|
Venezuala
1965 Silver Coin of Venezuela South America with Simon Bolivar
Silver 23mm (4.98 grams)
BOLIVAR LIBERTADOR, head of Simon Bolivar left.
Un BOLIVAR 1965 GR 5 LEI .835 REPUBLICA DE VENEZUELA around the coat of arms of
Venezuala.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Venezuela,
officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish:
República Bolivariana de Venezuela, is a country
on the northern coast of
South America
. Venezuela’s territory covers
around 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi) with an estimated population
around 29,100,000. Venezuela is considered a state with
extremely high biodiversity
, with habitats
ranging from the
Andes
Mountains in the west to the
Amazon Basin
rainforest in the south, via
extensive
llanos
plains and Caribbean coast in the
center and the
Orinoco River Delta
in the east.
|
|
Venezuela was
colonized by Spain
in 1522 amid resistance from
indigenous peoples
. In 1811, it became one of
the first Spanish-American colonies to
declare independence
, which was not securely
established until 1821, when Venezuela was a department of the federal republic
of
Gran Colombia
. It gained full independence as a
separate country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political
turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional
caudillos
(military strongmen) until the
mid-20th century. Since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic
governments. Economic shocks in the 1980s and 1990s led to several political
crises, including the deadly
Caracazo
riots of 1989,
two attempted coups in 1992
, and the
impeachment of President
Carlos Andrés Pérez
for embezzlement of public
funds in 1993. A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the
1998 election
of former coup-involved career
officer
Hugo Chávez
and the launch of the
Bolivarian Revolution
, beginning with a
1999 Constituent Assembly
to write a new
Constitution of Venezuela
.
Venezuela is a
federal
presidential republic
consisting of
23 states
, the
Capital District
(covering
Caracas
), and
federal dependencies
(covering Venezuela’s
offshore islands). Venezuela also claims all
Guyanese
territory west of the
Essequibo River
, a 159,500-square-kilometre
(61,583 sq mi) tract dubbed
Guayana Esequiba
or the Zona en
Reclamación (the “zone being reclaimed”).
Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast
majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the
capital, Caracas, which is also the largest city in Venezuela. Since the
discovery of oil in the early 20th century, Venezuela has the world’s
largest oil reserves
and been one of the
world’s leading exporters of oil. Previously an underdeveloped exporter of
agricultural commodities such as
coffee
and
cocoa
, oil quickly came to dominate exports and
government revenues. The
1980s oil glut
led to an
external debt crisis
and a long-running
economic crisis, in which
inflation
peaked at
100% in 1996
and poverty rates rose to 66% in
1995 as (by 1998)
per capita
GDP
fell to the same level as 1963, down a
third from its 1978 peak.
The recovery of
oil prices
after 2001 boosted the Venezuelan
economy and facilitated social spending which significantly reduced
economic inequality
and
poverty
, although the fallout of the
2008 global financial crisis
caused a renewed
economic downturn. In February 2013, Venezuela devalued its currency due to the
rising shortages in the country. Shortages of items included toilet paper, milk,
flour, and other necessities. As of June 2014, Venezuela’s inflation has
increased to 62%. This was one of the main causes of the
2014 Venezuelan protests
.
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y
Blanco (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830), commonly known as Simón Bolívar
(IPA: [siˈmon
boˈliβar] (
listen
)) or Simon Bolivar
(/
/),
was a Venezuelan
military and political leader.
Bolívar played a key role in
Latin America’s successful struggle for independence
from the
Spanish Empire
, and is today considered one of
the most influential politicians in the history of the Americas.
Following
the triumph over the
Spanish monarchyy
, Bolívar participated in the
foundation of the first union of independent nations in Hispanic-America, a
republic, now known as
Gran Colombia
, of which he was president from
1819 to 1830. Bolívar is regarded as a hero, visionary, revolutionary, and
liberator in Hispanic-America.
During his lifetime, he led
Venezuela
,
Colombia
(including
Panama
at the time),
Ecuador
,
Peru (together with Don
José de San Martín
), and
Bolivia
to independence from the Spanish
Empire. Admirers claim that he helped lay the foundations for
democracy
in much of Latin America.
