_Difficulties with Perú. Slander and Honors. On the Road to Calvary_
(1829-1830)
The wound received by Bolívar's heart had no possible cure. His physical
condition was getting worse and worse from day to day, but he had to remain
in power. Serious dangers threatened the country. In Bolivia, Sucre, a
victim of the conspiracy of Perúvians, had been wounded and forced to leave
the country where he had been in command, but not without showing his
generosity in a message to the Bolivian Congress, in which he said:
"Although through foreign instigations I carry broken the arm w
in Ayacucho put an end to the war of American Independence, which
destroyed the chains of Perú and gave birth to Bolivia, I am comforted,
feeling in these difficult circumstances that my conscience is
of any guilt.... My Government has been distinguished by clemency,
tolerance and kindness."
All of this was the naked truth. Perú had invaded Bolivia and had attacked
Colombia. Bolívar immediately organized an expedition, under the command of
General José Maria Córdova,--who distinguished himself in Ayacucho,--and
he, himself, prepared to go immediately. After attending to several matters
of an administrative character, he started towards the South, in spite of
declining health. It was torture for him to ride on horseback. He knew that
little of life remained for him, and still he was going to give his last
days to the service of his country. He did not seek revenge on his enemies
then in power in Perú. He only wanted to defend the integrity of Colombia
against the foreign invader.
As was his custom, he tried first to settle all difficulties through
negotiation. His aide-de-camp, Colonel O'Leary, was sent to offer the
Liberator's friendship to Perú, but the Peruvian Government did not deign
even to answer O'Leary's communication. In January, 1829, the Perúvians
obtained some success; they occupied Guayaquil and other places with an
army of over 8,000 men well organized, while the Colombians numbered only
6,000 men, poorly equipped, but commanded by the greatest of all South
American generals after Bolívar,--Sucre, who was able to inflict two
defeats on the enemy during the month of February, and, after his final
victory, offered a capitulation, which was accepted by the enemy, with
the stipulation that the boundaries between Perú and Colombia were to
be settled by a special commission, and that neither of the contracting
parties would intervene in the domestic affairs of the other. The city
of Guayaquil was to be surrendered to Colombia. The Peruvian army was
commanded by La Mar, head of the anti-Colombian party of Perú.
The inhabitants of Pasto had again rebelled against Colombia, but they were
subdued without bloodshed. Upon receiving their submission, Bolívar went to
Quito, where, after long separation, he met Sucre, and found in the loyal
friendship of the Great Marshal of Ayacucho some comfort in the midst of
all the bitterness which filled his soul. On that occasion, for the first
time, Bolívar's facility and felicity of language failed him, and his tears
were the only expression of his feelings. He received in Quito a manifesto
issued by Páez regarding the murderous attempt of the 25th of September,
once more protesting that he was loyal to Bolívar. Again mentioning the
sword that his illustrious chief had given him, he said: "In my hands it
will always be Bolívar's sword, not my own; let his will direct it and my
arm will carry it."
La Mar, on trivial pretexts, did not surrender the city of Guayaquil, but
undertook the reorganization and enlargement of his army. Bolívar prepared
himself for new struggles, while in private he did his best to have the
capitulation fulfilled. Advancing to Guayaquil, he succeeded in recovering
without a single shot the land lost by Colombia, for La Mar had become
unpopular in Perú on account of this war and was deprived of his command
and expelled from the country. Immediately after his banishment public
feeling in Perú expressed itself freely in favor of Colombia and a friendly
arrangement was very easy. La Mar died soon after in exile, forgotten by
all.
In Guayaquil, Bolívar's life was in great danger because of very serious
illness, and his soul was sick of the unjust attacks by his enemies. In
1815 the Duke of Manchester, governor of Jamaica, had said of him that _the
flame had consumed the oil_, but at this time it was really true. Yet on
August 31st, while barely convalescing, he plunged again into activity
by issuing a famous circular asking the people to express their opinions
freely on the form of government and on the constitution to be adopted by
the next constitutional congress. After recovering from that illness he
went to Quito, where he worked in the reorganization of the southern
departments, and at the end of October he left for Bogotá.
Then another man added his bit to the work of Bolívar's enemies. Córdova,
tempted by ambition, and believing in the necessity for the separation of
New Granada from Venezuela, claimed that, since Bolívar was getting old and
had very few days to live, he should be deprived of the command. He tried
to form a combination with Páez, Mariño and others. Bolívar knew of his
actions and talked to him in an attempt to win back his friendship.
