Columbus: Ohio State University Press. Carrera Damas, G. 2003. Again, Bolivar does not make it sufficiently clear. 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 . Paredes Muante, J. This new nation . One of the most significant transformations was his approach to the position of a President for Life. This logic is very hard to follow. 2018. During Habsburg times, a great deal of contraband went on, but with the arrival of the Bourbons, economic regulations were severely tightened and enforced. Altaschul, N. 2012. They justified themselves by arguing that they were just agents of a greater historical force. . 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. Mine is done. It would be even more difficult for the laws of North America to be adopted in Venezuela. Indeed, in the 18th Century, a series of reforms began to be undertaken by the new Spanish ruling dynasty, the Bourbons. In the South American revolutions, there were men of action (Paez, Sucre, etc.) 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). There are some accounts that suggest instead that Bolivar may have been genuinely concerned with perpetual dictators at first (Harwich 2001). London: Longman Publishing Group. Simon Bolivar: A Life. El caudillismo en Amrica Latina, ayer y hoy. Mexico: The Taming of a Revolution. Angostura bitters, a flavoring. Reprint ed., Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919. El culto a Bolivar: Esbozo para un estudio de la historia de las ideas en Venezuela. 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). The Spanish Crown would no longer trust local administrators. 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. The authors have no competing interests to declare. Shubert, A. House of Angostura, a Trinidad and Tobago company manufacturing angostura bitters. By the end of his life, Bolivar was a deeply disappointed and bitter man who wrote to a friend: All who served the Revolution have plowed the sea (Bolivar 1830). 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. At least theoretically, this would ensure that criollos would no longer be second class citizens. Yet, Bolivar (very much as Unamuno would do almost a century later), embraced Spains African identity. Neoliberal Hegemony and the Pink Tide in Latin America. In the Angostura Address, he was clearly against it. How, exactly, does the potential for abuse in a monarchy justify the expansion of executive power in a republic? The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade G, Lugo-Ocando J. Bolivar, typical of his rhetorical style, concluded the Angostura Address with these words: Gentlemen! 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! Lpez, J and Lopez, J. 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 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. 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. 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. Bolivars political philosophy, as laid out in the Angostura Address and other political writings, also took on these authoritarian leanings. 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). Helg, A. 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. 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. That Constitution, labeled the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, written under the auspices of Hugo Chavez and the self-proclaimed Bolivarian Revolution, went to great lengths in attempting to imitate Bolivarian thinking in every aspect of political organization. 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). Liberty has been its cradle, it has grown up in liberty, and it is maintained by pure liberty. Washington. hold on the North American continent five. One of the main thesis of that classic work of political philosophy, is that American democracy is not only built on a particular form of government and its institutions, but also on the cultural foundations of Americans (Tocqueville 2004). Cuba: Key Colony, Socialist State, From Haciendas to the Peal of the Antilles, The Island of Cuba, Alexander von Humboldt (1856), Through Afro-America, William Archer (1910), Document #13: Montecristi Manifesto, by Jos Mart and Mximo Gmez (1895), Document #14: My Race, Jose Mart (1893), Document #15: History Will Absolve Me, by Fidel Castro (1953), Document #17: What is Cubas Sin?, Fidel Castro (2003), Document #16: Statement from Mexico City, Juana Castro (1964), Chapter 6. Throughout the document, he is concerned about whether or not the emerging nations are truly ready for liberal forms of government. 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. 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). Scanned by J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. 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. Criollos would know be second-class citizens. He stated that government should work in favor of the people because they are all "American by birth and European by law", and that they should have the same rights as the other Europeans. 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). Unlike Jose de San Martin (who explicitly desired a Constitutional Monarchy for emerging South American nations), he constantly paid lip service to the toppling of monarchs. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2003.0004. Considerations on France. . Venezuelas First and Second Republic collapsed, in part because they failed to meet the support of pardos and slaves (Blanchard 2008). . 1965. Chile: Repression and Democracy, A Voyage from the United States to South America, Thomas Bennett (1821), Document #28: Final Speech, Salvador Allende (1973), Document #29: Military Decrees on Seizing Power, Augusto Pinochet (1973), Document #30: Inaugural Address, Michelle Bachelet (2006), A Romanticism of Slavery and the Plantation Economy, Casa Grande e Senzala and the Formation of a New Brazilian Identity, Amnesty, Amnesia, and Moral Reparations in Brazil, Exploracin oficial por la primera vez desde el norte de la America del SurViaje a Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Michelena y Rojas (1867), Document #31: On Slavery in Brazil, Thomas Ewbank (1856), Document #32: State Department Telegram to Ambassador Lincoln Gordon (1964), Document #33: Letter to Pope Paul VI, Marcos Sattamini Pena de Arruda (1971), Document #34: Speech of the President of the Republic in the ceremony installing the Truth Commission, Dilma Rousseff (2012), Chapter 12. 