Family history
The surname Bolívar derives from the Bolívar
aristocrats
who came from a small village in
the
Basque Country
, Spain, called
La Puebla de Bolívar
.[1]
His father came from the male line of the Ardanza family.[2][3]
His maternal grandmother was descended from families from the
Canary Islands
that settled in the country.[a]
The Bolívars settled in
Venezuela
in the sixteenth century. His first
South American Bolívar ancestor was Simón de Bolívar (or Simon de Bolibar; the
spelling
was not standardized until the
nineteenth century), who went to live and work with the governor of
Santo Domingo
from 1550 to 1570. When the
governor of Santo Domingo was reassigned to Venezuela by the Spanish Crown in
1589, Simón de Bolívar came back with him. As an early settler in Caracas
Province, he became prominent in the local society and he and his descendants
were granted
estates
,
encomiendas
, and positions in the Caracas
cabildo
.
The social position of the family is illustrated by the fact that when the
Caracas Cathedral
was built in 1594, the
Bolívar family had one of the first dedicated side chapels. The majority of the
wealth of Simón de Bolívar’s descendants came from the estates. The most
important of these estates was a sugar plantation with an encomienda that
provided the labor needed to run the estate.
Another portion of Bolívar wealth came from the silver, gold, and more
importantly, copper mines in Venezuela. In 1632, small gold deposits first were
mined in Venezuela, leading to further discoveries of much more extensive copper
deposits. From his mother’s side, the Palacios family, Bolívar inherited the
copper mines at Cocorote
. Native American and African slaves
provided the majority of the labor in these mines.
Toward the end of the seventeenth century, copper exploitation became so
prominent in Venezuela that it became known as Cobre Caracas (“Caracas
copper”). Many of the mines became the property of the Bolívar family. Bolívar’s
grandfather, Juan de Bolívar y Martínez de Villegas, paid 22,000
ducats
to the monastery at
Santa Maria de Montserrat
in 1728 for a title
of nobility that had been granted by the king,
Philip V of Spain
, for its maintenance. The
crown never issued the
patent of nobility
, and so the purchase became
the subject of lawsuits
that were still going on during
Bolívar’s lifetime, when independence from Spain made the point moot. (If
successful, Bolívar’s older brother, Juan Vicente, would have become the
Marqués
de
San Luis
and
Vizconde
de Cocorote.) Bolívar gave away his
personal fortune to the revolution.[7]:6
Early life
Birthplace of Simón Bolívar
in
Caracas,
Venezuela
(now a museum)
An 18th-century portrait of Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte, father of
Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar was born in a house in
Caracas
,
Captaincy General of Venezuela
(now the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
), on 24 July
1783.[7]:6
Bolívar was baptized as Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y
Palacios. His mother was Doña María de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco and his
father was Coronel Don Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte. He had two older sisters
and a brother: María Antonia, Juana, and Juan Vicente. Another sister, María del
Carmen, died at birth.
Bolívar’s parents found themselves in a circumstance that forced them to
entrust the baby Simón Bolívar to the care of Doña Ines Manceba de Miyares and
the family’s slave la negra Hipolita. A couple of years later Bolívar
returned to the love and care of his parents, but this traumatic experience
would have a severe effect on Bolívar’s life. Before his third birthday, his
father Juan Vicente had died.
Bolívar’s father died in his sleep when Bolívar was two and a half years old.
Bolívar’s mother, Maria Concepción de Palacios y Blanco, died when he was
approaching nine years of age. He then was placed in the custody of a severe
instructor, Miguel José Sanz, but this relationship did not work out and he was
sent back to his home. In an effort to give Bolívar the best education possible,
he received private lessons from the renowned professors
Andrés Bello
, Guillermo Pelgrón, Jose Antonio
Negrete, Fernando Vides, Father Andújar, and the most influential of all, Don
Simón Rodríguez
, formerly known as Simón
Carreño. Don Simón Rodriguez was later to become Bolívar’s friend and mentor,
and he instilled in the young man the ideas of liberty, enlightenment, and
freedom.
In the meantime, he was mostly cared for by his nurse, a black slave woman
named Hipólita, whom he later called “the only mother I have known.”
