Bolivar: American Liberator (101 page)

The directive Obando had given:
The head assassin, Apolinar Morillo, when questioned, quoted Obando as saying in the presence of Com. Antonio María Alvarez: “The country is in great peril of being taken over by tyrants, and the only way to save it is to get rid of General Sucre, who is coming from Bogotá to force Ecuador to crown the Liberator. To this end, it is necessary that you march this very day to join José Erazo [the second assassin] in Salto de Mayo.” L. Villanueva,
Vida del gran mariscal
(Caracas: Moderna, 1895), 570; see also Restrepo, IV, 611–12. (Restrepo’s version of the testimony is stronger, quoting Morillo as saying: “The only way to save Ecuador is to go to Salto de Mayo, find Sucre, and kill him.”)

“Maybe Obando will go ahead” etc.:
Editorial,
El Democrata
, June 1, 1830, quoted in
Documentos para los anales
, IV, 544.

General Flores . . . was also accused, etc.:
L. Urdaneta, “
Relación desnuda
, July 24, 1830,”
BOLANH
, 28, no. 111 (July–Sept. 1945), 347–48. SB later said, “Some claim that [Sucre’s assassination] was carried out on Flores’s orders, but this is false.” SB to Madrid, Cartagena, July 24, 1830, SBC, IX, 284.

“Holy God! . . . If there is justice, etc.”:
SB, upon hearing about Sucre’s assassination. Rumazo González, 266.

That night, Bolívar’s condition worsened:
He experienced a severe pulmonary attack within hours of hearing the news about Sucre. Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 560.

an insuperable sense of dread:
Bolívar to Flores, Cartagena, July 1, 1830, SBC, IX, 279.

He had agonized over his mistress’s welfare, etc.:
Ibid.; also Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 549.

but it was his fearless warrior:
Bolívar to Flores, July 1, 1830, SBC, IX, 279.

“Be careful. . . . Mind your safety,” etc.:
Ibid., 280.

She was dressing like a Mameluke, etc.:
Cordovez Moure, 752.

she began a calculated campaign:
L. A. Cuervo,
Apuntos historiales
(Bogotá: Editorial Minerva, 1925), 201.

referred to as “the Foreigner”:
Editorial,
Aurora
, June 10, 1830, in Rumazo González, 269–70.

But the effigies that appeared on the plaza, etc.:
The scene is described in the government hearing about Sáenz’s alleged misbehavior. “Documentos inéditos,”
Boletín de Historia
y Antiguedades
, Bogotá, no. 47, May–June, 1960, 373–402; also Rumazo González, 267–96; and Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 75–76.

Manuela rode to the plaza, etc.:
Rumazo González, 269–70; Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 76, and for subsequent details.

“An unhinged woman, a devotee,” etc.:
Editorial,
Aurora
, quoted in Rumazo González, 269–70.

Manuela decided to watch from her perch, etc.:
“Documentos inéditos.”

“Down with despots!”:
Ibid.; also Rumazo González, 269–70; Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 76.

A mounting fury rose in Manuela, etc.:
“Documentos inéditos,” 390–93.

a resounding din rocked the air, etc.:
Ibid.; Rumazo González, 270; Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 76, and for subsequent details.

“You think that man is president?” etc.:
“Documentos inéditos.”

a voluptuary who took on lovers, etc.:
There were rumors (persisting through history) that Manuela had love affairs with other men, most notably Nimian R. Cheyne. None of these rumors was substantiated, and indeed she never was known to have another lover after her exile from Colombia. Lecuna, “Papeles de Manuela Sáenz,” 497.

her Quito accent:
Rumazo González, 270.

harassed her for little more than shouting, etc.:
Lecuna, “Papeles de Manuela Sáenz,” 517–18.

made it a matter of state, etc.:
Cordovez Moure, 751.

the sharp-tongued journalist Vicente Azuero:
Azuero, who had been exiled along with Santander and others after the attempt on SB’s life, was made minister of the interior. F. Cevallos,
Resumen de la historia del Ecuador
, IV (Guayaquil: La Nación, 1886), 423.

they soon proved to be weak executives, etc.:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Cartagena, Sept. 20, 1830, SBC, IX, 320.

Mosquera had become the very antithesis:
Ibid.; also SB to Soledad, Oct. 25, 1830, SBC, IX, 342.