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. 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. Be as it may, however, the Constitution of Bolivia of 1826 proved to be his outdoing. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/267/26702702.pdf. Angostura bark, a spice made from the bark of the tree Angostura trifoliata. In imitation of the British House of Lords, Bolivar proposed a hereditary Senate. http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226016191.001.0001, http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article9987, http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article10971, https://www.ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXA/bolivar/bolivia.htm, https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Carta_de_Bol%C3%ADvar_al_general_Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Flores_(1830), http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/267/26702702.pdf, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X03006849, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500001534. Bolivar was deeply influenced by the Enlightenment thinkers. Yet, at the same time, Bolivar seems to reproduce some old colonialist tropes, according to which Anglo-Saxon peoples are more virtuous. 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/10.7208/chicago/9780226016191.001.0001. Retrieved from: https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Carta_de_Bol%C3%ADvar_al_general_Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Flores_(1830). Although those people [North Americans], so lacking in many respects, are unique in the history of mankind, it is a marvel, I repeat, that so weak and complicated a government as the federal system has managed to govern them in the difficult and trying circumstances of their past. Framing Pan-Americanism: Simn Bolvars Findings. CR: The New Centennial Review. This time he understood that he could not make a frontal assault on Caracas, so he decided to begin a campaign of guerrilla warfare in the Eastern and Southern region of Guayana, in Venezuela, via the Orinoco River. What state is more powerful than Great Britain? Timeline for Mexico: 1519-Present; Mexican Heads of State; Mexican Profiles and Personalities; Moments and Events in Mexico. I do not solicit the establishment of a nobility, for as a celebrated republican has said, that would simultaneously destroy equality and liberty. That is the goal of this article. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. And it is for this very reason that Bolivar believes that federalism works in North America, but it would never work in South America. Castro, P. 2007. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. This is his explanation in the Angostura Address: Nevertheless, the North American people are a singular example of political virtue and moral rectitude. Bolivar insists that, in monarchies, the executive power becomes too powerful, as it enjoys too many advantages. Bolivar, a man of the Enlightenment himself, continued this trope, by presenting the Turks, Persians and Chinese, as despotic peoples. 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. 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. In a sense, Bolivars approach is anti-colonial (let us remember that many aspects of colonialism itself were modeled on the universalism of the Enlightenment), inasmuch as he advises colonized peoples not to necessarily copy Eurocentric models. Download date: August 25th, 2018. Bolivar acknowledged that federal forms of government were theoretically virtuous, and that democratic systems of checks and balances were to be emulated. Even Benito Mussolini was an admirer of Bolivar (Caballero 2006: 72). Discussion Questions; Further Readings; Honduras: A Country and a Coup He was proud, and his words show it. As with any leader who faces the dichotomy between utopias and realities, Bolivar had some profound ideological transformations throughout his political and military career. In: Lively, J (ed. Its culminating piece of legislation was the Venezuelan Constitution of 1819, officially adopted on August 15, but quickly made obsolete by the creation of the Republic of Colombia on December 17, 1819. Bolivar was certainly the foremost figure that synthetized formal political thought, constitutional doctrine, and revolutionary action. However, a very strong point of contention in the Cadiz Cortes, was the demographic balance in the representation of deputies. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. If the Senate were hereditary rather than elective, it would, in my opinion, be the basis, the tie, the very soul of our republic. In his view, federalism may work in some countries, but not in all. He begins the address by presenting the concept that "We are not Europeans; we are not Indians; we are but a mixed species of aborigines and Spaniards" (Boli var). La Gran Colombia: una ilusin ilustrada. But, it was not a mere cynical ploy to enlarge his armies. He first settled in Jamaica, and then in Haiti. By 1819, Bolivar fully understood that he would not succeed without their support. For, his intellectual and political legacy is a mixed bag. from the original Spanish by Francisco Javier Ynes) by Bolvar, Simn, 1783-1830; Ynes, Francisco Javier, 1861-1924; Venezuela . We all owe it our obedience and loyalty. 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. Pablo Morillo and Venezuela, 18151820. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, 1. 1. 2018 Freedom of Speech Index. Unfortunately, the Bolivar-hero cult rampant in Venezuela and Colombia (and to a lesser extent in. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, vol. The ruling bureaucracy of Oriental despotism: A phenomenon that paralyzed Marx. The Review of Politics, 15(3): 350359. But, admittedly, it had turned out to be very corrupt. Levene, R. 1951. You may begin your work. 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? 1, 2018, pp. 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? 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