His instructor Don Simón understood the young Bolívar’s personality and
inclinations, and tried from the very beginning to be an empathetic friend. They
took long walks through the countryside and climbed mountains. Don Simón taught
Bolívar how to swim and ride horses, and, in the process, taught him about
liberty, human rights, politics, history, and sociology.
Military career
When Bolívar was fourteen, his private instructor and mentor Simón Rodríguez
had to abandon the country, as he was accused of being involved in a conspiracy
against the Spanish government in
Caracas
. Thus, Bolívar entered the military
academy of the Milicias de Veraguas, which his father had sought out as
colonel years earlier. Through these years of military training, he developed
his fervent passion for armaments and military strategy, which he later would
employ on the battlefields of the wars of independence.
A few years later, while in Paris, Bolívar witnessed the coronation of
Napoleon
in
Notre Dame
, and this majestic event left a
profound impression upon him. From that moment he wished that he could emulate
similar triumphant glory for the people of his native land.
El Libertador
Main article:
Military career of Simón Bolívar
Bolívar returned to Venezuela in 1807. After the coup on April 19, 1810,
Venezuela achieved de facto independence when the
Supreme Junta of Caracas
was established and
the colonial administrators deposed. The Junta sent a delegation to Great
Britain to get British recognition and aid. This delegation, which included
Simón Bolívar and future Venezuelan notables
Andrés Bello
and
Luis Lopez Mendez
, met with and persuaded
Francisco de Miranda
to return to his native
land. In 1811 a delegation from the Supreme Junta, among them Bolívar, and a
crowd of common people enthusiastically received Miranda in
La Guaira
.[11]
During civil war conducted by Miranda, Bolívar was promoted to colonel and made
commandant of
Puerto Cabello
the following in 1812. At the
same time that royalist Frigate Captain
Domingo de Monteverde
was making fast and vast
advances into republican territory from the west, Bolívar lost control of
San Felipe Fort
along with its ammunition
stores on June 30 of 1812. Deciding that the situation was lost, Bolívar
effectively abandoned his post and retreated to his estate in
San Mateo
. Miranda also saw the republican
cause as lost and signed in San Mateo town a capitulation with Monteverde on
July 25. Then Colonel Bolívar and other revolutionary officers claimed his
actions as treasonous
. In one of Bolívar’s most morally
dubious acts, Bolívar and others arrested and handed Miranda over to the Spanish
Royal Army in La Guaira
port.[12]
For his apparent services to the royalist cause, Monteverde granted Bolívar a
passport, and Bolívar left for
Curaçao
on August 27. In 1813 he was given a
military command in Tunja
,
New Granada
(modern day
Colombia
), under the direction of the
Congress of United Provinces of New Granada
,
which had formed out of the
juntas
established in 1810.
Bolívar in 1816, during his stay in
Haiti
This was the beginning of the famous
Admirable Campaign
. He entered
Mérida
on 24 May, where he was proclaimed as
El Libertador (The Liberator).[13]
That event was followed by the occupation of
Trujillo
on 9 June. Six days later, on 15 June,
he dictated his famous
Decree of War to the Death
, allowing the
killing of any Spaniard not actively supporting independence. Caracas was
retaken on 6 August 1813 and Bolívar was ratified as “El Libertador“,
thus proclaiming the
restoration of the Venezuelan republic
. Due to
the rebellion of
José Tomás Boves
in 1814 and the fall of the
republic, he returned to New Granada, where he then commanded a force for the
United Provinces and entered
Bogotá
in 1814, recapturing the city from the
dissenting republican forces of
Cundinamarca
. He intended to march into
Cartagena
and enlist the aid of local forces in
order to capture Royalist
Santa Marta
. In 1815, after a number of
political and military disputes with the government of Cartagena, however,
Bolívar fled to Jamaica
, where he was denied support and an
attempt was made on his life,[14]
after which he fled to
Haiti
, where he was granted sanctuary and
protection. He befriended
Alexandre Pétion
, the leader of the newly
