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DON
SIMÓN BOLÍVAR (1783-1830)
Known as El Libertador (the Liberator),
six nations, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama,
Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia owe their independence
from Spain to Simón Bolívar.
Born on
July 24, 1783 into a very prominent family
in Venezuela, this great statesman, writer,
and revolutionary general gave up his
social status for a more noble cause--
independence of Latin America from foreign
rule. He traveled the world and along
the way was inspired by the times in which
he lived, particularly the crowning of
Napoleon as emperor in 1804. This same
act awoke in him a desire to quell this
fire that later, while visiting Rome,
he solemnly swore he would do, "...I
will not rest my soul until Hispanic America
is liberated from Spanish rule".
He possessed an
uncanny ability to inspire men to follow
him through trackless wilderness to fight
and die for liberty. For 20 years Bolívar
led the fight to free northern South America.
His small, poorly equipped forces won
amazing victories and met overwhelming
defeats. Not everything was easy for him.
There were times where his defeats caused
him to seek exile in Haiti and Jamaica,
but always returned with a greater strength
in energy and armies.
At the height of
his power, between 1825 and 1828, he was
president of La Gran Colombia (present
day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador),
Peru, and the newly formed Bolivia (a
country named after him). Bolívar
was a sincere patriot, devoted to the
cause of liberty and equality, and a big
promoter for the unification of all the
Latin American countries under one unified
republic‹the idea of Pan-Americanism.
He
died a sad, lonely death marred by Tuberculosis,
in Santa Marta, Colombia on December 17,
1830. |
