For, his intellectual and political legacy is a mixed bag. Draper, H. 1968. His "Angostura Address of 1819" is much more than just a regular speech that any politician would make throughout the course of their career. The Cortes, assembled in Cadiz during Napoleons invasion of Spain, redacted a very liberal Constitution by the standards of the time. 1965. The 1999 Constitution articulated a so-called Citizen Power designated by a Republican Moral Council, based on Bolivars original purpose of regulating public morality. The wording is unmistakably reminiscent of Benthams philosophy, and indeed, the English philosopher was a major influence on Bolivars political thinking. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. 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 (tr. In most cases, these celebrations served the political purpose of legitimating the parties in power that organized the festivities and appropriating nationalists sentiments that could help boost popular support. No matter what citizen occupies this office, he will be aided by the Constitution, and therein being authorized to do good, he can do no harm, because his ministers will cooperate with him only insofar as he abides by the law. Neoliberal Hegemony and the Pink Tide in Latin America. Throughout many of his private writings, Bolivar expressed enormous concerns about pardocracia, the takeover by pardos. In the speech, Bolvar lays the foundations for the establishment of democratically governed Gran Colombia that is free from the burden of slavery and racial inequality. Argentina: Progress, Stalemate, Discord, Understanding Argentinas Dirty War Through Memoir, The Challenge of Burying the Ley de Caducidad in Uruguay, The Spanish-American Republics, Theodore Child (1891), Document #24: What is Peronism? by Juan Domingo Pern (1948) || The Twenty Truths of the Pernist Justicialism, Juan Domingo Pern (1950), Document #25: Statement by the military upon taking power (1976), Document #26: Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Adolfo Prez Esquivel (1980), Document #27: Speech at a Dinner with the Council of Americas in New York, Nstor Kirchner (2006), Chapter 10. The infamous slogan, se acata pero no se cunple (laws are obeyed, but not enforced), became a common standard of criollo administration. His success, however, would again be short-lived, as in 1830 Gran Colombia ruptured into its three original constituent countries, and Bolivar would have to march into exile and died on his way in in the city of Santa Marta, before he could make it to Europe. I do not solicit the establishment of a nobility, for as a celebrated republican has said, that would simultaneously destroy equality and liberty. He believes that The most perfect system of government is that which produces the greatest degree of happiness, of social security, and political stability (Bolivar 1819). He prepared weeks in advance the speech delivered on February 15th, 2019, to delegates of the Congress. This address is for the Congress of Angostura in which the first issue he places on the table is that the mestizos are not European, nor Indians, but a mixture of both Spaniard and native blood. But, even in the Angostura Address itself, Bolivar seemed to be very enthusiastic about strong governments with little distribution of power, as this passage makes clear: The Roman Constitution brought about the greatest power and fortune that any people on earth have enjoyed. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, 1. 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. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade, Gabriel, and Jairo Lugo-Ocando. In this regard, Bolivar very much anticipates Tocquevilles analysis in Democracy in America. 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. ended four years prior. This supreme authority must be perpetual (Bolivar 1819). Download date: August 25th, 2018. He was a spirited combatant of monarchies, yet he insisted on being president for life (i.e., a king without a crown). If the Senate were hereditary rather than elective, it would, in my opinion, be the basis, the tie, the very soul of our republic. However, given that the rest of Venezuela was still controlled by Spanish authorities, only a few provinces could send delegates. What government is more ancient than that of China? This argument is hard to follow. The Lower Classes . Despite not controlling Venezuela, Bolivar called for a Second Congress of Venezuela (the first one had been called in 1811 in Caracas, to declare independence), to assemble in Angostura. Bolivar was a great man of action and an important thinker, but he was still flawed in many regards. How is everything conspiring against the executive power in a republic? Thanks to these achievements he would then be invited by the Peruvian authorities to organize the military campaign against the remaining Spanish and loyalist forces in Peru and Upper Peru (modern-day Bolivia), thus completing the final defeat of the Spanish Empire in South America. However, he implores his audience of 26 representatives to take into account social realities of the former Viceroyalty when writing a new constitution. (2018). Caracas: Alfa. 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). Caballero, M. 2006. The opportunity came in 1808 when Napoleon invaded Spain, and the Caracas junta which became the facto government- rejected Spanish authority in Seville in 1810, and reaffirmed its allegiance to Ferdinand VII, who was imprisoned by Napoleon. Although Bolivar admired British imperialism more for its liberal ethos than for its military might (as opposed to the despotism of Spain), he was still a man of arms, and imbued his political ideas with militarism. Angostura bark, a spice made from the bark of the tree Angostura trifoliata. 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. . 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. Carta a Francisco de Paula Santander. 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. Liberty has been its cradle, it has grown up in liberty, and it is maintained by pure liberty. In the South American revolutions, there were men of action (Paez, Sucre, etc.) 