independent country, and petitioned him for aid.[13]
Bolívar and
Francisco de Paula Santander
during
the
Congress of Cúcuta
, October 1821
In 1816, with Haitian soldiers and vital material support, Bolívar landed in
Venezuela and fulfilled his promise to
Alexandre Petion
to free Spanish America’s
slaves on 2 June 1816.[7]:186
In January 1817, on a second expedition, Bolivar captured
Angostura
in July (now
Ciudad Bolívar
),[7]:192-201
after defeating the counter-attack of
Miguel de la Torre
. However, Venezuela remained
a captaincy of Spain after the victory in 1818 by
Pablo Morillo
in the second battle of La
Puerta.[7]:212
Yet, Bolivar was able to open the Second National Congress in Angostura on 15
Feb. 1819, in which Bolivar was elected president and
Francisco Antonio Zea
vice president.[7]:222-225
Bolívar then decided that he would first fight for the independence of New
Granada, to gain resources of the vice royalty, intending later to consolidate
the independence of Venezuela.[15]
The campaign for the independence of New Granada was consolidated with the
victory at the
Battle of Boyacá
on 7 Aug. 1819.[7]:233
Bolivar returned to Angostura, where congress passed a law forming the Republic
of Greater Colombia on 17 Dec., making Bolivar president and Zea vice president,
with Santander vice president on the New Granada side, and
Juan German Roscio
vice president on the
Venezuela side.[7]:246-247
Morillo was left in control of Caracas and the coastal highlands.[7]:248
After the restoration of the
Cadiz Constitution
, Morillo ratified two
treaties with Bolivar on 25 Nov. 1820, calling for a six-month armistice and
recognizing Bolivar as president of the republic.[7]:254-255
Bolivar and Morilla met in
San Fernando de Apure
on 27 Nov., after which
Morilla left Venezuela for Spain, leaving La Torre in command.[7]:255-257
From his newly consolidated base of power, Bolívar launched outright
independence campaigns in Venezuela and
Ecuador
, and these campaigns were concluded
with the victory at the
Battle of Carabobo
, after which he triumphantly
entered Caracas on 29 June 1821.[7]:267
On 7 September 1821 the
Gran Colombia
(a state covering much of modern
Colombia
,
Panama
,
Venezuela
,
Ecuador
, northern
Peru, and northwest of Brazil) was created, with Bolívar as president
and
Francisco de Paula Santander
as vice president.
Bolivar followed with the Battle of Bombona and the
Battle of Pichincha
, after which Bolivar
entered Quito on 16 June 1822.[7]:287
On 26 and 27 July 1822, Bolívar held the
Guayaquil conference
with the
Argentinian
General
José de San Martín
, who had received the title
of Protector of Peruvian Freedom in August 1821 after having partially
liberated Peru from the Spanish.[7]:295
Thereafter, Bolívar took over the task of fully liberating
Peru. The Peruvian congress named him dictator of Peru on 10 February
1824, which allowed Bolívar to reorganize completely the political and military
administration. Assisted by
Antonio José de Sucre
, Bolívar decisively
defeated the Spanish
cavalry
at the
Battle of Junín
on 6 August 1824. Sucre
destroyed the still numerically superior remnants of the Spanish forces at
Ayacucho
on 9 December 1824.
On 6 August 1825, at the Congress of Upper Peru, the “Republic of
Bolivia
” was created, and voted Bolivar
president.[7]:346
Bolívar is thus one of the
few men to have a country named after him
.
Bolivar returned to Caracas on 12 Jan. 1827, but returned to Bogota on 10
Sept. 1827 to assume absolute power, setting the date of the constituent
congress, 2 Jan. 1830, as the day he would surrender power.[7]:369,378,408
Proclamation of
presidency
Battle of Carabobo
, 24 June 1821
Battle of Junín, August 1824
Bolívar had great difficulties maintaining control of the vast Gran
Colombia. In 1826, internal divisions had sparked dissent throughout the
nation, and regional uprisings erupted in Venezuela. The new South American
union had revealed its fragility and appeared to be on the verge of collapse. To
preserve the union, an amnesty was declared and an arrangement was reached with
the Venezuelan rebels, but this increased the political dissent in neighboring
New Granada. In an attempt to keep the nation together as a single entity,
Bolívar called for a constitutional convention at
Ocaña
in March 1828.
