Indeed, despite his strong criticisms of Spanish imperialism he seemed to acknowledge that Spanish rule offered an important degree of stability and unity while independence could bring instead disunity and possible chaos amongst the emerging nations: The separation of America from the Spanish Monarchy resembles the state of the Roman Empire, when that enormous structure fell to pieces in the midst of the ancient world (Bolivar 1819). Poltica y cultura, 27: 929. London: Longman Publishing Group. They justified themselves by arguing that they were just agents of a greater historical force. 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. 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. 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. Bolivar was deeply influenced by the Enlightenment thinkers. 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. 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). In it, from this moment, national sovereignty is centred. The governments, however, of those nations, were either aristocratic or monarchical (Bolivar 1819). 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). In 2010, in the backdrop of a wave of left-wing, populists and nationalists governments that have been swept into power in what some refer to as the Pink Tide (Chodor 2014), many Latin American countries (most notably Venezuela, Peru and Argentina) held massive celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the beginning of independence from Spain. The will of the Grand Sultan, the Khan, the Bey, and other despotic sovereigns, is the supreme law, and it is arbitrarily executed by the pashas and inferior governors in Turkey and Persia, where the system of oppression is completely organized, and is submitted to by the people because of the authority from which it emanates. He is directly subject to the legislative body, the senate, and the people: he is the one man who resists the combined pressure of the opinions, interests, and passions of the social state and who, as Carnot states, does little more than struggle constantly with the urge to dominate and the desire to escape domination. The executive power, consisting of two consuls, had the same flaw as Sparta. Like the North Americans, we have divided national representation into two chambers: that of Representatives and the Senate. This emphasis on militarism cohered well with his autocratic inclination. But there is more. Indeed, he was, but even more so from an intellectual point of view. 2003. Helg, A. Slavery is the daughter of darkness: an ignorant people is a blind instrument of its own destruction. 1, 2018, pp. 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). http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/267/26702702.pdf. Bolivars authoritarian turn came later in his political career, well after independence was sealed. the Liberator Simn Bolvar's address to the Congress of Angostura, 200 years after the delivery of this monumental work. 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) Discussion Questions; Further Reading; Chapter 16. It is extremely hard to follow Bolivars logic here. Be as it may, however, the Constitution of Bolivia of 1826 proved to be his outdoing. Madrid: Planeta. Yet, in 1999, Venezuelas constituents did uphold Bolivars original proposal, in a new Constitution. Central America: Within the U.S. Orbit, Timeline for Central America, 1502-Present, Central American Profiles and Personalities, Forced Disappearance and Impunity in El Jute, Guatemala, Document #9: Introduction to the Shark and the Sardines, Juan Jos Arvalo (1956), Document #10: Acceptance and Nobel Lecture, Rigoberta Mench (1992), Document #11: Special Report No. Venezuela: The Perils of Prosperity, Document #23: Address to the United Nations, Hugo Chvez (2006), Document #22: Pact of Punto Fijo, Accin Democrtica, COPEI and Unin Republicana Democrtica (1958), Chapter 9. Introduction to Political Thought. These subordinate officers are entrusted with the civil, military, and political administration, the collection of duties and the protection of religion. If he exists, I certainly have no knowledge of him (Maistre 1965: 80). Geographies of Philological Knowledge: Postcoloniality and the Trasatlantic National Epic. ended four years prior. El culto a Bolivar: Esbozo para un estudio de la historia de las ideas en Venezuela. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 47, no. 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? Altaschul, N. 2012. 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 . 2018. All three sources reveal patriotic feelings and attitudes towards their own countries. One of the most significant transformations was his approach to the position of a President for Life. The Congress of Angostura is considered Venezuela's second legislative congress, the first being the one that met in 1811. 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. There can be multiple answers to this question: These sources both signify a change in attitude with the people of each nation. Summary of H.R.541 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): BALE Act of 2023 With us it is quite different. of History, Cal. 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 Did not the Roman Empire conquer the world? Carta de Bolivar al General Juan Jose Flores. from the Original Spanish by Francisco Javier Ynes). 