He appeals to the idea of a modern state of equality by claiming that "slavery is the daughter of darkness: an ignorant people is a blind instrument of its own destruction" (Boli var). the Liberator Simn Bolvar's address to the Congress of Angostura, 200 years after the delivery of this monumental work. Bolivar never really says. He thus anticipated these objections, by trying to assure the audience that a hereditary Senate would not be aristocratic: In no manner whatever would the creation of a hereditary senate be a violation of political equality; it is not a nobility I wish to establish, because that, as has been said by a celebrated republican, would be to destroy at once equality and liberty. Helg, A. . A political upheaval that took place between 1765 ad 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America. Latin America in the World Arena, 1990s Present, Moments and Events in Contemporary US-Latin American Relations, Document #43: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) statement on Honduras, Document #42 President Obamas speech at the 2009 Summit of the Americas, Document #44: The Path Forward for Honduras, Document #45 Honduras: The Obama Administrations First Latin American Waterloo (2009), Document #47 Hillary Clintons speech on Opportunity in the Americas (2010), Modern Latin America, 8th Edition Companion Website, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Indeed, Bolivars stance on the moral power coheres well with his authoritarian leanings. Bolivar was a great man of action and an important thinker, but he was still flawed in many regards. 1965. 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). This would become a perennial feature amongst many Latin American caudillos ever since and something that would dominate most of the regions politics and society for the next century (Castro 2007). Yet, despite his admiration for the United States, Bolivar insists that South American nations are not ready for federalism or even North American institutions as a whole, on account of a cultural mismatch: Would it not be extremely difficult to apply to Spain the political, civil, and religious code of Great Britain? After Spains humiliating defeat in the Seven Years War, Charles III understood the necessity to cleanse the corrupt and inefficient administration of the Spanish Empire. Carta a Francisco de Paula Santander. And, at times, he seems to believe that, the new nations are not sufficiently mature to be wholly free: Liberty, says Rousseau, is a succulent food, but difficult to digest. But, regardless of the effectiveness of this form of government with respect to North America, I must say that it has never for a moment entered my mind to compare the position and character of two states as dissimilar as the English-American and the Spanish-American. Tocqueville, A. 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. and men of philosophical thought (Roscio, Viscardo, etc. In the midst of the battles for independence, Bolvar summoned a congress in the city of Angostura to reassert New Granadas autonomy and to install a political system that he believed would be capable of sustaining a new republic. Mindlessly appropriating the constitutions of other nations, he argued, would lead to Gran Colombias demise. But, admittedly, it had turned out to be very corrupt. Reprint ed., Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919. Caracas: Alfa. 1999. You may begin your work. In order to achieve this political goal, Bolivar proposes conventional republican institutions: Venezuelas government has always been republican, it is republican, and it should always remain so. While in Rome and inspired by his early contacts with liberal movements in the old continent (Bushnell 2003) he made an oath to free the American countries from Spanish imperialism (Castro-Klaren 2003). from the Original Spanish by Francisco Javier Ynes). After he assumed full dictatorial powers in 1828, Bolivar severely limited various basic liberties, appealing to reasons of public morality. 2004. The Viceroyalty of New Granadawhich included present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and parts of Ecuadorachieved independence from the Spanish Empire in a slow and uneven process. Starting in 1999, Bolivars image was politically used by Hugo Chavezs leftist revolution, and ever since, leftist governments and guerrillas (especially FARC in Colombia) throughout the region have claimed to be followers of Bolivarian thinking. Venezuelas First and Second Republic collapsed, in part because they failed to meet the support of pardos and slaves (Blanchard 2008). The hereditary senate will also serve as a counterweight to both government and people; and as a neutral power it will weaken the mutual attacks of these two eternally rival powers. We are not Europeans; we are not Indians; we are but a mixed species of aborigines and Spaniards. Americans by birth and Europeans by law, we find ourselves engaged in a dual conflict: we are disputing with the natives for titles of ownership, and at the same time we are struggling to maintain ourselves in the country that gave us birth against the opposition of the invaders. Blanchard, P. 2008. Who could resist the glorious attraction of the full and absolute enjoyment of sovereignty, independence, and liberty? This new nation . Independence would, nevertheless, prove to be no easy task. Devoted to the government because of a natural interest in its own preservation, a hereditary senate would always oppose any attempt on the part of the people to infringe upon the jurisdiction and authority of their magistrates . Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 47(1), 7482. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. Bolivars authoritarian turn came later in his political career, well after independence was sealed. He is the head of government, but his ministers and subordinates rely more upon law than upon his authority, as they are personally responsible; and not even decrees of royal authority can exempt them from this responsibility. In China they do not send for their mandarins, military, and literati to the country of Genghis Khan, who conquered them, even though the present race of Chinese are direct descendants of the tribes subjugated by the ancestors of the present Tartars. 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. Bolivar, S. 1826. Simon Bolivar and the spectre of pardocracia: Jose Padilla in post-independence Cartagena. Journal of Latin American Studies, 35(3): 447471. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. 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 Congress of Angostura A Great Address and Campaigning in the Plains (1819) Congress did not meet until February 15, 1819, on account of the late arrival of some representatives. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. My sword, and the swords of my illustrious comrades-in-arms, will protect its solemn authority. As our role has always been strictly passive and political existence nil, we find that our quest for liberty is now even more difficult of accomplishment; for we, having been placed in a state lower than slavery, had been robbed not only of our freedom but also of the right to exercise an active domestic tyranny . hold on the North American continent five. In an oft-quoted passage of the Angostura Address, he argues: The continuation of authority in the same individual has frequently proved the ruin of democratic governments. Edinburgh University Press. It is no speculation to argue that he was legitimately worried by the prospect that the emerging nations would not have a sufficiently defined national identity for viable political institutions. Discussion Questions; Further Readings; Honduras: A Country and a Coup But then, mysteriously, Bolivar argues that those very advantages are a good reason why a republican president should be endowed with greater power than a constitutional prince (Bolivar 1819). In this regard, Bolivar very much anticipates Tocquevilles analysis in Democracy in America. Yet, at the same time, Bolivar seems to reproduce some old colonialist tropes, according to which Anglo-Saxon peoples are more virtuous. Be as it may, however, the Constitution of Bolivia of 1826 proved to be his outdoing. Download date: August 25th, 2018. Again, Bolivar does not make it sufficiently clear. Considerations on France. Formerly, criollos had major participation in the administration of the Empire. comments powered by The first time he mentions freedom he says, "Americans by birth and Europeans by law, we find ourselves engaged in a dual conflict: we are disputing with the natives for titles of ownership, and at the same time we are struggling to maintain ourselves in the country that . 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). 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. Summary of H.R.541 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): BALE Act of 2023 In this regard, despite his flaws, he is to be considered one the great men of South American history. ), EZLN Command (1993), Chapter 4. He makes his first point very quickly in the first sentence, "We are not Europeans.Americans by birth and Europeans by law." Bogota: Random House. It met from February 15, 1819, established the new independent-from-Spain nation on December 17, was interrupted by further independentist activity, and reconvened on July 31, 1821, when . The whole purpose of the Angostura Congress was precisely for Bolivar to renounce power as dictator and give it back to the constituency. State Fullerton. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 47(1), pp.7482. 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