Bolívar’s dream was freedom for all races in the Americas, but felt the
federation found in the US was unworkable.[7]:106,166
For this reason, and to prevent a break-up, Bolívar sought to implement a more
centralist model of government in Gran Colombia, including some or all of the
elements of the
Bolivian constitution
he had written, which
included a
lifetime presidency
with the ability to select
a successor (although theoretically, this presidency was held in check by an
intricate system of balances).[7]:351
This move was considered controversial in New Granada and was one of the reasons
for the deliberations, which met from 9 April to 10 June 1828. The convention
almost ended up drafting a document which would have implemented a radically
federalist form of government, which would have greatly reduced the powers of a
central administration. The federalist faction was able to command a majority
for the draft of a new constitution which has definite federal characteristics
despite its ostensibly centralist outline. Unhappy with what would be the
ensuing result, pro-Bolívar delegates withdrew from the convention, leaving it
moribund.[17]
Two months after the failure of this congress to write a new constitution,
Bolívar was declared president-liberator in Colombia’s “Organic Decree”.[7]:394
He considered this as a temporary measure, as a means to reestablish his
authority and save the republic, although it increased dissatisfaction and anger
among his political opponents.[7]:408
An assassination attempt on 25 September 1828 failed, thanks to the help of his
lover,
Manuela Sáenz
.[7]:399-405
Bolívar afterward described Manuela as “Liberatrix of the Liberator”.[7]:403
Although Bolívar emerged safely from the attempt, this nevertheless greatly
affected him. Dissent continued, and uprisings occurred in
New Granada
, Venezuela, and Ecuador during the
next two years.[17]
Finally, Bolivar recommended the republic be divided into three separate states:
Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, and he would depart after the constitutional
congress in Jan. 1830.[7]:427
Death
Sketch of Bolívar at age 47 made from life by José María Espinosa in
1830
Saying, “All who served the Revolution have plowed the sea”,[7]:450
Bolívar finally resigned his presidency on 27 April 1830, intending to leave the
country for exile in Europe.[7]:435
He already had sent several crates (containing his belongings and writings,
which he had selected) ahead of him to Europe,[18]
but he died before setting sail from Cartagena.
On 17 December 1830, at the age of 47, Simón Bolívar died of
tuberculosis
in the
Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
in
Santa Marta
,
Gran Colombia
(now
Colombia
). On his deathbed, Bolívar asked his
aide-de-camp
, General
Daniel F. O’Leary
to burn the remaining,
extensive archive of his writings, letters, and speeches. O’Leary disobeyed the
order and his writings survived, providing historians with a wealth of
information about Bolívar’s liberal philosophy and thought, as well as details
of his personal life, such as his long love affair with
Manuela Sáenz
. Shortly before her own death in
1856, Sáenz augmented this collection by giving O’Leary her own letters from
Bolívar.[18]
Bolívar’s death by Venezuelan painter
Antonio Herrera Toro
His remains were buried in the cathedral of
Santa Marta
. Twelve years later, in 1842, at
the request of President
José Antonio Páez
, they were moved from Santa
Marta to Caracas, where a monument was set up for his interment in the
National Pantheon of Venezuela
. The ‘Quinta’
near Santa Marta has been preserved as a museum with numerous references to his
life.[20]
In 2010, symbolic remains of Bolívar’s lover,
Manuela Sáenz
, were interred by his side during
a national ceremony reuniting them and honoring her role in the liberations.
On January 2008, then
President of Venezuela
Hugo Chávez
set up a commission[22]
to investigate theories that Bolívar was the victim of an assassination. On
several occasions, Chavez has claimed that Bolívar was in fact poisoned by “New
Granada traitors”.[23]
In April 2010, infectious diseases specialist Paul Auwaerter studied records of
Bolívar’s symptoms and concluded that he might have suffered from chronic
arsenic poisoning
, but that both acute
poisoning and murder were unlikely.[24][25]
In July 2010, Bolívar’s body was ordered to be exhumed to advance the
investigations.[26]
In July 2011, international forensics experts released their report claiming
that there was no proof of poisoning or other unnatural cause of death.[27]
Private life
Manuela Sáenz
, lover of Bolívar who
rescued him from an assassination attempt and whose remains have
recently been united with his
In 1799, following the early deaths of his father Juan Vicente (died 1786)
and his mother Concepción (died 1792), he traveled to Mexico, France, and Spain,
at age sixteen, to complete his education. While in
Madrid
during 1802 and after a two-year
courtship, he married María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alaiza, who was his only
wife. She was related to the aristocratic families of the Marqués del Toro of
Caracas and the Marqués de Inicio of Madrid.
