47, no. comments powered by By the end of his life, Bolivar was a deeply disappointed and bitter man who wrote to a friend: All who served the Revolution have plowed the sea (Bolivar 1830). Helg, A. In this regard, Bolivar very much anticipates Tocquevilles analysis in Democracy in America. He was a staunch anti-colonialist when it came to Spanish America; but he had high praises for the Roman imperial ethos, he seemed content with the British imperialism of his day, and he repeated many of the tropes typical of 19th Century colonialist thinking. The British executive power possesses all the authority properly appertaining to a sovereign, but a triple line of dams, barriers, and stockades surrounds him. Bolvar, Simn. Download date: August 25th, 2018. By this I mean that the result will be the death of the government, whose heirs are anarchy, usurpation, and tyranny . Colombia: Civility and Violence, Document #20: Press Release from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Secretariat of the Central General Command of the FARC-EP (2002), Document #21: Statement by Humberto de la Calle, Head of the Government Delegation to the Conversations Table, Humberto de la Calle (2013), Chapter 8. On the contrary, aristocracy and monarchy have long established great and powerful empires. Do we not read in Montesquieus Spirit of the Laws that laws should be suited to the people making them, and that it is extremely unlikely that the laws of our nation will suit another? (Bolivar 1819). Under Jose de Galvezs (17201787) recommendation (after an administrative visit to the Indies), posts high in the military and civil hierarchy (including ecclesiastical appointments) ruling American affairs, would no longer be occupied by people born in Spanish America, but rather, by administrators born in Spain, i.e., the peninsulares. The Enlightenment did not reach Spain with the same force as it did in France or Great Britain. Furthermore, by 1814, Napoleons troops retreated from Spain, and Ferdinand VII returned to power. He makes his first point very quickly in the first sentence, "We are not Europeans.Americans by birth and Europeans by law." Please look indulgently on this declaration of my political vision, on my heartfelt desires and my earnest pleas, which I have dared to address to you in the name of the people (Bolivar 1819). He was proud, and his words show it. Ciudad Bolvar (Spanish pronunciation: [sjua olia]; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolvar State.It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about 1 mile (1.6 km) in width, is the site of the first bridge across the river, and is a major riverport for the eastern regions of . This may not seem groundbreaking today, but in 1819, it was. God save Congress! (Bolivar 1819). 1974. The Cortes, assembled in Cadiz during Napoleons invasion of Spain, redacted a very liberal Constitution by the standards of the time. This is an understandable and legitimate point. Las Indias no eran colonias. Bolivar, S. 1821. Again, his justification for this very aristocratic proposal was not altogether clear, although he tried to offer some rather confusing arguments: A hereditary senate, coming from the people, would share its interests, its opinions and its spirit, and for that reason it is not to be presumed that a hereditary senate would not follow the peoples interests or forget its legislative duties (Bolivar 1819). A strongly rooted force can only correct this weakness. Unfortunately, again, Bolivars reasoning is very confusing; as every critic of the House of Lords or any other hereditary office reminds us, such an institution is precisely the foundation for a nobility. Bolivar, S. 1819. It is an office for which candidates ought to be prepared, as a senator needs much wisdom and the right faculties to acquire knowledge (Bolivar 1819). In 1829, in the mist of continuous crises of legitimacy, some of Bolivars loyalists in Bogota proposed to establish a monarchy, with Bolivar as king, although his title would be Liberator; he would then have a European prince as successor (Lynch 2010: 263). An address of Bolivar at the Congress of Angostura (February 15, 1819) Reprint ordered by the government of the United States of Venezuela, to commemorate the centennial of the opening of the Congress by Bolvar, Simn, 1783-1830 Give Venezuela such an executive power in the person of a president chosen by the people or their representatives, and you will have taken a great step toward national happiness. In modern times, he sought the protection of the British empire; in referring to ancient times, he consistently showed admiration for Roman imperialism, and had no words of criticism for it, as once again expressed in the Angostura Address: A monstrous and purely warlike government raised Rome to the highest pitch of virtue and glory, and made the whole world a Roman Empire, showing men just how much can be achieved by political virtue, and how trivial the influence of institutions can be (Bolivar 1819). Breaking up with TINA? Throughout his lifetime, Bolivar was concerned with public morality, and perhaps his most quoted words by Colombian and Venezuelan schoolchildren, come from the Angostura Address: Morals and knowledge are what we most need now (Bolivar 1819). Again, Bolivar does not make it sufficiently clear. 2018;47(1):74-82. In the speech, Bolvar lays the foundations for the establishment of democratically governed Gran Colombia that is free from the burden of slavery and racial inequality. In the context of early 19th Century Venezuela, this was a major accomplishment. ended four years prior. During Simon Bolivar's address at the Congress of Angostura, in 1819, he argued for the freedom of the people of Latin America. But, admittedly, it had turned out to be very corrupt. Chile: Repression and Democracy, A Voyage from the United States to South America, Thomas Bennett (1821), Document #28: Final Speech, Salvador Allende (1973), Document #29: Military Decrees on Seizing Power, Augusto Pinochet (1973), Document #30: Inaugural Address, Michelle Bachelet (2006), A Romanticism of Slavery and the Plantation Economy, Casa Grande e Senzala and the Formation of a New Brazilian Identity, Amnesty, Amnesia, and Moral Reparations in Brazil, Exploracin oficial por la primera vez desde el norte de la America del SurViaje a Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Michelena y Rojas (1867), Document #31: On Slavery in Brazil, Thomas Ewbank (1856), Document #32: State Department Telegram to Ambassador Lincoln Gordon (1964), Document #33: Letter to Pope Paul VI, Marcos Sattamini Pena de Arruda (1971), Document #34: Speech of the President of the Republic in the ceremony installing the Truth Commission, Dilma Rousseff (2012), Chapter 12. Charles III introduced a system of comercio libre, free trade, but the name is very deceptive. Sparta, of course, is the emblem of militarism in Western imagination. In the Angostura Address, he returns to this theme: The more I admire the excellency of the Federal Constitution of Venezuela, the more am I convinced of the impossibility of applying it to our situation (Bolivar 1819). Yet, Bolivars point is that Spanish imperialism is even worse than Oriental despotism, inasmuch as the control exercised by the Spanish Crown is even tighter than in Eastern societies. This speech, now known as the Angostura Address, is a prime document in the Bolivarian canon. By contrast, Counter-Enlightenment authors such as Joseph de Maistre argued thus: In the course of my life, I have seen Frenchmen, Italians, Russians, etc. of History, Cal. This is not to say that Bolivars relationship to people of African descent was totally harmonious. The Jamaica Letter is mostly about Bolivars attempt to justify his struggle for American independence. Under the leadership of the Libertador Simn Bolvar, revolutionary forces repeatedly fought off Spanish attempts to regain control of the region until Bolvar decisively expelled Spanish forces at the battle of Ayacucho in 1824. Almost immediately, Bolivar had to confront a revolt lead by Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas (17731832) and Jos Toms Boves (17821814), who lured black slaves, mulatos and indigenous people to swore allegiance to the legitimate Spanish King who by then had been re-stated to the Crown. (2018). Who can resist the lure of a beneficent government which employs an able, active and powerful hand to direct all its efforts at all times towards social perfection, which ought to be the end of all human institutions? (Bolivar 1819). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. He begins the address by presenting the concept that "We are not Europeans; we are not Indians; we are but a mixed species of aborigines and Spaniards" (Boli var). Although there were many reasons for Bolivars disputes with Francisco de Paula Santander (17921840) and other conspirators in Bogota, it was by far the ambition of becoming President for Life that turned out to be the most crucial amongst his opponents. Bolivar spoke, expressing his ideas regarding freedom. He would lead them cross the Andes chain of mountains in modern-day Colombia towards a surprise attack on the capital, Bogota. In: Lively, J (ed. And it is for this very reason that Bolivar believes that federalism works in North America, but it would never work in South America. Angostura bark, a spice made from the bark of the tree Angostura trifoliata. Carlos Marx y Simn Bolvar: Apunte sobre el liderazgo autoritario en un movimiento de liberacin nacional. Desarrollo Econmico, 8(30/31): 293311. The Congress ultimately decided not to pursue two of Bolivars most controversial proposals in the Angostura Address: a moral power, and a hereditary senate. As early as 1805 (when he made his famous oath of American independence in Romes Monte Sacro), he was already determined to fight for American independence. The Congress would lay down the political foundation for the Third Republic. Government posts were bought and sold, thus being filled by grossly incompetent administrators. He was a spirited combatant of monarchies, yet he insisted on being president for life (i.e., a king without a crown). Former colonial powers may be admired in many regards, but that does not imply that there is exclusively one single path to progress that must be followed by all nations on Earth. Login has been disabled for this journal while it is transferred to a new platform. As it was the educational custom of his times, Bolivar was deeply embedded in the Classics, emulating the spirited rhetoric of Cicero and other great orators of Greece and Rome. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. . years prior to the Congress of Angostura. from the Original Spanish by Francisco Javier Ynes). He first settled in Jamaica, and then in Haiti. Our weak and feeble fellow citizens will have to increase in strength of mind in a very great degree, before they can be permitted to digest freedoms wholesome food (Bolivar 1819). Indeed, in the 18th Century, a series of reforms began to be undertaken by the new Spanish ruling dynasty, the Bourbons. Be as it may, however, the Constitution of Bolivia of 1826 proved to be his outdoing. Bogota: Random House. 2003. The address is presented in Spanish with a short editorial introduction in English. Simn Bolvar: Liberation and Disappointment. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. Yet, at the same time, Bolivar seems to reproduce some old colonialist tropes, according to which Anglo-Saxon peoples are more virtuous. Chodor, T. 2014. The Congress of Angostura was convened by Simn Bolvar and took place in Angostura during the wars of Independence of Colombia and Venezuela, culminating in the proclamation of the Republic of Colombia . During Habsburg times, a great deal of contraband went on, but with the arrival of the Bourbons, economic regulations were severely tightened and enforced. While the courts and judges are dependent on the executive power, the laws originate in and are made by Parliament. Throughout many of his private writings, Bolivar expressed enormous concerns about pardocracia, the takeover by pardos. All three sources reveal patriotic feelings and attitudes towards their own countries. Its culminating piece of legislation was the Venezuelan Constitution of 1819, officially adopted on August 15, but quickly made obsolete by the creation of the Republic of Colombia on December 17, 1819. But, it still reflects Bolivars anti-colonial convictions, inasmuch as unlike most figures of the Spanish Enlightenment, he was not embarrassed of having African roots. What republic has exceeded in duration those of Sparta and Venice? Roberts, P. 2012. 1, 2018, pp. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427. In a sense, Bolivars approach is anti-colonial (let us remember that many aspects of colonialism itself were modeled on the universalism of the Enlightenment), inasmuch as he advises colonized peoples not to necessarily copy Eurocentric models. and men of philosophical thought (Roscio, Viscardo, etc. Discussion Questions; Further Readings; Honduras: A Country and a Coup Yet, despite his obvious ambitions, in 1819 Bolivar still wanted to appear as to be reluctant to become a perpetual dictator. http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226016191.001.0001, http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article9987, http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article10971, https://www.ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXA/bolivar/bolivia.htm, https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Carta_de_Bol%C3%ADvar_al_general_Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Flores_(1830), http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/267/26702702.pdf, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X03006849, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500001534. Please try again in 48 hours. But, the Bourbons, and especially Charles III, embraced a program of enlightened despotism and absolutism that by 1810, had fully converted the Indies into colonies. But, such celebrations should be devoid of nationalist distortions, and they should be cleansed of the typical hero-worship that has taken place in Latin America for the last 150 years, and has accelerated in Venezuela during the last 20 years. Castro, P. 2007. Bolivar was given some military assignments in defending the Venezuelan Republic against loyalists of the Spanish monarchy. However, he implores his audience of 26 representatives to take into account social realities of the former Viceroyalty when writing a new constitution. In it, from this moment, national sovereignty is centred. He had a great ability to arouse emotions with grand claims in order to get the support of his audiences, but he was still lacking in detailed political reasoning. This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. Bolivar was decidedly on the abolitionist side, and this speaks very well of his moral character. Criollos would know be second-class citizens. Download date: August 25th, 2018. Reporters Without Borders. In imitation of the British