Congress would play the role of a mediator and arbitrator. If necessary, it was planned to put an army and navy at his disposal. But these plans remained only in the area of projects. Only delegates from Colombia, Peru, Mexico and the Central American Federation were present at the congress, which ruined Bolivar's plans. He wrote sadly that at that moment he was “like that crazy Greek who, sitting on a rock, tried to control the ships passing by.”
"I will do everything in my power for America!" - this phrase, uttered by the Liberator on October 21, 1825, reflects the deep essence of his vigorous activity, however, it was in the second half of the 20s. Bolivar's maximalism was most tested. Many noble intentions could not be realized - not only the USA and Great Britain interfered, but also acute internal political contradictions in Gran Colombia itself. Strife, envy and vanity of some of yesterday's friends and comrades, the struggle for power and slander spread by his opponents in the army - all this extremely complicated the situation in the country and undermined the forces of the Liberator.
He is accused of seeking to establish a dictatorship, and in response to this, in 1829 - early 1830, he three times asks Congress for his resignation, “I am suspected of seeking to establish tyranny. But if the fate of the state depends on one person, then this the state has no right to exist and will eventually perish,” he wrote in his resignation letter. After his request was granted on March 1, 1830, Bolívar intended to travel to Europe, but died on his native continent on December 17, 1830.
Simon Bolivar is one of the most famous leaders of the war for the independence of the Spanish colonies in America. Considered a national hero of Venezuela. He was a general. He is credited with liberating from Spanish rule not only Venezuela, but also the territories in which modern Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and Peru are located. In the territories of the so-called Upper Peru, he founded the Republic of Bolivia, which was named after him.
Childhood and youth
Simon Bolivar was born in 1783. He was born on July 24th. Simon Bolivar's hometown is Caracas, which at that time was part of the Spanish Empire. He grew up in a noble Creole Basque family. His father came from Spain, taking part in public life in Venezuela. Both of his parents died early. The education of Simon Bolivar was carried out by the famous educator of that time, Simon Rodriguez, a famous Venezuelan philosopher.
In 1799, Simon's relatives decided to take him from troubled Caracas back to Spain. Bolivar also ended up there and began studying law. Then he went on a trip to Europe to get to know the world better. He visited Germany, Italy, France, England, Switzerland. In Paris, he attended courses at the Higher and Polytechnic schools.
It is known that during this trip to Europe he became a Freemason. In 1824 he established a lodge in Peru.
In 1805, Simon Bolivar arrived in the United States, where he developed a plan to liberate South America from Spanish rule.
Republic in Venezuela
First of all, Simon Bolivar turned out to be one of the most active participants in the overthrow of Spanish rule in Venezuela. In fact, a coup d'état took place there in 1810, and the following year the creation of an independent republic was officially announced.
In the same year, the revolutionary junta decides to send Bolivar to London to gain support from the British government. True, the British did not want to openly spoil relations with Spain, deciding to maintain neutrality. Bolivar nevertheless left his agent Louis Lopez Mendez in London to further conclude agreements on the recruitment of soldiers and loans for Venezuela, and he himself returned to the South American republic with a whole transport of weapons.
Spain was not going to quickly surrender to the rebels. General Monteverde enters into an alliance with the semi-wild inhabitants of the Venezuelan steppes, the warlike Llaneros. The head of this irregular military formation is José Tomas Boves, who had the nickname “Boves the Screamer.” After this, the war takes on a particularly fierce character.
Simon Bolivar, whose biography is given in this article, takes harsh retaliatory measures, ordering the destruction of all prisoners. However, nothing helps, in 1812 his army suffers a crushing defeat from the Spaniards in New Granada on the territory of modern Colombia. Bolivar himself writes the “Manifesto from Cartagena,” in which he describes what happened, and then returns to his homeland.
By the end of the summer of 1813, his troops liberated Caracas, Bolivar was officially proclaimed the “liberator of Venezuela.” The Second Venezuelan Republic is being created, headed by the hero of our article. The National Congress confirms the awarding of the title of Liberator to him.
However, Bolivar does not manage to stay in power for long. He turns out to be an indecisive politician who does not carry out reforms in the interests of the poorest segments of the population. Without gaining their support, he was defeated already in 1814. forces Bolivar to leave the Venezuelan capital. In fact, he is forced to flee and seek refuge in Jamaica. In 1815, he published an open letter from there, in which he declared the liberation of Spanish America in the near future.
