Bogota, Colombia. Cairo, Egypt. New York, New York. Three different cities on three separate continents.
Yet all three pay homage to Simón Bolívar, a military and political leader who helped Latin America gain its independence from Spain in the early 19th century. In 1783, Simón Bolívar was born in Caracas, Venezuela, a colony of Spain. He belonged to a social class known as Creoles. wealthy Latin Americans of European descent who owned ranches, mines and businesses in South America. Bolivar's family owned several gold and copper mines.
After the death of his parents Bolivar moved to Spain and completed his formal education in Europe. It was there that he was first exposed to the Enlightenment ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. and the concept of representative government that had been forged in the wake of the American and French revolutions.
Bolívar longed to liberate his people from Spanish control and bring a representative government to Venezuela. He also sought to abolish slavery, calling it the Daughter of Darkness. In 1808, after Napoleon Bonaparte named his brother Joseph the King of Spain and all of its colonies, Bolívar joined the fight for Venezuelan independence.
The First Republic of Venezuela was established after an uprising in 1810, but it was toppled by Spanish forces in 1812. Bolívar restored the Venezuelan Republic in 1813, after several military engagements known as the Admirable Campaign. During the campaign, Bolívar, in a bold maneuver, led his troops over the Andes Mountains to surprise Spanish forces in Bogota. After a series of victories, his people proclaimed him el libertador, or the liberator.
Bolívar continued to sweep through Latin America, securing an essential alliance with the Argentinian general José de San Martín. Together they liberated Peru. In 1825, the Congress of Upper Peru created the Republic of Bolivia to honor Bolívar.
In a speech called the Angostura Address, Bolívar said, The most perfect system of government is that which results in the greatest possible measure of happiness and the maximum of social security and political stability. Bolívar helped create Gran Colombia, a federation that is now the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador. Although the federation would ultimately fail, Bolívar acknowledged his people's successful fight for independence, telling them, those who served the revolution have plowed the sea.
The countries that had formed Gran Colombia went on to govern themselves independently. Simón Bolívar died in 1830. To this day, he stands as a source of inspiration in Latin America and throughout the world for his dedication to the Enlightenment ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity.