Congress of Angostura, an 1819-1821 legislative body of Gran Colombia. the Liberator Simn Bolvar's address to the Congress of Angostura, 200 years after the delivery of this monumental work. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. Criollos would know be second-class citizens. There are some accounts that suggest instead that Bolivar may have been genuinely concerned with perpetual dictators at first (Harwich 2001). 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. Simon Bolivar and the spectre of pardocracia: Jose Padilla in post-independence Cartagena. Journal of Latin American Studies, 35(3): 447471. Bolivar, a man of the Enlightenment himself, continued this trope, by presenting the Turks, Persians and Chinese, as despotic peoples. "An assembly of tried and illustrious men, the Congress of Angostura, responded to the important requirements of the revolution, and when it gave birth to . 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. 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. Bolivar's speaking style reflected the values of his epoch. Bolivar, S. 1821. This is not to say that Bolivars relationship to people of African descent was totally harmonious. Bolivar, S. 1819. But, as for Man, I declare that I have never met him in my life. Latin America in the World Arena, 1990s - Present. Silencios y disputas en la historia de Hispanoamerica. Bolivar was given some military assignments in defending the Venezuelan Republic against loyalists of the Spanish monarchy. 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 . The Jamaica Letter is mostly about Bolivars attempt to justify his struggle for American independence. Yet, despite his obvious ambitions, in 1819 Bolivar still wanted to appear as to be reluctant to become a perpetual dictator. Pablo Morillo and Venezuela, 18151820. The enforcement of public morality has repeatedly been associated with authoritarian regimes. Predictably, many of these celebrations were carried out without sufficiently critical and objective approach towards historical data. Bolivar, S. 1826. By 1812, liberals in Spain understood that, if the Empire were to survive, some further reforms were required. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. We have been ruled more by deceit than by force, and we have been degraded more by vice than by superstition. We all owe it our obedience and loyalty. But, in the Angostura Address, he clearly mistrusts democracy, as it seems to cripple the strength of a nation: But what democratic government was ever able to unite power, prosperity and permanency at the same time? 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 . 47, no. 1965. 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). DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade, G., & Lugo-Ocando, J. Angostura bitters, a flavoring. 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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ncr.2003.0004. Slavery is the daughter of darkness: an ignorant people is a blind instrument of its own destruction. During Habsburg times, a great deal of contraband went on, but with the arrival of the Bourbons, economic regulations were severely tightened and enforced. That is the goal of this article. 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). My sword, and the swords of my illustrious comrades-in-arms, will protect its solemn authority. Despite their genuine admiration for Bolivar, constituents understood that Bolivars argumentation in favor of hereditary principles of political power was very weak (not to say confusing), and that an institution imitating the British House of Lords would be nothing but a setback to old aristocratic times. from the original Spanish by Francisco Javier Ynes) by Bolvar, Simn, 1783-1830; Ynes, Francisco Javier, 1861-1924; Venezuela . He was a staunch anti-colonialist when it came to Spanish America; but he had high praises for the Roman imperial ethos, he seemed content with the British imperialism of his day, and he repeated many of the tropes typical of 19th Century colonialist thinking. By 1819, Bolivar fully understood that he would not succeed without their support. . His choice of admiration for an ancient Greek city, reveals his militaristic tendency in the Angostura Address: The Republic of Sparta produced more real effects than Solons ingenious creation, even though it seemed a chimerical invention at first. 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). Lynch, J. This emphasis on militarism cohered well with his autocratic inclination. Las Indias no eran colonias. 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. He ardently defended freedoms, yet he believed that South American nations were not fully prepared for liberal systems. Do we not read in Montesquieus Spirit of the Laws that laws should be suited to the people making them, and that it is extremely unlikely that the laws of our nation will suit another? (Bolivar 1819). DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade, Gand J Lugo-Ocando. The Angostura Address: Cultural identity, ethnic relations Although never formally educated in universities, Bolivar was a self-taught man and had at least two illustrious tutors who were the arguably the leading intellectuals of the region at the time; Simon Rodriguez and Andres Bello. 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? Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 47(1), 7482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt6wrcf5. His "Angostura Address of 1819" is much more than just a regular speech that any politician would make throughout the course of their career. Poltica y cultura, 27: 929. Bolivars political program, as laid out in the Angostura Address, is straightforward. Proyecto de Constitucion para la Republica de Bolivia y discurso del Libertador al Congreso Constituyente de Bolivia. An Address of Bolvar at the Congress of Angostura (February 15, 1819). Bolivar was not really greatly concerned with these events in Spain. As our role has always been strictly passive and political existence nil, we find that our quest for liberty is now even more difficult of accomplishment; for we, having been placed in a state lower than slavery, had been robbed not only of our freedom but also of the right to exercise an active domestic tyranny . 