Gran Colombia
Having realized his mistakes, he gets down to business with renewed energy. Bolivar understands that his strategic miscalculation was the refusal to solve social problems and liberate the Arabs. The hero of our article convinces Haitian President Alexandre Petion to help the rebels with weapons, and in 1816 he lands on the shores of Venezuela.
The decrees on the abolition of slavery and the decree on allocating land plots to the soldiers of the liberation army allowed him to significantly expand his social base and enlist the support of a large number of new supporters. In particular, the Llaneros, led by their compatriot José Antonio Paez after the death of Boves in 1814, go over to Bolivar's side.
Bolivar strives to unite all the revolutionary forces and their leaders around himself in order to act together, but he fails. However, the Dutch merchant Brion helps him occupy Angostura in 1817, and then raises all of Guiana against Spain. Not everything is smooth inside the revolutionary army. Bolivar orders the arrest of two of his former associates - Marino and Piar, the latter will be executed in October 17th year.
The following winter, a party of mercenary soldiers from London arrives to the aid of the hero of our article, from whom he manages to form a new army. Following their successes in Venezuela, they liberated New Granada in 1819, and in December Bolivar was elected president of the Republic of Colombia. This decision is made by the first national congress, which meets in Angostura. President Simon Bolivar goes down in history as the leader of Gran Colombia. At this stage it includes New Granada and Venezuela.
In 1822, the Colombians drove the Spaniards out of the province of Quito, which joined Gran Colombia. Now it is an independent state of Ecuador.
War of Liberation
It is noteworthy that Bolivar does not rest on this. In 1821, his volunteer army defeated the Spanish royal troops in the area of the settlement of Carabobo.
In the summer of next year, he negotiates with Jose de San Martin, who is waging a similar war of liberation, having already managed to liberate part of Peru. But the two rebel leaders fail to find a common language. Moreover, in 1822, San Martin resigns, Bolivar sends Colombian units to Peru to continue the liberation movement. In the battles of Junin and on the Ayacucho plain, they won a convincing victory over the enemy, defeating the last detachments of the Spaniards who still remained on the continent.
In 1824, Venezuela was completely liberated from colonists. In 1824, Bolivar became dictator of Peru and also headed the Republic of Bolivia, named after him.
Personal life
In 1822, Bolivar meets the Creole Manuela Saenz in the city of Quito. From that moment on, she becomes his inseparable companion and faithful friend. She was 12 years younger than the hero of our article.
It is known that she was an illegitimate child. After the death of her mother, she studied literacy in a monastery, left there at the age of 17 and lived with her father for some time. He even married her to an English businessman. She and her husband moved to Lima, where she first encountered the revolutionary movement.
In 1822, she left her husband and returned to Quito, where she met the hero of our article. Simon Bolivar and Manuela Saenz remained together until the revolutionary's death. When she saved him from an assassination attempt in 1828, she received the nickname “liberator of the liberator.”
After his death, she moved to Paita, where she sold tobacco and sweets. In 1856 she died during a diphtheria epidemic.
Collapse of Gran Colombia
Bolivar sought to form the Southern United States, which would include Peru, Colombia, Chile and La Plata. in 1826 he convenes a Congress in Panama, but it ends in failure. Moreover, he is beginning to be accused of trying to create an empire in which he will play the role of Napoleon. Party strife begins in Colombia itself; some deputies, led by General Paez, proclaim autonomy.
Bolivar assumes dictatorial powers and convenes a national assembly. They discuss changing the constitution, but after several meetings they cannot come to any decision.
At the same time, the Peruvians reject the Bolivian Code, depriving the hero of our article of the title of president for life. Having lost Bolivia and Peru, he founded the residence of the ruler of Colombia in Bogota.
Assassination
In September 1828, an attempt was made on his life. Federalists break into the palace and kill the guards. Bolivar manages to escape. The majority of the population is on his side, with the help of which the rebellion is suppressed. The head of the conspirators, Vice President Santander, is expelled from the country along with his closest supporters.
However, the very next year the anarchy intensified. Caracas declares the secession of Venezuela. Bolivar is losing power and influence, constantly complaining about accusations against him from America and Europe.
Resign
At the very beginning of 1830, Bolivar resigned, and soon after that he died near the Colombian city of Santa Marta. He gives up houses, lands and even pensions. Spends his last days admiring the scenery of the Sierra Nevada. The hero of the revolution was 47 years old.
In 2010, his body was exhumed by order of Hugo Chavez in order to establish the true cause of his death. But it never worked out. It was reburied in the center of Caracas in a specially built mausoleum.
Bolivarian
Simon Bolivar went down in history as a liberator who liberated South America from Spanish rule. According to some sources, he won 472 battles.
It is still very popular in Latin America. His name is immortalized in the name of Bolivia, many cities, provinces, and several monetary units. The multiple Bolivian football champion is called "Bolivar".
In works of art
It is Bolivar who is the prototype of the main character in the novel by the Colombian writer Marquez “The General in His Labyrinth.” It describes the events of the last year of his life.
Bolivar's biography was written by Ivan Franko, Emil Ludwig and many others. The Austrian playwright Ferdinand Brückner has two plays dedicated to the revolutionary. These are "Fighting the Dragon" and "Fighting the Angel".
It is noteworthy that Karl Marx spoke negatively about Bolivar. He saw dictatorial and Bonapartist features in his activities. Because of this, in Soviet literature the hero of our article was assessed for a long time exclusively as a dictator who acted on the side of the landowners and the bourgeoisie.
Many Latin Americans disputed this view. For example, Doctor of Historical Sciences Moisei Samuilovich Alperovich. Soviet illegal intelligence officer and Latin American Joseph Grigulevich even wrote a biography of Bolivar for the series “The Lives of Remarkable People.” For this, in Venezuela he was awarded the Order of Miranda, and in Colombia he was accepted into the local writers’ association.
On the big screen
The 1969 film "Simon Bolivar" tells in detail about the biography of the revolutionary. It is a co-production between Spain, Italy and Venezuela. The director of the film "Simon Bolivar" was the Italian Alessandro Blasetti. This was his last job.
The main roles in the film "Simón Bolivar" were played by Rosanna Schiaffino, Conrado San Martin, Fernando Sancho, Manuel Gil, Luis Davila, Angel del Pozo, Julio Peña and Sancho Gracia.
(Bolivar, 1783 - 1830) - hero of the wars of independence with Spain in the countries of South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia are named after him); founder of Pan-Americanism, planned the creation of Gran Colombia.
Inspired by the views of European rationalists, Simon Bolivar vowed to free America from Spanish rule. Beginning in 1812, Bolivar took part in the Republican uprisings, and in 1819, having won a decisive victory at Boyaca, he secured the independence of New Granada (Colombia) from Spain. Two years later, he defeated the Spanish royalists at the Battle of Carabobo (June 1821), which brought independence to Venezuela.
Simon Bolivar then led his army into Ecuador and drove the Spanish out of Quito. In 1822, in Guayaquil, he met José San Martín. The leaders of the national liberation movement on the future of South America differed, and as a result, San Martin resigned from command of the troops; Already under the command of Bolivar, the Republican army expelled the Spaniards from Peru (1824), the last stronghold of colonialism on the continent. Bolivar agreed to become president of the Gran Colombia confederation (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama), but, unable to prevent the collapse of the confederation into three independent states in April 1830, he resigned.
(full name: Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar de la Concepción y Ponte Palacios y Blanco), general, national hero, perhaps the most influential of the leaders of the liberation war of the Spanish colonies in Latin America.
Bolivar liberated Venezuela (present day) from the rule of Spain (today's and Panama) in 1819 -1830. was the president of Gran Colombia, liberated it in 1824, and headed the Republic in 1825. In 1813 he was proclaimed “The Liberator” (El Libertador) by the National Congress of Venezuela.
Childhood and youth
Simon Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783 in the capital of Venezuela, into a wealthy Creole family of Basque origin (based on their skin color and wealth, they were called “Gran Cacao”), whose ancestors had settled in America since the 16th century. The boy lost his parents early; the inheritance inherited from his father was later useful to Simon in the formation of the liberation army.