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. Thus our position is most extraordinary and complicated. Bolivars political program, as laid out in the Angostura Address, is straightforward. To get his point across, Bolivar returns to the question of cultural identity in the Angostura Address, but adds an interesting remark about Spain: Let us bear in mind that our population is neither European nor North American, but are closer to a blend of Africa and America than they are to Europe, for even Spain herself is not strictly European due to its African blood, institutions and character (Bolivar 1819). Again, contemporary anti-colonialists may find much of value in Bolivars words. These subordinate officers are entrusted with the civil, military, and political administration, the collection of duties and the protection of religion. An Address of Bolvar at the Congress of Angostura (February 15, 1819). However, as we will argue in this paper, it is precisely due to the nationalist distortions that are likely to occur around the nature and context of the Angostura delivery that calls for a more critical reading of the document. Independence would, nevertheless, prove to be no easy task. The Congress of Angostura is considered Venezuela's second legislative congress, the first being the one that met in 1811. 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. Furthermore, by 1814, Napoleons troops retreated from Spain, and Ferdinand VII returned to power. 1826. This bring us to one of our key questions: Had Bolivar already planned to be a perpetual dictator by 1819 and was the Angostura Address paying mere lip service to the principle of alterability in power? Consuls, senate and people all served also as legislators, magistrates and judges. Simon Bolivar and the spectre of pardocracia: Jose Padilla in post-independence Cartagena. Journal of Latin American Studies, 35(3): 447471. Introduction to Political Thought. Reprint ed., Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919. If he attempts to infringe upon the law, his own ministers will desert him, thereby isolating him from the Republic, and they will even bring charges against him in the Senate. Who could resist the glorious attraction of the full and absolute enjoyment of sovereignty, independence, and liberty? What republic has exceeded in duration those of Sparta and Venice? We are controlled by a system which deprives us of the rights to which we are entitled, and leaves us in a sort of permanent infancy with respect to public affairs (Bolivar 1819). That same year, Bolivar would head towards the Venezuelan plains, assemble an army of llaneros who now supported the Republican Cause- and European mercenaries. 2003. There was no exact distribution of power there. Bolvar, Simn. Pablo Morillo and Venezuela, 18151820. Scanned by J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. New York: Springer. http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/267/26702702.pdf. 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). Damas, G. 1983. 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, 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, many of these celebrations were carried out without sufficiently critical and objective approach towards historical data. But, he believed that federalism was not suited for the political culture of Spanish America, Indeed, this is the main thesis of his Cartagena Manifesto, in which he places most of the blame for the collapse of Venezuelas First Republic, on federalism. Not surprisingly, this quote (and Rousseaus political philosophy as a whole) has historically risen some eyebrows, as it seems to sympathize with authoritarian regimes, ironically all in the name of liberty itself. ), The Works of Joseph de Maistre. A depiction of the Congress of Ccuta (1821). Castro-Klarn, S. 2003. Who could resist the admiration and esteem inspired by an intelligent government, which unites at the same moment public and private rights, which forms by general consent the supreme law of individuals? At least theoretically, this would ensure that criollos would no longer be second class citizens. Again the Angostura Address of 1819 clearly shows a Bolivar who was already very concerned with the chaotic potential of an independent South America. Yet, as previously mentioned, his 1826 Bolivian Constitution stipulated a ruler who was basically a king without a crown. 47, no. On the contrary, aristocracy and monarchy have long established great and powerful empires. Bolivar's speaking style reflected the values of his epoch. Mine is done. 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. Therefore, let the entire system of government be strengthened, and let the balance of power be drawn up in such a manner that it will be permanent and incapable of decay because of its own tenuity. It was only the chaos of post-colonial South American politics, which drove him towards an increasingly authoritarian approach. 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). 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 . of History, Cal. During Simon Bolivar's address at the Congress of Angostura, in 1819, he argued for the freedom of the people of Latin America. By then, Bolivars movement was seen as one that intended to establish a Republic for the white criollos, which explains partly why Boves savagely occupied Valencia and executed so many of the white elite (Stoan 1974). Bolivar was fully aware that whoever takes on the responsibility of demolishing an ancient order, must also immediately come up with ideas for a new one. Yet, Bolivar (very much as Unamuno would do almost a century later), embraced Spains African identity. . However, this juncture would be rapidly embraced by radicals as an opportunity to proclaim independence from Spain in 1811 under the argument that they would not bow to an illegitimate French King. Venezuelas First and Second Republic collapsed, in part because they failed to meet the support of pardos and slaves (Blanchard 2008). The Spanish Crown would no longer trust local administrators. He liked to describe himself as the man of difficulties. Sparta, of course, is the emblem of militarism in Western imagination. Bolivar never really says. 1. Congress of Angostura, an 1819-1821 legislative body of Gran Colombia. 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. . Bolivar must have been aware that his liberal and enlightened audience would object to his proposal, inasmuch as it reminded them too much of the old Spanish imperial regime and its inegalitarian institutions. 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