_The Congress of Angostura. A Great Address. Campaigning in the Plains_
(1819)
Congress did not meet until February 15, 1819, on account of the late
arrival of some representatives. There again Bolívar spoke, and on this
occasion he excelled himself in expressing his ideas regarding freedom.[1]
[Footnote 1: Bolívar has been accused of verbosity. Of all the accusations,
this is one of the most stupid. Bolívar's style is the style of his epoch.
The Spanish and French writers of that period wrote exactly in the same
form, and if his words do not appear as modern and sober as we might wish
them at this time, we must remember that times alter customs, and styles
also, and that if a document of Bolívar's were judged with no knowledge of
the work realized by the great man of the South, it might appear bombastic;
when his life is known, his words seem altogether natural. He was proud,
and his words show it, but his pride was a collective pride rather than an
individual one. He praised the work of the liberators, while he was the
Liberator _par excellence_, with this title conferred upon him officially.
When he mentioned his own person and his own glory, he did not exceed the
language of men of his time, and employed words even inferior to his own
merits. He was as emphatic as his race is, but he was never pedantic, and
as for the vanity of which Lorain Petre accuses him and his race, it never
existed. Lorain Petre's pamphlet is a work of passion masquerading as one
of wisdom and of impartiality.]
"Happy is the citizen," he said in his address, "who, under the shield
of the armies he commands, has convoked national sovereignty to
exercise its absolute will.... Only a forceful need, coupled with the
imperious will of the people, could force me into the terrible and
hazardous position of Dictator and Supreme Chief of the Republic.
I breathe freely now when I return to you this authority, which, with
much danger, difficulty and sorrow, I have succeeded in keeping in the
midst of the most horrible misfortunes which can befall a people."
Among the most remarkable parts of this document, the following will bear
close and careful study:
"The continuation of authority in one individual has frequently been
the undoing of democratic governments. Repeated elections are essential
in popular systems, because nothing is so dangerous as to permit a
citizen to remain long in power. The people get used to obeying
and he gets used to commanding it, from which spring usurpation and
tyranny." ... "We have been subjected by deception rather than by
force. We have been degraded by vice rather than by superstition.
Slavery is a child of darkness; an ignorant people becomes a blind
instrument of its own destruction. It takes license for freedom,
treachery for patriotism, vengeance for justice." ... "Liberty is a
rich food, but of difficult digestion. Our weak fellow citizens must
greatly strengthen their spirit before they are able to digest the
wholesome and nutritious bread of liberty." ... "The most perfect
system of government is the one which produces the greatest possible
happiness, the greatest degree of social safety, and the greatest
political stability."
The following study of the balance of powers in a country shows keen
political penetration:
"In republics, the executive must be the stronger, because all conspire
against him; while in monarchies, the legislative power should be the
stronger, because all conspire in favor of the monarch. The splendor of
the throne, of the crown, of the purple; the formidable support given
to it by the nobility; the immense wealth which generations accumulate
in the same dynasty; the fraternal protection which kings mutually
enjoy, are considerable advantages which militate in favor of royal
authority and make it almost boundless. These advantages show the need
of giving a Repúblican executive a greater degree of authority than
that possessed by a constitutional prince.
"A Repúblican executive is an individual isolated in the midst of
society, to restrain the impulses of the people toward license and the
propensities of administrators to arbitrariness. He is directly subject
to the legislative power, to the people; he is a single man, resisting
the combined attack of opinion, personal interests and the passions of
society."
Elsewhere in his address, he remarks:
"The government of Venezuela has been, is, and must be Repúblican
its foundation must be the sovereignty of the people, the division of
powers, civil freedom, the proscription of slavery, the abolition
of monarchy and of privileges." ... "Unlimited freedom, absolute
democracy, are the rocks upon which Repúblican hopes have been
destroyed. Look at the old republics, the modern republics, and the
republics now in process of formation; almost all have aimed to
establish themselves as absolutely democratic, and almost all have
failed in their just desires." ... "Angels only, and not men, could
exist free, peaceful and happy, while all of them exercise sovereign
power." ... "Let the legislative power relinquish the attributes
belonging to the executive, but let it acquire, nevertheless, new
influence in the true balance of authority. Let the courts be
strengthened by the stability and independence of the judges
the establishment of juries, and of civil and criminal codes, not
prescribed by old times, nor by conquering kings, but by the voice of
nature, by the clamor of justice and by the genius of wisdom." ...
"Humankind cries against the thoughtless and blind legislators who have
thought that they might with impunity try chimerical institutions. All
the peoples of the world have attempted to gain freedom, some by deeds
of arms, others by laws passing alternately from anarchy to despotism,
from despotism to anarchy. Very few have contented themselves with
moderate ambitions constituting themselves in conformity with their
means, their spirit and their circumstances. Let us not aspire to
impossible things, lest, desiring to rise above the region of freedom,
we descend to the region of tyranny. From absolute liberty, peoples
invariably descend to absolute power, and the means between those two
extremes is social liberty." ... "In order to constitute a stable
government, a national spirit is required as a foundation, ha
for its object a uniform aspiration toward two capital principles;
moderation of popular will and limitation of public authority." ...
"Popular education must be the first care of the paternal love of
Congress. Morals and enlightenment are the two poles of a republic;
morals and enlightenment are our first needs."