House of Lords, Bolivar proposed a hereditary Senate. Unlike Jose de San Martin (who explicitly desired a Constitutional Monarchy for emerging South American nations), he constantly paid lip service to the toppling of monarchs. ), but few embodied both military and intellectual talents. Contemporary anti-colonialists place much emphasis on the acknowledgement of cultural diversity, and Bolivar certainly took it into account when deciding what the best political path for a nation is. The wording is unmistakably reminiscent of Benthams philosophy, and indeed, the English philosopher was a major influence on Bolivars political thinking. We have been ruled more by deceit than by force, and we have been degraded more by vice than by superstition. Retrieved from: http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article9987. One of the main thesis of that classic work of political philosophy, is that American democracy is not only built on a particular form of government and its institutions, but also on the cultural foundations of Americans (Tocqueville 2004). Simon Bolvar's 1819 address to the Congress of Angostura took place in Venezuela during the long course of the struggle for independence. 2018;47(1):7482. Damas, G. 1983. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500001534, Andrade, G. and Lugo-Ocando, J., 2018. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade G, Lugo-Ocando J. Madrid: Espasa Calpe. He stated that government should work in favor of the people because they are all "American by birth and European by law", and that they should have the same rights as the other Europeans. In the Angostura Address, Bolivar tries to define Venezuelan national identity, more negatively than positively as he seemed clearer about what Venezuelans were not than what Venezuelans were: We are not Europeans, we are not Indians, but a middle race between the indigenous peoples and the Spaniards (Bolivar 1819). It should be strongly proportioned to meet the resistance, which the executive must expect from the legislature, from the judiciary, and from the people of a republic. Por que no soy bolivariano. Leiva, L. 1985. The Bourbons had a clear mercantilist economic program: the Indies were to be ruled only for the benefit of the mother country, Spain (Annino 2015). Consuls, senate and people all served also as legislators, magistrates and judges. Congress of Angostura, an 1819-1821 legislative body of Gran Colombia. If a people, perverted by their training, succeed in achieving their liberty, they will soon lose it, for it would be of no avail to endeavor to explain to them that happiness consists in the practice of virtue; that the rule of law is more powerful than the rule of tyrants, because, as the laws are more inflexible, every one should submit to their beneficent austerity; that proper morals, and not force, are the bases of law; and that to practice justice is to practice liberty. Timeline for Colonial Latin America, 1492-1824, Colonial Latin American Profiles and Personalities, Moments and Events in Late Colonial Latin America, Analysis of Arthur Syzks Bolvar and Sucre at Junin, oil on canvas (1950), Simn Bolvar and Restrained Republicanism, Document #1: Letter from Jamaica, Simn Bolvar (1815), Document #2: Address at the Congress of Angostura, Simn Bolvar (1819), Chapter 3. I will add that that people is unique in the history of the human race, and repeat that it is a miracle that a system as weak and complicated as the federal should have existed under so difficult and delicate circumstances as those which have occurred (Bolivar 1819). Bolivar was a great man of action and an important thinker, but he was still flawed in many regards. Orientalism. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. Latin America in the World Arena, 1800s-1980s, Moments and Events in U.S.-Latin American Relations (1800s-1980s), A History of United States Policy Towards Haiti, Document #46: Human Rights in Latin America: An Interview with Paulo Srgio Pinherio, Luis Muoz Martin: Founding Father of Modern Puerto Rico, Document #37: Monroe Doctrine, James Monroe (1823), Document #38 Abraham Lincoln on the Mexican-American War (1846-48), Document #39: Roosevelt Corollary, Theodore Roosevelt (1904), Document #40: Brazil, the United States and Pan Americanism, Document #35: United Fruit Co., Pablo Neruda (1950), Document #41: Address at a White House Reception for Members of Congress and for the Diplomatic Corps of the Latin American Republics, John F. Kennedy (1961), Chapter 16. If he attempts to infringe upon the law, his own ministers will desert him, thereby isolating him from the Republic, and they will even bring charges against him in the Senate. Despite the confusing nature of some of these arguments, we must not lose sight of the fact that Bolivar was, above all, a man of revolutionary action, and he responded to particular historical circumstances that may have required some necessary measure in the mist of the chaos originated in the civil war that had been going on for almost ten years.