Eight months after returning to Venezuela with him, she died from
yellow fever
. Devastated by his sudden loss and
after having sworn never to marry again Bolívar returned to Europe in 1804 where
interest in politics became the best medicine against his acute depression. Not
surprisingly many years later Bolivar would refer to the death of his wife as
the turning point of his life. He lived in
Napoleonic France
for a while and undertook the
Grand Tour
.
During this time in Europe, Bolivar met
Alexander von Humboldt
in Rome, Humboldt later
writing, “I was wrong back then, when I judged him a puerile man, incapable of
realizing so grand an ambition.[7]:64
Ducoudray Holstein’s description of Bolivar
In his Memoirs of Simon Bolivar,
Henri La Fayette Villaume Ducoudray Holstein
–
who himself has been called a “not-always-reliable and never impartial witness”
[29]
) – described the young Bolivar as he
was attempting to seize power in Venezuela and Bolivia in 1814-1816 .
Ducoudray Holstein joined Bolivar and served on his staff as officer and
Bolivar’s confident during this period. He describes Bolivar as a coward who
repeatedly abandoned his military commission in front of enemy, and also as also
a great lover of women, being accompanied at all times by 2 or more of his
mistresses during the military operations. He would not hesitate to stop the
fleet transporting the whole army and bound for the Margarita island during 2
days in order to wait for his mistress to join his ship.
According to
Ducoudray Holstein
Bolivar behaved essentially
as an opportunist preferring intrigues and secret manipulation to open fight. He
was also incompetent in military matters, systematically avoiding any risks and
permanently anxious for his own safety.
As to Bolivar’s opinion of Ducoudray, when
Louis Peru de Lacroix
asked who had been
Bolivar’s aides-de-camp since he had been general, he mentioned
Charles Eloi Demarquet
and Ducoudray; Bolivar
confirmed the first but denied the second, saying that he had met him in 1815
and accepted his services, even admitting him to his General Staff, but “I never
trusted him enough to make him my aide de camp; to the contrary I had a very
unfavorable idea of his person and his services”, and that Ducoudray only stayed
briefly with him and that his departure had been a “real pleasure”.[30]
Relatives
Bolívar had no children, having contracted
measles
and
mumps
as a child. His closest living relatives
descend from his sisters and brother. One of his sisters died in infancy. His
sister Juana Bolívar y Palacios married their maternal uncle, Dionisio Palacios
y Blanco, and had two children, Guillermo and Benigna. Guillermo Palacios died
fighting alongside his uncle Simón in the battle of La Hogaza on 2 December
1817. Benigna had two marriages, the first to Pedro Briceño Méndez and the
second to Pedro Amestoy.[31]
Their great-grandchildren, Bolívar’s closest living relatives, Pedro, and
Eduardo Mendoza Goiticoa
lived in
Caracas
, as of 2009. The family still lives in
Caracas today.
His eldest sister, María Antonia, married Pablo Clemente Francia and had four
children: Josefa, Anacleto, Valentina, and Pablo. María Antonia became Bolívar’s
agent
to deal with his properties while he
served as president of Gran Colombia and she was an executrix of his will. She
retired to Bolívar’s estate in
Macarao
, which she inherited from him.[32]
His older brother, Juan Vicente, who died in 1811 on a diplomatic mission to
the United States, had three children born out of wedlock whom he recognized:
Juan, Fernando Simón, and Felicia Bolívar Tinoco. Bolívar provided for the
children and their mother after his brother’s death. Bolívar was especially
close to Fernando and in 1822 sent him to study in the United States, where he
attended the
University of Virginia
. In his long life,
Fernando had minor participation in some of the major political events of
Venezuelan history and also traveled and lived extensively throughout Europe. He
had three children, Benjamín Bolívar Gauthier, Santiago Hernández Bolívar, and
Claudio Bolívar Taraja. Fernando died in 1898 at the age of 88.[33]
Political beliefs
Simón Bolívar was an admirer of both the
American
and the
French Revolutions
.[7]:35,52-53
Bolivar even enrolled his nephew, Fernando Bolivar, in a private school in
Philadelphia, and paid for his education, including attendance at Thomas
Jefferson’
University of Virginia
.[7]:71-72,
369 Bolívar differed, however, in political philosophy from the leaders of
the revolution in the United States on two important matters. First of all, he
was staunchly anti-slavery, despite coming from an area of Spanish America, that
relied heavily on slave labor. Second, while he was an admirer of the American
independence, he did not believe that its governmental system could function in
Latin America.
Thus, he claimed that the governance of heterogeneous societies like Venezuela
“will require an infinitely firm hand.”
Bolívar felt that the US had been established in land especially fertile for
democracy. By contrast, he referred to Spanish America as having been subject to
the “triple yoke of ignorance, tyranny, and vice.”[7]:224
If a republic could be established in such a land, in his mind, it would have to
make some concessions in terms of liberty. This is shown when Bolívar blamed the
fall of the first republic on his subordinates trying to imitate “some ethereal
republic” and in the process, not paying attention to the gritty political
reality of South America.
Among the books accompanying him as he traveled were,
Adam Smith
‘s
The Wealth of Nations
,
Voltaire
‘s
Letters
, and when he was writing the
Bolivian Constitution,
Montesquieu
‘s
Spirit of the Laws
.
His Bolivian constitution placed him within the camp of what would become Latin
American conservatism in the later nineteenth century. The Bolivian Constitution
intended to establish a
lifelong presidency
and a hereditary senate,
essentially recreating the
British unwritten constitution
, as it existed
at the time, without formally establishing a monarchy. It was his attempts to
implement a similar constitution in Gran Colombia that led to his downfall and
rejection by 1830.
Freemasonry
Similarly to some others in the history of American Independence (George
Washington,
Miguel Hidalgo
,
José de San Martín
,
Bernardo O’Higgins
and
Francisco Miranda
), Simón Bolívar was a
Freemason
. He was initiated in 1803 in the
Masonic
Lodge Lautaro
which operated in
Cadiz, Spain
.[38]
It was in this lodge that he first met some of his revolutionary peers, such as
José de San Martín
. In May 1806 he was
conferred the rank of Master Mason in the “Scottish Mother of St. Alexander of
Scotland” in Paris. During his time in London, he frequented “The Great American
Reunion” lodge in London, founded by Francisco de Miranda. In April 1824, Simón
Bolívar was given the 33rd degree of Inspector General Honorary.
Legacy
Simón Bolívar Memorial Monument, standing in
Santa Marta
(Colombia) at the
Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
Statue of Bolivar in Plaza Bolívar in
Caracas
by
Adamo Tadolino
Simón Bolívar’s statue in Paris
A monument in honor of Simon Bolivar in
Sofia
,
Bulgaria
Political legacy
Due the historical relevance of Bolivar as a key element during the process
of independence in
Hispanic America
, his memory has been strongly
attached to sentiments of nationalism and patriotism, being a recurrent theme of
rhetoric in politics, more notably in Venezuela. For instance, the nationalist
government led by
Marcos Perez Jimenez
, the right-wing candidate
Renny Ottolina
and the left-wing
political movement led
by
Hugo Chávez
in Venezuela makes the memory,
image and writing legacy of Bolívar an important part of its political message
and agenda from a socialist perspective, .[39][40]
Since the image of Bolívar became an important part to the national identities
of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, his mantle is often
claimed by Hispanic American politicians all across the political spectrum.[b]
Bolivia and Venezuela (the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) are both named
after Bolívar.
Monuments and
physical legacy
The nations of Bolivia
and the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela (Venezuela)
are named after Bolívar.
Most cities and towns in Venezuela and
Colombia
have a bust or statue of Bolívar. The
capital cities in Ecuador
,
Peru, Panama
,
the United States
,
Canada
,
Cuba and Bolivia also have busts and/or statues of Bolívar.
In Venezuela, nearly every city or town has a main square known as Plaza
Bolívar.
- Bilbao
(Basque
Country, Spain), “Simón Bolívar Street”, a street in Bilbao city
center to honour Bolívar and his Basque ancestry and a monument at Venezuela
square.
- The main square in
Bogotá
,
Colombia
is called plaza de Bolívar
(Bolivar
Square), around this square rise the Colombian national capitol,
the Colombian palace of justice, the palace of Lievano (which houses the
mayor of Bogotá), and the main cathedral of the city.