Then Bolívar recommended the sanctioning of his decree granting freedom to
the slaves.
"I abandon to your sovereign decision the reform or abrogation of all
my statutes and decrees, but I implore for the confirmation of the
absolute freedom of slaves as I would implore for my own life and the
life of the Republic."
This document might well be quoted in its entirety. Very few in the history
of mankind can compare with it. "No one has ever spoken like this man,"
says an author.[1] The peoples of America have been marching steadily,
though at times haltingly, but always in a progressive way, towards the
ideals of Bolívar. The Congress of Angostura carried into effect many of
these sublime principles.
[Footnote 1: Larrazábal--Vida de Simón Bolívar. Vol. 2, p. 177.]
"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 Colombia, powerful and splendid, it realized no longer a
task Venezuelan in character, but rather an American mission."[1]
"The address of the Liberator in Angostura may be considered as a
masterpiece of reason and patriotism."[2]
At the beginning the Congress was formed of twenty-six deputies, which
number was increased to twenty-nine, representing the provinces of Caracas,
Barcelona, Cumaná, Barinas, Guayana, Margarita and Casanare. This last
province belonged to Nueva Granada and the others forming the same
vice-royalty were expected to be represented as soon as freed from Spanish
domination. Its president was don Francisco Antonio Zea.
As was proper Bolívar immediately divested himself of the civil authority,
handing it to the President of the Congress and then resigned his command
of the army, offering to serve in any military position, in which he
pledged himself to give an example of subordination and of the "blind
obedience which should distinguish every soldier of the Republic." The
Congress, as was to be expected, confirmed Bolívar in his command and
sanctioned all the commissions he had given during the campaign. He was
also elected President of the Republic, with don Francisco Antonio Zea as
Vice-President to take charge of the government during the campaigns of
the Liberator. He organized the government, made the appointments for the
cabinet and sent commissioners to England to obtain arms, ammunition and a
loan of a million pounds sterling, undertakings in which the Republic did
not meet with success at that time.
[Footnote 1: Discurso de Bolívar en el Congreso de
Angostura,--Caracas.--1919.]
[Footnote 2: Larrazábal--Vida de Simón Bolívar. Vol. 2, p. 177.]
The installation of the Congress made a great impression at home and
abroad, in spite of the attacks and ridicule with which the Spaniards tried
to discredit it. On that eventful day Bolívar saw his dream of a great
nation, Colombia, take shape, even though it were in danger of dying
shortly after its birth.
After asking all the members of the government and prominent persons of
Angostura to remain united in the cause of liberty, he went to join the
army in the western section.
During his stay in Angostura and afterwards he had been receiving foreign
contingents, especially from England. The Foreign Legion played from
that time on a very important role in the War of Independence and helped
substantially to obtain the triumph. By means of the British contingents,
the plainsmen of Páez, the regular armies of Bermúdez and Mariño, and the
genius of Bolívar, which united and directed all, the final victory was
achieved.
After a rapid march, Bolívar joined Páez and for a while waged a constant
war in the plains, consisting of local actions by which he slowly, but
surely, destroyed the morale of the royalists and did all the harm he
could, the climate being a great factor in his favor. He was impetuous
by nature, but for a while he imitated Fabius by slowly gnawing at the
strength of his foe. He tired him with marches and surprises. He burned
the grass of the plains, cleared away the cattle, and drove Morillo to the
point of desperation. Meanwhile he lived the same life as the _llaneros_,
for he could do whatever the semi-barbarous plainsmen did. He could ride on
the bare back of a horse against the foe, or just for the exhilaration of
crossing the endless plains with the swiftness of lightning; he could groom
his horse and he did; he swam the rivers, waded marshes, slept on the
ground and associated freely with his men in the moonlight in front of the
camp fires.
At this point of the war, Páez again distinguished himself by an act of
supreme daring. With 150 of his horsemen, he crossed the river Arauca,
which separated the independent army from the royalists, and then feigned a
retreat along the river, which in very few places could be waded. Morillo,
considering him and his men easy prey, sent 1,200 men, including all his
cavalry, against the retreating horsemen. When they were far from the main
body of the army Páez rushed against the attacking party, without giving
them time to organize, and at the first inrush he destroyed the column.
The defeated royalists fled to their camp and Morillo decided to withdraw,
which he did during the night. This action, fought on April 3, 1819, and
known as the Battle of Las Queseras del Medio, covered Páez with glory
and Morillo with discredit. Bolívar conferred all the honors and praise
possible on the brave Páez and on his men.
At that time the plains began to be flooded. In the northern part of South
America, the season of rain, called winter, lasts from May until October.
The Valley of the Orinoco becomes in places an interior sea. The cattle go
up to the highlands and, where horses walk in the summer, small boats ply
in the winter, going from village to village and from home to home. The
villages are built on piles, and traveling on horseback is very difficult
during this season. On these plains, Bolívar and his men would travel,
riding or swimming as required. They would drive cattle with them and
kill them for food, pressing the remaining meat under the saddles, and
continuing the march. To all of this the plainsmen were accustomed; and to
this, Bolívar, born among the greatest comforts and reared amid all the
refinements of life, showed no apparent repugnance.