Simon did not attend school or university. Two mentors, Andres Bello and Simon Rodriguez (an outstanding Latin American scientist and teacher), were involved in his upbringing; they showed fatherly care for the boy, giving him brilliant knowledge, which Simon multiplied by voraciously reading books, traveling around Europe and communicating with outstanding people of his time. .
In Madrid, Simon studied law, in Paris he witnessed the last days of the Great French Revolution. In 1801, Bolivar married in Madrid, the couple intended to return to Caracas, but a year later his wife died of yellow fever, and the young man remained in Europe.
Bolivar's oath and the beginning of his political career
When in 1805 Bolivar and Simon Rodriguez, his mentor, traveled through Italy, in Rome, on the Sacred Mountain of Monte Sacro (Italian: Monte Sacro), on August 15, 1805 Simon took an oath:
“I swear by my ancestors, I swear by their God, I swear by my honor, I swear by my Motherland that I will not give rest to my hands. I will not give peace to my soul until the chains that hold my people under the yoke of Spanish rule fall.”
In 1808, when Napoleon invaded Spain and King Ferdinand was arrested, a situation of dual power arose in the colonies: under the previous, displaced king, a new one appeared - Bonaparte's protege.
The Creoles of Venezuela created the “Patriotic Junta” to defend the interests of King Ferdinand, which soon transformed into an independent government. The Bolivar brothers were appointed ambassadors of the new government: Simon in London, his brother in the USA. The ambassadors attracted allies and supporters and looked for weapons. At this time, in London, Simon met (Spanish: Francisco de Miranda), his compatriot, a former colonel in the Spanish army and a participant in the Great French Revolution, who traveled a lot. Bolivar invited the professional military man to return to his homeland.
Simon Bolivar - Liberator 
In 1810, with the active participation of patriots led by Bolivar and Miranda, the Congress of Venezuela declared the establishment of a Republic independent from Spain. However, the first Venezuelan Republic, headed by Miranda, did not last long.
The powerful and professional Spanish army dealt with the rebellious detachments of young revolutionaries. After the suppression of the revolution, Miranda ended up in a Spanish prison, where he died after several years of imprisonment. And Bolivar emigrated from the country, settling in New Granada (today's Colombia) by 1812. In May 1813, he returned to his homeland with an armed detachment of volunteers (about 500 people), at the head of which, by August, he fought his way to Caracas and occupied it!
Simon Bolivar created the second Venezuelan Republic, and the Venezuelan Congress proclaimed him Liberator.
Triumphant return
However, Bolivar’s army was small, and he was opposed by a corps of soldiers sent from Spain (10 thousand people) and detachments of dissatisfied “llaneros” (landowners). “Order” began to be restored in the country: those who supported the rebels were killed, their houses were robbed and burned. Having lost up to 1.5 thousand supporters, Bolivar, having suffered another defeat, fled to the island of Jamaica. Almost the entire South American continent was again under Spanish rule.
In 1814, Bolivar moved to Haiti, where he was supported by the first president of the Republic of Haiti, Alexander Petion(Spanish Pétion), having received a promise from Simon to free the slaves in an independent Venezuela.
From this island in the center, Bolivar launched several landing expeditions to the north of South America, but the Spanish garrisons on the coast repelled all attempts by the rebels to gain a foothold there.
Bolivar tried to organize a liberation army, uniting disparate rebel groups. In addition to the “local” forces, he created a corps of European volunteers: Germans, French, British, Irish and even Russians. He decided that only professionals could fight a professional army. Simon Bolivar returned to his homeland again in 1816.
He immediately issued a decree abolishing slavery, which contributed to the fact that his support among the population increased significantly. Bolivar sought to liberate not only his country, but also the masses of ordinary people. Later, he issued decrees on the confiscation of the property of proteges of the Spanish crown, on the allocation of land to the soldiers of the liberation army. The general was determined, declaring that freedom must be won, there would be no mercy for the aggressors.
His army captured the Angostura area and then returned to Venezuela.
In February 1817, a decisive battle took place nearby. One of the decisive reasons for the military successes of the rebels was that Spain was tormented by internal contradictions. There was a bourgeois revolution there, and at that moment she was unable to send military units to her South American colonies.
Bolivar and the Spanish commander, General Morillo, negotiated a truce. Soon Morillo was recalled to Spain, and Bolivar's troops liberated the capital of Venezuela, the city of Caracas, and then New Granada.
