Data
Birth	Caracas, July 24, 1783.
Death	Santa Marta, December 17, 1830.
Occupation	Venezuelan military and politician, president of Gran Colombia.
Cause of death	Tuberculosis.

Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and politician who liberated Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru from Spanish domination. He went down in history with the nickname “El Libertador . “

Between 1819 and 1821 he promoted the creation of Gran Colombia , which integrated the current territories of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, and of which he was its president until 1830.

Its tendency to exercise power in a centralist and authoritarian manner aroused criticism from sectors that defended regional autonomies, which ended up opting for separatism. This condemned the Bolivarian political project to failure and led to the dissolution of Gran Colombia .

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Childhood and education

Simón Bolívar was born on July 24, 1783 in the city of Caracas, capital of the Captaincy General of Venezuela . His father and mother belonged to wealthy Creole families who had cocoa plantations and numerous slaves.

When he was three years old his father died and at nine his mother died, so he was left in the care of his grandfather, who provided him with the best teachers in Caracas. One of those teachers was Simón Rodríguez, who initiated him in reading the thinkers of empiricism and the Enlightenment , among them Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau.

In 1799, when his grandfather died, Bolívar was sent to study in Madrid. There he met María Teresa Rodríguez del Toro, whom he married in 1802. With her he returned to Venezuela, but eight months later he was widowed, since María Teresa died of a sudden fever.

To escape his sorrows, he traveled through the United States and Europe, where he met Napoleon Bonaparte and adhered to the principles of the French Revolution . In 1807, when he returned to Venezuela, he joined the Creole groups that conspired to put an end to Spanish domination.

The fight for Independence

During 1810, the revolutionary Creoles displaced the Spanish authorities and created a local government junta . This process culminated with the declaration of the Independence of Venezuela , on April 5, 1811.

During this stage, Bolívar occupied a secondary place, since his figure was eclipsed by that of Francisco de Miranda, who exercised the leadership of the revolutionary movement. The uprising of the fortress of Puerto Cabello , in 1812, caused a crisis between both patriots, since Bolívar considered Miranda’s decision to capitulate as a betrayal. He then adopted a questionable attitude: he arrested Miranda and handed him over to the royalists, in exchange for a pass that would allow him to go into exile.

He then took refuge in Cartagena de Indias , where he obtained the necessary support to organize the Admirable Campaign , during which he managed to restore the independence of Venezuela and ascend to the leadership of the revolutionary movement , which he would never abandon.

The Second Republic of Venezuela lasted a very short time and fell amid regional rivalries and resentment towards the Creoles that the royalists were able to encourage among mestizos, pardos and zambos.

During 1815, he took refuge in the islands of the Caribbean , where he wrote the “Letter of Jamaica” , in which he concluded that the uncoordinated efforts of the regional caudillos should be unified under a single mandate to achieve a lasting victory.

In 1816 he moved to Haiti, where he obtained the support of General Alexandre Pétion to organize an independence expedition. Towards the end of 1816, he returned to Venezuela, establishing a patriot base in the Orinoco basin. At this stage he gave the revolutionary cause a more popular character , since he proclaimed the abolition of slavery and the distribution of the royalists’ property.

In 1817 Bolívar led an expedition that managed to liberate a large part of Venezuelan territory. In 1819 he crossed the Andes, defeated the royalists at the Battle of Boyacá and entered Bogotá , also liberating Nueva Granada.

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Formation and dissolution of Gran Colombia

In 1819 the Congress of Angostura allowed him to unite Venezuela and New Granada and constitute Gran Colombia . This union, which in 1821 was consolidated by the Congress of Cúcuta , responded to Bolívar’s dream of creating a State that would unite all the former Spanish colonies in South America.

The fight against the Spanish continued and was crowned by the victory obtained in the battle of Carabobo , on June 24, 1821. The royalist defeat allowed him to undertake the liberation of Quito and Guayaquil, carried out in 1822. During this campaign he met the Quito woman Manuela Sáenz, with whom he fell passionately in love.

On July 25, 1822 he met in Guayaquil with the Argentine general José de San Martín , whom he denied his support to jointly fight against the royalists. After the resignation of San Martín as protector of Peru, Bolívar broke into Peruvian territory and during 1824 defeated the royalists in the battles of Junín and Ayacucho .

He had reached the peak of glory, but the rebellions of former comrades in arms, Páez in Venezuela and Santander in Nueva Granada, forced him to return to Gran Colombia. In 1827 he managed to restore order, but the unity of the republic began to break down.

Before the growing political opposition, Bolívar proclaimed himself dictator in 1828. The response of the federalist sectors was the organization of an attempt on his life, which was thwarted thanks to the intervention of Manuela Saénz.

In 1830, due to the irreversible crisis in Greater Colombia and the tuberculosis that he suffered, he decided to resign from the presidency.

Bolívar’s death

After leaving power, Bolívar traveled down the Magdalena River to Cartagena de Indias , to leave for Europe. The journey was slow and painful due to his deteriorating health, which forced his companions to stop in Santa Marta .

On the recommendation of a local doctor, he was transferred to a farm located in San Pedro Alejandrino , on the outskirts of the city. As the days went by, Bolívar’s sufferings worsened, so on December 10 he drew up his will and a proclamation in which he called to safeguard the unity of Gran Colombia .

After several days of agony, he passed away on December 17, 1830 , at the age of 47. His funerals lasted three days, after which he was buried in a tomb located in the Cathedral of Santa Marta, in present-day Colombia.

In 1842, Bolívar’s remains were transferred to Venezuela and deposited in the Cathedral of Caracas, from where they were transferred to the National Pantheon, in 1876.