1. Dynamics of Political Transformation, Supplement: Comparative Historical Analysis, Moments and Events of Political Transformation, The Historical and Contemporary Role of Women in Ecuadorian Society, Brazilian Sambas Translation and Dialogue with International Dancesport, Dominican Republic Latin America at the Movies, El Salvador Latin America at the Movies, Chapter 15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2515360. But in truth, for most of the 20th Century, Bolivar was more frequently an icon of authoritarian right-wing military Latin American governments, who quite openly opposed democratic institutions. In 1817, Bolivar captured the city of Angostura (now Ciudad Bolivar) and the whole of Guayana, and established it as his center of military operations. But, it was not a mere cynical ploy to enlarge his armies. 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). Chodor, T. 2014. However, it would be a mistake to think that it was only after the independence that he became aware of this. 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. years prior to the Congress of Angostura. Furthermore, by 1814, Napoleons troops retreated from Spain, and Ferdinand VII returned to power. However, he implores his audience of 26 representatives to take into account social realities of the former Viceroyalty when writing a new constitution. Democracy in America. He makes his first point very quickly in the first sentence, "We are not Europeans.Americans by birth and Europeans by law." In order to gain Catholic support, he even outlawed the teaching of Benthams philosophy (which he himself had admired for so long), as the English philosophers views were considered too immoral by conservative clergy. At least theoretically, this would ensure that criollos would no longer be second class citizens. Bolivar was not really greatly concerned with these events in Spain. The Enlightenment proclaimed the equality of all human beings, on account that we all share a common nature that makes human rights universal. of History, Cal. 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 . In his view, federalism may work in some countries, but not in all. Timeline for Mexico: 1519-Present; Mexican Heads of State; Mexican Profiles and Personalities; Moments and Events in Mexico. Nothing in our fundamental laws would have to be altered were we to adopt a legislative power similar to that held by the British Parliament. 1, 2018, pp. 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). Carta de Bolivar al General Juan Jose Flores. It is certainly the case that, during Habsburg times (the dynasty before the arrival of the Bourbons), the Indies were not colonies in the modern sense. Even Benito Mussolini was an admirer of Bolivar (Caballero 2006: 72). Angostura bark, a spice made from the bark of the tree Angostura trifoliata. 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. 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 As complement to the strong executive power, in the Angostura Address Bolivar proposed a legislative power divided in two chambers: Representatives and the Senate. Yet, as previously mentioned, his 1826 Bolivian Constitution stipulated a ruler who was basically a king without a crown. Sparta, of course, is the emblem of militarism in Western imagination. Delhi: Penguin Books. Under the flags of freedom: slave soldiers and the wars of independence in Spanish South America. Bolivar, S. 1821. Discussion Questions; Further Readings; Honduras: A Country and a Coup The British executive power possesses all the authority properly appertaining to a sovereign, but a triple line of dams, barriers, and stockades surrounds him. There, he All three sources reveal patriotic feelings and attitudes towards their own countries. Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4] (Introduced 02/24/2023) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs; Judiciary: Committee Meetings: 02/28/23 2:00PM: Latest Action: House - 02/24/2023 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as . In the Angostura Address, he was clearly against it. Amrica Latina 4. ), but few embodied both military and intellectual talents. 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 . Levenes thesis is only half true. A strongly rooted force can only correct this weakness. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. 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? 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). Simon Bolvar's 1819 address to the Congress of Angostura took place in Venezuela during the long course of the struggle for independence. In imitation of the British House of Lords, Bolivar proposed a hereditary Senate. It is extremely hard to follow Bolivars logic here. Proyecto de Constitucion para la Republica de Bolivia y discurso del Libertador al Congreso Constituyente de Bolivia. El caudillismo en Amrica Latina, ayer y hoy. In: Lively, J (ed. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2003.0004. However, a very strong point of contention in the Cadiz Cortes, was the demographic balance in the representation of deputies. The enforcement of public morality has repeatedly been associated with authoritarian regimes. My sword, and the swords of my illustrious comrades-in-arms, will protect its solemn authority. He prepared weeks in advance the speech delivered on February 15th, 2019, to delegates of the Congress. How, exactly, does the potential for abuse in a monarchy justify the expansion of executive power in a republic? 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. Napoleon, whose reign as Emperor was. He also publicly proclaimed the emancipation of slaves in Carupano, in 1816. Admittedly, Bolivar came late to abolitionist ideals. Shubert, A. Mexico: The Taming of a Revolution, Travels and Adventures, William Carpenter (1851), A Mexican Journey, E.H. Blichfeldt (1912), Document #3: President Diaz: Hero of the Americas, James Creelman (1908), Document #4: Plan de San Luis de Potos, Francisco Madero (1910), Document #5: Program of the Liberal Party, Ricardo Flores Magn (1911), Document #6: Plan de Ayala, Emiliano Zapata (1911), Document #7: Speech to the Nation, Lzaro Crdenas (1938), Document #8: First Declaration from the Lacandon Jungle, Today We Say Enough is Enough! (Ya Basta! The ruling bureaucracy of Oriental despotism: A phenomenon that paralyzed Marx. The Review of Politics, 15(3): 350359. Latin America in the World Arena, 1990s - Present. Ambition and intrigue abuses the credulity and experience of men lacking all political, economic, and civic knowledge; they adopt pure illusion as reality; they take license for liberty, treachery for patriotism, and vengeance for justice. It is unlikely that any liberal concessions from Spain would have changed his mind, but the fact that these concessions were very incomplete, and that they were ultimately abolished by Ferdinand VII, sealed in his mind the question regarding the break with Spain. Bolivar, once again, was a man of the Enlightenment, but on this dispute, he seemed to be more on the side of Counter-Enlightenment figures who believed that the same political recipe could not be applied universally to all nations. Predictably, very much as Bolivar did in 1828, watching over public morality in the Bolivarian Revolution became despotic in itself, and many of Venezuelas basic freedoms (but most especially freedom of speech; Venezuela currently occupies number 143, as indexed by Reporters Without Borders (2018)) have deteriorated over the last 18 years. 