“My hero has turned into a pumpkin”:
SB to Briceño Méndez.

The regime tried to seize, etc.:
Rumazo González, 265; also Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 78.

“In answer to your demands,” etc.:
Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 78.

she meant to break the back, etc.:
Ibid., 78–80.

She courted the regiments with beer, etc.:
Azuero, in particular, complained bitterly about this. Rumazo González, 266; “Documentos inéditos,” 380–85.

initiated a formal investigation, etc.:
“Documentos inéditos,” 375, for all these details.

The mayor of Bogotá let it be known:
Lecuna, “Papeles de Manuela Sáenz,” 519–20.

She received so many death threats, etc.:
Turner to Aberdeen, Bogotá, Aug. 12, 1830, PRO/FO, 18:77, 14–18; also José Manuel Restrepo,
Diario político y militar
, II (Bogotá: Imprenta Nacional, 1954), 102; also Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 80–81.

Sáenz packed up her possessions, mounted her horse, and left:
Restrepo,
Diario
, II, 102.

entire political climate of Colombia had reversed, etc.:
All the particulars in this paragraph are described in SB to Briceño Méndez, Cartagena, Sept. 1, 1830, SBC, IX, 287. See also Posada Gutiérrez, I, 482–83.

skirmish outside the capital:
Battle of Santuario, Aug. 27, 1830. Restrepo,
Historia
, IV, 366–67.

on September 5, he and Caicedo were deposed:
Ibid., 372. Also DOC, IV, 480–85.

General Urdaneta, who had been behind the coup, etc.:
Restrepo,
Historia
, IV, 372.

using Bolívar’s glory for his own purposes, etc.:
SB knew it. Writing to General Montilla six months before, he said, “A few swine who were behind the monarchical project have imagined they could sell my soul in order to save themselves; but I am resolved to maintain my dignity, my honor and glory, in spite of their perfidious projects.” SB to Montilla, March 21, 1830, SBC, IX, 230.

“The Liberator is immortal,” etc.:
Sáenz to D. Logan, Guaduas, Nov. 24, 1830,
BANH
, 29, no. 74 (July–Dec., 1949), 277–80.

She sent one of her friends:
This was Perú de Lacroix, who was at his side until the end. Villalba,
Epistolario
, 32–33.

flourish once more when he reached England:
Arciniegas,
Las mujeres y las horas
, 288.

march south with three thousand troops:
SB to Justo Briceño, Cartagena, Sept. 15, 1830; SB to Castelli, Sept. 18, 1830; SB to Urdaneta, Sept. 18, 1830; all in SBC, IX, 306–13.

“If they offer me an army,” etc.:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Cartagena, Sept. 20, 1830, ibid., 320–22.

he had said so only to boost his supporters:
“I offered these things vaguely, in order to dissimulate, but I was not going to Bogotá, not going to rule.” SB to Vergara, Sept. 25, 1830, ibid., 323–28.

he was deathly sick, etc.:
Villalba,
Epistolario
, 32–33.

Páez’s “crazy fandango”:
“un fandango de locos,” SB to Briceño Méndez, Cartagena, Sept. 1, 1830,
Documentos para los anales
, 266–67.

“I cannot live between rebels,” etc.:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Sept. 20, 1830, ibid.

Where was the legal process? etc.:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Cartagena, Sept. 10, 1830, SBC, IX, 304.

He felt he had been diminished, etc.:
Ibid.

“and now here they are, wanting to strip me”:
Ibid.

“Mosquera is the legitimate president,” etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, Cartagena, Sept. 25, 1830, SBC, IX, 320–23; also in Larrazábal,
Vida
, II, 556.

“I no longer have a fatherland”:
SB to Vergara, Sept. 25, 1830, SBC, IX, 323–28.

“Believe me, . . . I’ve never looked on insurrections”:
SB to Vergara, Sept. 25, 1830, SBC, IX, 323–28.

a feverish spurt of epistolary energy:
Bolívar dictated fifty-two letters in the course of a month, from mid-Oct. to mid-Nov. 1830. Polanco Alcántara, 1024.

a letter from General Lafayette:
Lafayette to SB, Lagrange, June 1, 1830, DOC, XIV, 236.

from George Washington’s family:
SB to Lafayette, Lima, March 20, 1826, SB,
El Libertador
, 171.