He thought that so distinguished a general would hesitate much before
smirching his glory with ingratitude; but at the bottom of his heart this
wound, added to the others he had received, pushed him a little farther
towards his premature end. Córdova finally raised the flag of insurrection,
based on the Constitution of Cúcuta, calling Bolívar the tyrant of the
country. He and his improvised army were destroyed by O'Leary, and he was
fatally wounded on the field of battle. He was young, rich and endowed with
great powers of attraction; he was brave and clever, and his disloyalty and
insurrection form one of the saddest episodes of this part of the history
of America.
It may have been of some comfort to Bolívar that at that time a special
envoy from France went to Bogotá to express the esteem of his country for
the great man of the South. Addressing the Council of Ministers, the French
envoy, Bresson, voiced the hope of seeing Bolívar soon, and of
"expressing to him verbally to what extent Simón Bolívar's name is
honored among us. France admires in him not only that intrepidity and
celerity in enterprise, that vision and that constancy which are the
qualifications of a great general, but pays homage to his virtue
to his political talent, which are guaranty of independence and
order--the essentials of the freedom of the country, which has placed
her destiny in his hands."
Europe was unanimous in her admiration for Bolívar. In England they also
had the highest opinion of the American hero.
"It is impossible," wrote the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dudley, in
March, 1828, to Campbell, British Chargé d'Affaires in Colombia, "to
have observed the events which have occurred in Colombia and its
neighboring provinces since their separation from the mother country,
without being convinced that the merits and services of General Bolívar
entitle him to the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, and to the esteem
of foreign nations."
But this general feeling also gave foundation to slanderous affirmations
that Bolívar wanted to make himself king. We have seen how untrue this
was. Bolívar had no other ambition than the freedom and the union of his
country,--Colombia, the child of his genius. For himself, he wanted only to
keep his honor untarnished and to pass his last days as a simple citizen.
During his stay in the South, the Council of Ministers started to work
for a monarchy. A letter was sent to him, not speaking openly of the
monarchical question, but dwelling on the restless condition of the
population and the need of preparing for the future. In answer, Bolívar
expressed his agreement and, knowing that he could not live much longer,
said that in order to avoid civil war with its terrible results, which he
expected to occur within ten years, it would be advisable to divide the
country by legal and peaceable means. He declared that he considered the
stability of the government impossible because of the hostility between
Venezuela and Nueva Granada. He pronounced himself against a foreign
monarch and said that, as for himself, he took it for granted that it was
understood that he was tired of serving and of suffering ingratitude and
attempts against his own life. He still insisted that, "in case no other
solution seems feasible, the best way out of the difficulty would be
a president for life, and a hereditary senate," as he had proposed in
Guayana. In a letter to O'Leary, he wrote:
"I cannot conceive of even the possibility of establishing a kingdom in
a country which is constitutionally democratic because the lo
and most numerous classes of the people want it to be so, with an
indisputable right, since legal equality is indispensable where there
is physical inequality, in order to correct to a certain extent the
injustice of nature. Besides, who can be a king in Colombia? Nobody,
for no foreign prince would accept a throne surrounded by danger and
misery, and the generals would consider it humiliating to subordinate
themselves to a comrade, and resign the supreme authority forever."
He wrote that the idea of monarchy was chimerical, and that it should
be discussed no more. In another letter he expressed his decision to
relinquish power, whether Congress met or not.
Bolívar arrived in Bogotá on the 15th of January, 1830, and on the
20th Congress began its work under the presidency of Sucre. With the
inauguration of the Congress, Bolívar considered that his public duties
had ended, and in that sense he published an eloquent proclamation, which
closed with this supreme appeal:
"Fellow citizens, listen to my last words, at the end of my political
career. In the name of Colombia, I beg you, I pray you, always to
remain united so that you may not become the murderers of your country
and your own murderers."
In this proclamation he mentioned the fact that a crown had been offered
to him more than once, and that he had rejected the offers with the
indignation befitting a strong Repúblican. In his message to the Congress,
he offered to obey any person elected to occupy his place and to support
him with his sword and all his strength.
"The Republic will be happy," he said, "if, on accepting my
resignation, you appoint as President a citizen loved by the country.
She would succumb if you insisted that I command her.... Beginning
today I am nothing but a citizen, armed for the defense of my country
and for the obedience to her government. My public functions have ended
forever. I deliver unto you the supreme authority which the will of the
country conferred upon me."
