El caudillismo en Amrica Latina, ayer y hoy. Again, contemporary anti-colonialists may find much of value in Bolivars words. The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading. This is an understandable and legitimate point. Delhi: Penguin Books. That is the goal of this article. 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. How does an aristocratic principle, such as hereditary privilege, motivate sharing the peoples interests, opinions and spirit? Yet, Bolivars point is that Spanish imperialism is even worse than Oriental despotism, inasmuch as the control exercised by the Spanish Crown is even tighter than in Eastern societies. Retrieved from: https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Carta_de_Bol%C3%ADvar_al_general_Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Flores_(1830). However, it would be a mistake to think that it was only after the independence that he became aware of this. 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. () Legislators! 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. From: Simn Bolvar, An Address of Bolivar at the Congress of Angostura (February 15, 1819), Reprint Ed., (Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919), passim. During Habsburg times, a great deal of contraband went on, but with the arrival of the Bourbons, economic regulations were severely tightened and enforced. University of Chicago Press. Thus our position is most extraordinary and complicated. But, the Bourbons, and especially Charles III, embraced a program of enlightened despotism and absolutism that by 1810, had fully converted the Indies into colonies. 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. 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). Throughout his post-colonial critique of Orientalists, Edward Said (2006) has documented how 19th Century Western scholars portrayed the East as some sort of mysterious place ruled by despots, mainly as a way to contrast the virtues of Western Enlightenment. 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. Framing Pan-Americanism: Simn Bolvars Findings. CR: The New Centennial Review. Introduction to Political Thought. However, he implores his audience of 26 representatives to take into account social realities of the former Viceroyalty when writing a new constitution. All three sources reveal patriotic feelings and attitudes towards their own countries. Timeline for Mexico: 1519-Present; Mexican Heads of State; Mexican Profiles and Personalities; Moments and Events in Mexico. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. This logic is very hard to follow. 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. 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. Under the flags of freedom: slave soldiers and the wars of independence in Spanish South America. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 47(1), 7482. Bolivar had much admiration for Montesquieu, but in presenting his proposals for political organization, in the Angostura Address he added a fourth power to the three traditional ones (executive, legislative and judicial); the so-called moral power. . 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? DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade, Gabriel, and Jairo Lugo-Ocando. Considerations on France. Venezuelas First and Second Republic collapsed, in part because they failed to meet the support of pardos and slaves (Blanchard 2008). 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 . 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X03006849. 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. Por que no soy bolivariano. In the Angostura Address, Bolivar engages in some confusing argumentation trying to justify the concentration of power in the executive branch of government: In a republic, the executive ought to be the strongest, because everything conspires against it; and on the other hand in a monarchy the legislative ought to be the most powerful, as everything unites in favor of the sovereign (Bolivar 1819). The Viceroyalty of New Granadawhich included present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and parts of Ecuadorachieved independence from the Spanish Empire in a slow and uneven process. Bolivar's speaking style reflected the values of his epoch. Castro-Klarn, S. 2003. 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). There can be multiple answers to this question: These sources both signify a change in attitude with the people of each nation. This was by far the most important motive in the struggle for independence amongst the criollo elite, and throughout his writings, Bolivar makes very clear how important this issue is for him. Reprint ed., Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919. Bolivar was very eloquent in denouncing the vices of Spanish imperialism in his vociferous anti-colonial stand. Comercio libre meant that various Spanish ports could trade with the Indies; however, the Indies could not trade with any other country. He had some clear political motivations in doing this, (i.e., as an argument to reject federalism and favor stronger governments leaning towards authoritarianism). Castro, P. 2007. Latin America in the World Arena, 1990s Present, Moments and Events in Contemporary US-Latin American Relations, Document #43: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) statement on Honduras, Document #42 President Obamas speech at the 2009 Summit of the Americas, Document #44: The Path Forward for Honduras, Document #45 Honduras: The Obama Administrations First Latin American Waterloo (2009), Document #47 Hillary Clintons speech on Opportunity in the Americas (2010), Modern Latin America, 8th Edition Companion Website, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. New York: Springer. The Congress would lay down the political foundation for the Third Republic. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 47, no. 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). Blanchard, P. 2008. and men of philosophical thought (Roscio, Viscardo, etc. The population in the Americas was far greater than the population in the Iberian Peninsula, yet, only a minority of deputies posts were assigned to representatives of the American territories. 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. Being just 21 years old in 1805 and after losing his wife just years earlier, he went to tour Europe. Government posts were bought and sold, thus being filled by grossly incompetent administrators. Yet, at the same time, Bolivar seems to reproduce some old colonialist tropes, according to which Anglo-Saxon peoples are more virtuous. Throughout the document, he is concerned about whether or not the emerging nations are truly ready for liberal forms of government. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 47(1), pp.7482. Former colonial powers may be admired in many regards, but that does not imply that there is exclusively one single path to progress that must be followed by all nations on Earth. This is not to say that Bolivars relationship to people of African descent was totally harmonious. Latin America in the World Arena, 1990s - Present. 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. In the Angostura Address, he returns to this theme: The more I admire the excellency of the Federal Constitution of Venezuela, the more am I convinced of the impossibility of applying it to our situation (Bolivar 1819). 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. Pablo Morillo and Venezuela, 18151820. Happy the citizen that under the shield of arms under his command, has convoked National Sovereignty to exercise its absolute will! Napoleon, whose reign as Emperor was. 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). Our weak and feeble fellow citizens will have to increase in strength of mind in a very great degree, before they can be permitted to digest freedoms wholesome food (Bolivar 1819). Stoan, SK. Who can resist the lure of a beneficent government which employs an able, active and powerful hand to direct all its efforts at all times towards social perfection, which ought to be the end of all human institutions? (Bolivar 1819). Tocqueville, A. Caracas: Alfa. The executive is commander in chief of the army and navy; he makes peace and declares war; but Parliament annually determines what sums are to be paid to these military forces. Draper, H. 1968. In the Angostura Address, he was clearly against it. Bolvar personally witnessed the rise of. It enjoys all its proper functions, and it requires no essential revision, because the Constitution, in creating it, gave it the form and powers which the people deemed necessary in order that they might be legally and properly represented. Bolivar was a great man of action and an important thinker, but he was still flawed in many regards. This may not seem groundbreaking today, but in 1819, it was. ended four years prior. 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. Chodor, T. 2014. I do not solicit the establishment of a nobility, for as a celebrated republican has said, that would simultaneously destroy equality and liberty. Despite the confusing nature of some of these arguments, we must not lose sight of the fact that Bolivar was, above all, a man of revolutionary action, and he responded to particular historical circumstances that may have required some necessary measure in the mist of the chaos originated in the civil war that had been going on for almost ten years. How is everything conspiring against the executive power in a republic? of History, Cal. What I propose is an office for which the candidates must prepare themselves, an office that demands great knowledge and the ability to acquire such knowledge. Simon Bolivar: A Life. Andrade G, Lugo-Ocando J. Bolvar had the objective of emerging a plan of governance as he lays out his understanding of the independence movement and his belief on how the future of Latin American nations should be legally structured. In the midst of the battles for independence, Bolvar summoned a congress in the city of Angostura to reassert New Granadas autonomy and to install a political system that he believed would be capable of sustaining a new republic. 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 . By this I mean that the result will be the death of the government, whose heirs are anarchy, usurpation, and tyranny . He also publicly proclaimed the emancipation of slaves in Carupano, in 1816. Critical Reading that the result will be the death of the government, whose heirs are anarchy,,... 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