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. This new nation . Indeed, Bolivars stance on the moral power coheres well with his authoritarian leanings. The people are more easily deceived than is Nature perfected by art; and although these senators, it is true, would not be bred in an environment that is all virtue, it is equally true that they would be raised in an atmosphere of enlightened education. This speech, now known as the Angostura Address, is a prime document in the Bolivarian canon. Levenes thesis proposes that the Indies were actually kingdoms with the same legal standing as kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula; the implication is that Bolivars struggle for independence was unjustified. Across his address, Bolvar After he assumed full dictatorial powers in 1828, Bolivar severely limited various basic liberties, appealing to reasons of public morality. Retrieved from: https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Carta_de_Bol%C3%ADvar_al_general_Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Flores_(1830). Would it not be most difficult to apply to Spain the English system of political, civil, and religious liberty: Hence, it would be even more difficult to adapt to Venezuela the laws of North America. 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). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2515360. Armed Trading Weaponry on trade ships. Simon Bolivar and the spectre of pardocracia: Jose Padilla in post-independence Cartagena. Journal of Latin American Studies, 35(3): 447471. That is the goal of this article. After some military action in New Grenada (modern-day Colombia), Bolivar returned to Venezuela in 1812 and after a remarkable series of military triumphs he managed to recapture the capital Caracas (Lopez and Lopez 1999). 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). Carlos Marx y Simn Bolvar: Apunte sobre el liderazgo autoritario en un movimiento de liberacin nacional. Desarrollo Econmico, 8(30/31): 293311. How is everything conspiring against the executive power in a republic? Originally published in 1923, as part of the Cambridge Plain Texts series, this volume contains the complete text of Simn Bolvar's address before the Venezuelan Congress at Angostura on February 15, 1819. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Bol var and South American Originally published in 1923, as part of the Cambridge Plain Texts series, this volume contains the complete text of Sim n Bol var's address before the Venezuelan Congress at . Library of America. Wittfogel, K. 1953. 1999. Bolivar's speaking style reflected the values of his epoch. They also seemed to understand that a moral power could very easily be turned into a censoring body that hastily suppresses individual freedoms. Yet notwithstanding this deformity, the Roman Republic did not suffer from the disastrous discord which might be expected from a leadership consisting of two individuals, both endowed with a monarchs powers (Bolivar 1819). There, he Inspired by the revolutions of both the. Congress of Angostura, an 1819-1821 legislative body of Gran Colombia. Breaking up with TINA? Reprint ed., Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919. of History, Cal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2003.0004. We are not Europeans; we are not Indians; we are but a mixed species of aborigines and Spaniards. 1999. 1. Although never formally educated in universities, Bolivar was a self-taught man and had at least two illustrious tutors who were the arguably the leading intellectuals of the region at the time; Simon Rodriguez and Andres Bello. Angostura bark, a spice made from the bark of the tree Angostura trifoliata. He attempts to excuse himself thus: Only an imperative necessity, united to a strongly expressed desire on the part of the people, could have induced me to assume the dreadful and dangerous office of dictator, supreme chief of the republic (Bolivar 1819). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X03006849. At least theoretically, this would ensure that criollos would no longer be second class citizens. In this regard, Bolivar very much anticipates Tocquevilles analysis in Democracy in America. However, given that the rest of Venezuela was still controlled by Spanish authorities, only a few provinces could send delegates. By 1819, Bolivar fully understood that he would not succeed without their support. Democracy in America. Simon Bolivar's message to the Congress of Agostura is explaining that the people of Venezuela should be free and not be ruled over by someon thousands of miles of way. Despite their genuine admiration for Bolivar, constituents understood that Bolivars argumentation in favor of hereditary principles of political power was very weak (not to say confusing), and that an institution imitating the British House of Lords would be nothing but a setback to old aristocratic times. As complement to the strong executive power, in the Angostura Address Bolivar proposed a legislative power divided in two chambers: Representatives and the Senate. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. Bolivars political philosophy, as laid out in the Angostura Address and other political writings, also took on these authoritarian leanings. Simn Bolvar, "An Address of Bolvar at the Congress of Angostura (February 15, 1819)" Background As a young man, Simn Bolvar (1783-1830), who would become known as "El Libertador" ("The Liberator") in Latin America, spent a few years in Europe. The Angostura Address, by contrast, is far more about Bolivars actual political proposals in thinking about what lies ahead for Spanish America after independence. Hence, many expect that the 2019 will again be a year of nationalist unexamined joy, celebrating the Angostura Address. Again, Bolivar does not make it sufficiently clear. The case could be made, however, that, in the context of revolutionary struggle, perhaps Bolivar was not aspiring to create an old-fashioned nobility, but rather, a neutral organ intermediate between executive and popular instances. Americans and the French, Bolvar led the. 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