At the beginning of 1819, in Angostura, the capital of regions independent from Spanish rule, the National Congress convened by Bolivar opened, where the independence of Venezuela was again proclaimed. In the speech that Simon Bolivar delivered to the participants of the Congress, he outlined his plans for the state structure, spoke about the difficulties awaiting liberated peoples, about the principles of the rule of law, about the political and legal doctrine based on the principles of separation of powers. A new Constitution was adopted in August. In December 1819, he was elected president of Gran Colombia, which included New Granada and Venezuela (and Ecuador joined in 1822). The Republic became the largest Latin American state, which existed until 1830.
Bolívar's Liberation Army
Victory! What's next?
However, the young state, as before, is threatened by the Spanish army (about 20 thousand soldiers in neighboring Peru), which is being fought by Argentine-Chilean-Peruvian formations under the command of General San Martin, although their forces are small.
In the summer of 1822, two commanders, Bolivar and San Martin (Spanish: José Francisco de San Martín), met in Guayaquil (Spanish: Guayaquil, the city of modern Ecuador), but they could not agree on joint activities: San Martin’s task was to liberate Peru, he needs help, Bolivar had forces, but there was no resolution of the Congress of Gran Colombia on military assistance to San Martin. The Chileans liberated by San Martin offered him to become head of state, but he refused.
The Peruvians, having declared independence, declared General San Martin their “protector” (Defender).
But who will lead a free country and who will command the troops? The commanders talked in private, after the negotiations were completed, San Martin left Peru, units of Bolivar’s army entered the battle with the Spaniards and a few years later liberated the entire country. As a result, two new independent states emerged - Peru and Bolivia.
Simon Bolivar became President of Gran Colombia, Dictator of Peru (1824), and in 1825 headed the independent Republic of Bolivia, named after him.
When the victorious euphoria subsided a little, Bolivar began to try to create a unified state. On his initiative, the Latin American Congress was convened in Panama (1826), but Bolivar’s ideas about creating a single powerful Latin American state did not find support due to opposition from Great Britain and the United States. Neither London nor Washington wanted Latin America to be strong and independent. Personal factors also played a significant role: Bolivar’s authoritarian rule frightened potential political allies.
His ideas on economic development and education, the need to ensure the rights of indigenous Indians, establishing relations with the church, reform of the judicial system and nationalization of natural resources were not approved. South American latifundistas (landowners who exploit slave labor) did not like Bolivar's concern for the poor; The concept of separation of church and state and the prohibition of the Inquisition was alien to the clergy; slave owners did not need Bolivar's zeal for Indian rights.
When Simon Bolivar argued about the need to introduce a lifelong presidency and proposed the creation of a 3rd chamber of the “Moral Authority,” he was accused of seeking to usurp power. His attempts to find support from the church led to some complications with his former comrades.
A group of young officers plotted against the “national liberator,” but the conspirators were executed, which did not strengthen Bolivar’s position.
Resignation, illness, death
In the War of Independence, Bolivar had many comrades with him. But after his victory, he failed to unite groups of different beliefs. In 1827-1828 in Bolivia and Peru, Bolivar's power was overthrown; over the next 2 years, Ecuador and Venezuela separated from Gran Colombia. A heavy blow for Simon was the murder of his devoted military comrade-in-arms, the general (Spanish Antonio de Sucre), in whom Bolivar saw his worthy successor.
Bolivar decided at the beginning of 1830 to leave the post of President of Colombia, resign and leave New Granada, but he was crippled by a serious illness - tuberculosis. Before his death, he wrote his political “testament”, where he did not name the successor, but indicated the qualities that the future leader of the state should have and what he should strive for.
Great Legacy
- No other Latin American hero has been written about as much as S.B.
- Of course, there is a kind of “cult” of S.B., because in almost every city in Latin America there is certainly a square and a monument to the national idol. Today S.B. is not only a national hero and legend, but to this day he remains a teacher for most Latin American political figures.
- In the legacy of S.B. some highlight his words about the need for strong rule and dictatorship in developing countries; for others, his ideas about state justice and equality of free citizens of a free country, regardless of their nationality, wealth or titles, became fundamental.
- Today's world has changed and moved forward largely thanks to patriots and heroes like Simon Bolivar.