-
Bolivar
(Basque
Country, Spain), Bolívar’s ancestor’s home town; a monument to
Bolívar, a gift by
Venezuela
. A museum devoted to Simón
Bolívar, his family and ancestors was built in Simón Bolívar’s patrimonial
house.
- Currencies; the
boliviano
and the
Venezuelan bolívar
- The Venezuelan Navy has a
sail training barque
named after him.
-
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641)
, a Benjamin
Franklin-class fleet ballistic missile submarine which served with the U.S.
Navy, was named after him. It was commissioned in October 1965, de-activated
in September 1994 and de-commissioned in February 1995.
- An avenue in Paris
,
France
, is named after him.
- The Pétion-Bolivar square and avenue in
Jacmel
Haiti
, are both named after Bolivar and
Alexandre Pétion
who while on Bolivar’s
stop to Haiti in 1816, befriended him and gave him military and material
support for his future expedition.
- A square near
Tahrir Square
in the downtown of
Cairo
,
Egypt
is named after him.
- There is a road in
New Delhi
, India named after Bolívar.
- There is a large bronze equestrian statue of Simon Bolivar at the
entrance to Central Park at Avenue of the Americas in New York, New York.[42]
- There is a providence (region) in Ecuador name after Bolivar
- A street in the central district of Cankaya in
Ankara, Turkey
is named after him.
- There is a bust of Bolivar in the uppermost lobby of the
European Parliament
Building in
Brussels
,
Belgium
.
- Asteroid
712 Boliviana
is named in his honor.
- The
Bolivar Peninsula, Texas
was named in his
honor.
- The small town of
Bolivar, West Virginia
was named in his
honor.
- The small town of
Bolivar, Ohio
was named in his honor.
-
Bolivar County, Mississippi
is named in his
honor.
-
Bolivar, Tennessee
, a small town in
Hardeman County, Tennessee
is named after
him.
- There is an equestrian statue of Bolivar in the city of
Port-au-Prince
,
Haiti
.
- There is a small statue of him in the city of
Havana
,
Cuba
.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the city of
Paris, France
.
- There is a statue of Bolivar at nám. Interbrigády
International Brigades
Square in the
Dejvice
neighbourhood in the city of
Prague
,
Czech Republic
.
- There is an avenue named after Simon Bolivar, as well as a monument to
him containing a large statue of the Liberator, in
New Orleans
,
Louisiana
.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the city of
Ottawa
, Canada.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the city of
Marina di Camerota
, Italy.
- A
Statue in Belgrave Square
, London.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the small town of Bolivar, Missouri.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the city of
San Salvador
, El Salvador.
- There is a bust of Simón Bolívar in
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
,
Tenerife
, Spain.
- There is a bust of Simón Bolívar in
San Cristóbal de La Laguna
, Tenerife,
Spain.
- There is a bust of Simón Bolívar in
Garachico
, Tenerife, Spain.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the city of
Bucharest
, Romania.
- There is a statue of Bolivar in the city of New York
- There is a monument to the Venezuelan general, the “Liberator of Latin
America” in Plaza Bolivar, Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama.
- There is an
Equestrian statue
of Bolivar at the UN
Civic Center, San Francisco
Plaza,
California USA.
- There is a large bronze equestrian statue of Simon Bolivar at the
Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins
in
Santiago, Chile
. The first Simon Bolivar
monument in Latin America and the Caribbean area is at the Plaza de Armas of
same city since 1836.[43]
- The school
“СОУ Симон Боливар”
.
in Plovdiv
, Bulgaria, is named in his honor.
See also
|
Spanish American wars of independence portal
|
|
Venezuela portal
|
|
Biography portal
|
- Brigadier General
Antonio Valero de Bernabe
-
Bolivarian Revolution
- General
Louis Peru de Lacroix
, a biographer of
Bolivar who served as one of his generals
-
Gabriel García Márquez
‘s novel
The General in His Labyrinth
(1989), a
fictionalized account of Bolívar’s last days
-
National Pantheon of Venezuela
-
Toussaint L’Ouverture
-
Miguel Hidalgo
-
Alexandre Pétion
-
Francisco de Miranda
|