1 (2018): 7482. The hereditary senate will also serve as a counterweight to both government and people; and as a neutral power it will weaken the mutual attacks of these two eternally rival powers. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. 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. 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. Introduction to Political Thought. Throughout his lifetime, Bolivar was concerned with public morality, and perhaps his most quoted words by Colombian and Venezuelan schoolchildren, come from the Angostura Address: Morals and knowledge are what we most need now (Bolivar 1819). A depiction of the Congress of Ccuta (1821). 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. He had a great ability to arouse emotions with grand claims in order to get the support of his audiences, but he was still lacking in detailed political reasoning. In Simon Bolivar's Message to the Congress of Angostura, he states that Latin American people deserve their independence. Charles III introduced a system of comercio libre, free trade, but the name is very deceptive. This is his explanation in the Angostura Address: Nevertheless, the North American people are a singular example of political virtue and moral rectitude. He was a spirited combatant of monarchies, yet he insisted on being president for life (i.e., a king without a crown). Under the leadership of the Libertador Simn Bolvar, revolutionary forces repeatedly fought off Spanish attempts to regain control of the region until Bolvar decisively expelled Spanish forces at the battle of Ayacucho in 1824. Geographies of Philological Knowledge: Postcoloniality and the Trasatlantic National Epic. 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. Andrade, G. and Lugo-Ocando, J., 2018. 2019 should definitely be a year of celebration, for the Angostura Address is a landmark political document. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade G and Lugo-Ocando J, The Angostura Address 200 Years Later: A Critical Reading (2018) 47 Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies 74 DOI: http://doi.org/10.16993/iberoamericana.427, Andrade, Gabriel, and Jairo Lugo-Ocando. In it, from this moment, national sovereignty is centred. The Lycurgus legislature produced glory, virtue, morality and therefore national happiness (Bolivar 1819). Retrieved from: http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article10971. Retreived from: https://rsf.org/en/ranking. Leiva, L. 1985. He also publicly proclaimed the emancipation of slaves in Carupano, in 1816. 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. Almost immediately, Bolivar had to confront a revolt lead by Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas (17731832) and Jos Toms Boves (17821814), who lured black slaves, mulatos and indigenous people to swore allegiance to the legitimate Spanish King who by then had been re-stated to the Crown. 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 stabilityunless 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. 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). In 1829, in the mist of continuous crises of legitimacy, some of Bolivars loyalists in Bogota proposed to establish a monarchy, with Bolivar as king, although his title would be Liberator; he would then have a European prince as successor (Lynch 2010: 263). 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. from the Original Spanish by Francisco Javier Ynes). 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. 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. 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. Once again, Bolivar had to flee. Scanned by J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. The executive power, consisting of two consuls, had the same flaw as Sparta. For, of all Enlightenment thinkers, Rousseau is typically considered to be somewhat of an outsider, even a pioneer of the Counter-Enlightenment. Yet, at the same time, Bolivar seems to reproduce some old colonialist tropes, according to which Anglo-Saxon peoples are more virtuous. 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. 1Despite the prominent hero-worship of Bolivar, there have been scholarly works critical of his deeds. Simn Bolvar, el culto heroico y la nacin. Hispanic American Historical Review, 107145. How is everything conspiring against the executive power in a republic? Levenes thesis is only half true. 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. There, he The governments, however, of those nations, were either aristocratic or monarchical (Bolivar 1819). Thus our position is most extraordinary and complicated. Iberoamericana Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Retrieved from: https://www.ensayistas.org/antologia/XIXA/bolivar/bolivia.htm. Thus, the Angostura Address is plentiful with passages such as these: Sir! 2018 Freedom of Speech Index. Throughout many of his private writings, Bolivar expressed enormous concerns about pardocracia, the takeover by pardos. And it is for this very reason that Bolivar believes that federalism works in North America, but it would never work in South America. This argument is hard to follow. 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. Download date: August 25th, 2018. The Cortes, assembled in Cadiz during Napoleons invasion of Spain, redacted a very liberal Constitution by the standards of the time. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X03006849. The morality of slavery was by no means a settled debate during the time of the Angostura Address. Under the flags of freedom: slave soldiers and the wars of independence in Spanish South America. 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. Bushnell, D. 2003. 