Simon Bolivar

The leaders of the countries that owed their independence to Bolívar were not anxious to recognize their debt. In his visit to Vatican City, during his travels throughout Europe, Bolivar refused to kneel down and kiss the cross on the Pope’s shoe, so the Pope allowed the young Bolivar to kiss his ring instead. The time came when General Simon Bolivar met with General Jose de San Martin, liberator of Argentina and Chile, to discuss the invasion of Peru and the future of Latin America. Following the defeat of the Spaniards at the colonies of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador, they were annexed into one single entity named Gran Colombia. Every president, congressman, or delegate had his own individual ambitions, which often collided with the ambitions of others. In the famous Jamaica letter, Bolivar observed that “it is not the Spaniards but our own lack of unity that has brought us again to slavery”. In 1824, the region of upper Peru declared its own sovereignty and named its new nation

Bolivia, in honor of its liberator. The Royal forces answered quickly, and because of the lack of cooperation among Bolivar’s soldiers and the Venezuelans, they were able to overthrow the rebellious occupation army. On July 5th, 1811, Simon Bolivar’s allies peacefully took control of Caracas, and declared the independence of Venezuela. Nevertheless, he held the presidency of Venezuela for several times, various seats in the congress of Colombia, and the dictatorship of Peru. When the Royal army was finally destroyed, Bolivar’s military allies proved more dangerous than Spain itself, because it was their corruptive minds and lack of cooperation which made it so difficult, and often impossible, for Bolivar to reach his goal of unification. Because of the disappointing meeting at the Congress of Panama in 1824, Bolivar realized that his dream about a strong confederation among the former Spanish colonies was never going to happen, but he still urged the people of South America to remain unified and to continue their sacrifices until the well being of the scattered republics could be reached. Today many Spanish Americans consider Bolívar one of the leading heroes of the independence movement and one of the early supporters of republican government in Spanish America.

Bolivar's lasting achievement was the liberation of six separate nations: Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The government of Venezuela even refused to allow his body onto Venezuelan soil, and he was buried in Colombia.