“the Washington of the South”:
The letter included a commemorative medal and a lock of George Washington’s hair. G. W. Custis to SB, Aug. 26, 1825,
The United States of Venezuela
(New York: Government of Venezuela, 1893), 144. (Published for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.)

“I am old, sick, tired, disillusioned,” etc.:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Cartagena, Sept. 20, 1830,
Documentos para los anales
, 266–67.

more than 75,000 miles:
120,000 kilometers. This figure is cited in many works on SB, including Alvaro Vargas Llosa’s review of John Lynch’s
Simón Bolívar
in
The New Republic
, June 19, 2006; or monographs such as R. D. Favale’s “Las casas más importantes de Simón Bolívar,”
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19325625/Las-casas-mas-importantes-de-Bolívar
. Also see Bernal Medina, Introducción.

He had rarely experienced physical weakness, etc.:
O. Beaujon,
El Libertador enfermo
, Sociedad Venezolana de Historia de la Medicina, conference, June 27, 1963 (Caracas: Grafos, 1969), 105ff.

too incapacitated to do more than dictate, etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, Soledad, Oct. 25, 1830, SBC, IX, 345–49.

shooting pains in his abdomen, etc.:
SB to Montilla, Soledad, Oct. 27, 1830, ibid., 349–51.

He asked for a little dry sherry, etc.:
SB to Montilla, Barranquilla, Nov. 8, 1830, ibid., 374–75; also SB to Mier, Barranquilla, Nov. 19, 1830, ibid., 393.

The heat of Cartagena was debilitating:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Dec. 4, 1830, ibid., 405.

swaddled in wool from head to toe:
Arciniegas,
Los hombres y los meses
, 290.

longing for a quick voyage at sea, etc.:
SB to Montilla, Barranquilla, Nov. 11, 1830, SBC, IX, 384–85; also SB to Urdaneta, Barranquilla, Nov. 8, 1830,
Documentos para los anales
, 253–54.

adamantly refused medicines, etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, Soledad, Nov. 6, 1830, SBC, IX, 369.

There was no doctor, etc.:
SB to Montilla, Soledad, Oct. 27, 1830, ibid.

“I’ve deteriorated to such a degree,” etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, Soledad, Oct. 31, 1830, ibid., 355.

a living skeleton, etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, Soledad, Oct. 16, 1830, ibid., 333–38.

“Today, I had a bad fall,” etc.:
Ibid.

Climbing a few steps, etc.:
SB to Justo Briceño, Barranquilla, Nov. 24, 1830, ibid., 395–96; also Wilson to O’Leary, Santa Marta, Oct. 31, 1830, O’L, XII, 131.

He had barely enough strength to sit, etc.:
José Vallarino to Panama, Nov. 10, 1830,
BOLANH
, no. 104, 258ff., quoted also in Madariaga, 643–44.

a little tapioca, etc.:
Vallarino to Panama, Nov. 10, 1830, BOLANH, no. 104, 258 ff.

“I’m very, very alarmed,” etc.:
Wilson to O’Leary, Oct. 31, 1830, O’L, XII, 131.

his mind was sharp, etc.:
Polanco Alcántara, 1024–25.

“Believe me, . . . you two will end up like Páez”:
SB to Justo Briceño, Soledad, Oct. 31, 1830, SBC, IX, 356.

“Building one good accord is better”:
SB to Urdaneta, Nov. 16, 1830, ibid., 390.

“Many generals . . . know how to win”:
SB to Urdaneta, Turbaco, Oct. 2, 1830, ibid., 329.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they kill you”:
SB to Urdaneta, Soledad, Nov. 4, 1830, ibid., 362–65.

instructed Urdaneta to burn those letters:
Ibid.

could count on holding power:
SB to Urdaneta, Soledad, Oct. 16, 1830, ibid.

“Avenge Sucre’s murder,” etc.:
SB to Flores, Barranquilla, Nov. 9, 1830, ibid., 370.

he believed, beyond all evidence to the contrary:
SB to Urdaneta, Barranquilla, Nov. 26, 1830, ibid., 399–400.

he would sail for the blue mountains of Jamaica, etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, ibid. Also Arciniegas,
Los hombres y los meses
, 313; and Belford Wilson to O’Leary, Barranquilla, Nov. 27, 1830, O’L, XII, 140.