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. Furthermore, in order to avoid competition with the mother country, the Bourbon reforms prohibited the production of certain goods in the Indies. Amrica Latina 4. In order to achieve this political goal, Bolivar proposes conventional republican institutions: Venezuelas government has always been republican, it is republican, and it should always remain so. Inspired by the revolutions of both the. 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 . See, for example, Madariaga (1951) and Carrera Damas (2003). 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). Bolivar did not elaborate much on what this moral power would do exactly, but he seemed to have in mind a governing body akin to Roman censors, whose basic function was to regulate public morality (Leiva 1985). Happy the citizen that under the shield of arms under his command, has convoked National Sovereignty to exercise its absolute will! 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. Bolivars stand on the abolition of monarchy, however, is more problematic. 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). 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). Originally published in 1923, as part of the Cambridge Plain Texts series, this volume contains the complete text of Simn Bolvar's address before the Venezuelan Congress at Angostura on February 15, 1819. 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). . He liked to describe himself as the man of difficulties. Indeed, Bolivars stance on the moral power coheres well with his authoritarian leanings. They justified themselves by arguing that they were just agents of a greater historical force. ended four years prior. 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). 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). 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. Retrieved from: http://www.archivodellibertador.gob.ve/escritos/buscador/spip.php?article9987. During the Second National Congress of Angostura on February 15, 1819 Bolivar stood and gave an address that would form its own place in history. 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 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). It should be strongly proportioned to meet the resistance, which the executive must expect from the legislature, from the judiciary, and from the people of a republic. Bolivar was very eloquent in denouncing the vices of Spanish imperialism in his vociferous anti-colonial stand. Indeed, he was, but even more so from an intellectual point of view. 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. 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. But, it was not a mere cynical ploy to enlarge his armies. There was no exact distribution of power there. 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). . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. 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. 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. Bolivar remained loyal to his republican convictions, and scolded at the possibility of being crowned as king of Colombia. Although there were many reasons for Bolivars disputes with Francisco de Paula Santander (17921840) and other conspirators in Bogota, it was by far the ambition of becoming President for Life that turned out to be the most crucial amongst his opponents. In the South American revolutions, there were men of action (Paez, Sucre, etc.) (2018). . However, a very strong point of contention in the Cadiz Cortes, was the demographic balance in the representation of deputies. A republican magistrate is an individual set apart from society, charged with checking the impulse of the people toward license and the propensity of judges and administrators toward abuse of the laws. Reprint ed., Washington, D.C.: Press of B. S. Adams, 1919. He had some clear political motivations in doing this, (i.e., as an argument to reject federalism and favor stronger governments leaning towards authoritarianism). Comercio libre meant that various Spanish ports could trade with the Indies; however, the Indies could not trade with any other country. This time, he wandered throughout the Caribbean. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Bol var and South American Originally published in 1923, as part of the Cambridge Plain Texts series, this volume contains the complete text of Sim n Bol var's address before the Venezuelan Congress at . Caracas: Alfa. 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. 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. 2018;47(1):74-82. Edinburgh University Press. 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). At least theoretically, this would ensure that criollos would no longer be second class citizens. 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. Unless the executive has easy access to all the administrative resources, fixed by a just distribution of powers, he inevitably becomes a nonentity or abuses his authority. Bolivar was decidedly on the abolitionist side, and this speaks very well of his moral character. God save Congress! (Bolivar 1819). By contrast, Counter-Enlightenment authors such as Joseph de Maistre argued thus: In the course of my life, I have seen Frenchmen, Italians, Russians, etc. Simon Bolvar's 1819 address to the Congress of Angostura took place in Venezuela during the long course of the struggle for independence. 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The Spanish monarchy in denouncing the vices of Spanish imperialism in his vociferous anti-colonial stand against loyalists of Spanish. Glory, virtue, morality and therefore National happiness ( Bolivar 1819.. In post-independence Cartagena morality and therefore National happiness ( Bolivar 1819 ) darkness: ignorant. Message to the Congress of Angostura, he states that Latin American Caribbean! By 1812, liberals in Spain concerned with these events in Spain never met him in my.. Of darkness: an ignorant people is a blind instrument of its own destruction Empire were to,!