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). Bolvar personally witnessed the rise of. Again, contemporary anti-colonialists may find much of value in Bolivars words. 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. He genuinely emancipated slaves, yet was extremely afraid of a takeover by pardos and all the savage hordes from Africa and America who roam like wild deer in the wilderness of Colombia (Bolivar 1821). Andrade, G. and Lugo-Ocando, J., 2018. 2003. 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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226016191.001.0001. 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 ministers, being responsible for any transgressions committed, will actually govern, since they must account for their actions. But, this second Venezuelan Republic would also prove to be short-lived. In political storms this body would arrest the thunderbolts of the government and would repel any violent popular reaction. Did not monarchy exist in France for fourteen centuries? Altaschul, N. 2012. To a certain extent, this implied moving away from its African roots, and some authors made it explicit that, in order to be more civilized, Spain should be less African (Shubert 1999: 2). Tocqueville, A. Bolivar never really says. When it came to liberty, Rousseau himself had some qualms about how truly liberal a State should be, to the point that he claimed in an oft-quoted phrase from The Social Contract, that subjects should be forced to be free (Roberts 2012: 117). Surely, the best homage we may render to Bolivar on occasion of the 200th anniversary of his Angostura Address, is to critically engage with his work, objectively describe his views, and present him as he truly was: a great man, but not a demigod. The Andes: Soldiers, Oligarchs, and Indians, Memories of Violence, Peace, and Justice in Peru, Across Patagonia, Lady Florence Dixie (1881), Document #18: Pulacyo Theses, The Union Federation of Bolivian Mineworkers (1946), Document #19: Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia (2010), Chapter 7. It must be based on the sovereignty of the people, the division of powers, civil liberty, the prohibition of slavery and the abolition of monarchy and privileges (Bolivar 1819). Once again, he was inspired by his upbringing of admiration for Classical Antiquity: I have dared to suggest a moral power, drawn from the remote ages of antiquity and those obsolete laws, which for some time maintained public virtue amongst the Greeks and Romans (Bolivar 1819). Europeans still perceived Spain more as an African country, as in Alexandre Dumas (himself of African descent) apocryphal observation: Africa begins at the Pyrenees (Altaschul 2012: 11), and Enlightened Spaniards tried hard to overcome that. 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. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade, Gand J Lugo-Ocando. 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). How is everything conspiring against the executive power in a republic? 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. 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. 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. At the opening session, held at the Orinoco River port of Angostura (today Ciudad Bolvar), on 15 February 1819, Bolvar delivered a major address in which he warned against imitation of Anglo-American institutions and called for a new constitution featuring a hereditary Senate and a "moral power" with special responsibility for education and Bolivars choice of despotic governments, once again, reveals that he was a man of his time. In the Angostura Address, Bolivar, typical in his style, praises North American society over and over again: Our legislators were influenced by the provincials, and were carried away by the dazzling appearance of North Americas happiness, thinking that the blessings she enjoyed were owed exclusively to the form of government, and not to the character of the people (Bolivar 1819). Bolivar, S. 1826. On the contrary, aristocracy and monarchy have long established great and powerful empires. Retrieved from: https://www.ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXA/bolivar/bolivia.htm. El culto a Bolivar: Esbozo para un estudio de la historia de las ideas en Venezuela. Bolivar was a great man of action and an important thinker, but he was still flawed in many regards. While the courts and judges are dependent on the executive power, the laws originate in and are made by Parliament. Consuls, senate and people all served also as legislators, magistrates and judges. 1Despite the prominent hero-worship of Bolivar, there have been scholarly works critical of his deeds. Castro-Klarn, S. 2003. 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 this regard, despite his flaws, he is to be considered one the great men of South American history. Bushnell, D. 2003. Precisely because no form of government is so weak as the democratic, its framework must be firmer, and its institutions must be studied to determine their degree of stability.unless this is done, we will have to reckon with an ungovernable, tumultuous, and anarchic society, not with a social order where happiness, peace, and justice prevail. State Fullerton. 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). Washington. This may not seem groundbreaking today, but in 1819, it was. The Angostura Address, by contrast, is far more about Bolivars actual political proposals in thinking about what lies ahead for Spanish America after independence. Comercio libre meant that various Spanish ports could trade with the Indies; however, the Indies could not trade with any other country. Por que no soy bolivariano. 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