The circular issued by Bolívar from Guayaquil on the 31st of August had
been received by Páez, who circulated it in Venezuela, and organized
demonstrations asking for the separation of Venezuela from Colombia. As the
union of Colombia had been Bolívar's greatest conception, he was attacked,
and in Valencia his ostracism was demanded. Páez was asked to prevent his
entering Venezuelan territory. Wherever Páez exercised any influence,
Bolívar's authority was denounced, and Páez was asked to assume the highest
authority of the country. Bolívar was insulted by the press of his own
nation, which called him a tyrant and a hypocrite, and insisted on his
banishment. At last Páez declared himself openly. He went to Caracas,
approved the rebellion of the capital against Bolívar, broke with him,
declared Venezuela a sovereign state, appointed a cabinet and convoked a
congress to meet in Valencia. He asked the people for subsidies for the
war against Bolívar, and at the same time wrote a letter to the Libertador
warning him not to oppose the will of the Venezuelans, who were ready, he
said, to deliver themselves to the Spaniards rather than to Bolívar.
The Congress of Colombia had asked Bolívar to remain in command, to
suppress anarchy, and to fulfil his promise that he would exercise power
until the constitution had been proclaimed and magistrates duly elected.
Bolívar accepted provisionally, and immediately tried to obtain a friendly
compromise with Venezuela. He wanted to have a personal interview with
Páez, but Páez declined. He had unsheathed the sword Bolívar had given him,
and the one he had sworn to carry according to the will of the Libertador.
The Congress of Colombia appointed a constitutional committee, and Bolívar
proposed that a peace mission be sent to Venezuela to make known the
intentions of the national representation, and to show the basis of the
constitution, in order to destroy any suspicions which might have been
conceived in Venezuela regarding this document. The mission was appointed,
one of its members being the illustrious General Sucre, President of the
Congress, another, its Vice-President. The Commissioners were asked to
inform the Venezuelan people that the future constitution was to be
entirely Repúblican, that the Congress hoped to obtain a friendly agreement
with Venezuela, and that the Congress was firmly decided to preserve the
principles of integrity of the Republic and unity of the government in the
new constitution; that all dissensions were to be forgotten and that all
existing differences would be settled in a friendly way. Sucre said very
frankly that, considering the state of affairs in Venezuela, he did not
expect favorable results. The basis of the constitution as finally adopted
provided that
"the republic should be unitary according to its fundamental law; the
government should be popular, representative and elected for terms of
eight years; the legislative power should be divided among the Senate,
the House of Representatives and the Executive; there was to be a
Council of State to help the President of the Republic, and this
Council should have no responsibility except in the case of treachery;
the Cabinet officers were to be responsible. Local legislatures
to be created to take care of local interests; individual rights were
guaranteed."[1]
[Footnote 1: Larrazábal--Vida de Bolívar. Vol. II (6th Edition), New York,
1883, p. 531.]
Bolívar showed his generosity again by pardoning those who were in exile
on account of the conspiracy of the 25th of September, and then asked
permission of the Congress to be relieved of his duties because of ill
health. Once obtaining permission, he went to a country place to recover.
He was never again to exercise the executive authority of Colombia. Using
his power, he appointed General Domingo Caicedo to take his place. He was
a very kindly and patriotic man and the best suited to mediate between the
contending parties.
The peace commission was not even received in Venezuelan territory, but had
to stay on the border to meet the delegates appointed by Páez, one of whom
was Mariño. Claiming that Bolívar was oppressing Nueva Granada, Páez
had prepared himself for a campaign, not only to support the Venezuelan
Revolution but to deliver Nueva Granada from its so-called oppressor. The
real cause was simply his inordinate ambition. The conferences between the
two groups were fruitless, and the delegates of the Congress withdrew.
Meanwhile, Páez was issuing proclamation after proclamation against
Bolívar, who had to leave the country place where he was caring for his
health and go to Bogotá to meet the new situation. He was asked to resume
the supreme command, but he knew that he was not strong enough for the
task. He consulted the Ministers and some friends, but nothing was decided.
Some members of the Congress wanted to elect him constitutional President;
these, however, were vehemently attacked by others. Many friends deserted
the Libertador, knowing perfectly well they had little to expect from a
life which was rapidly nearing the end. Bolívar saw all this, learned of
the intrigues of his enemies, and, convinced that the best thing he could
do was to withdraw not only from power but from the country he had loved so
dearly and for which he had done so much, he sent a message on the 27th of
April, 1830, to the Congress, in which he reiterated his decision not to
accept again the supreme power of the state.
"You must be assured," he said, "that the good of the country imposes
on me the sacrifice of leaving forever the land which gave me life
in order that my presence in Colombia may not be an obstacle to the
happiness of my fellow citizens."
Three days later, Congress answered, praising the patriotic
disinterestedness of Bolívar and protesting that the country would always
respect and venerate him, and take care that the luster of his name
should pass to posterity in a manner befitting the founder of Colombian
independence.[1]
[Footnote 1: Upon the disruption of Colombia, Nueva Granada kept her old
name. Later she changed it to Colombia. It is necessary to bear in mind
that Colombia of today is only a part of Bolívar's Colombia.]