Bolivar: American Liberator (95 page)

warned him of a royalist plot, etc.:
Diez de Medina, 47.

entered into an ardent affair:
Cacua Prada,
Los hijos secretos de Bolívar
, 251–53; also Ramón Urdaneta,
Los amores de Simón Bolívar
, 137.

José Antonio Costas, would die claiming:
H. Muñoz, “Los hijos del Libertador,”
El Espectador
, Bogotá, May 31, 2008. According to this and other sources, Costas died in Caiza at the age of sixty-nine in 1895.

he was hardly sterile:
Perú de Lacroix, 96. See also A. Costa de la Torre,
Descendencia de los libertadores Bolívar y Sucre en Bolivia
(La Paz: Tamayo, 1982), 35, 67, 249. José Antonio is mentioned, too, in Lynch,
Simón Bolívar
, 201.

danced with them in her presence:
A. Maya,
Jeannette Hart: La novia norteamericana de Simón Bolívar
(Caracas, 1974), 28–35; also in
La mujer en la vida del libertador
(Ed. conmemorativa del sesquicentenario, Cooperativa Nacional, 1980), 191.

“Wait for me at all costs”:
SB to Sáenz, Lima, [April 6] 1826, SBO, III, 1313.

she had earned the respect of, etc.:
Palma,
Tradiciones peruanas completas
, 1133.

“generous in the extreme,” etc.:
Tudor to Clay, Lima, March 23, 1827, Dispatches from U.S. consuls in Lima, microfilm roll 1, quoted in Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, p. 49.

“the most zealous humanity,” etc.:
Ibid.

the insurrection had been concocted in Bogotá:
Sucre to O’Connor, Feb. 22, 1827, quoted in O’Connor, 166; also Sucre to SB, La Paz, March 11, 1827, O’L, I, 422–25; Lecuna,
Catálogo
, III, 206–16; Ricketts to Canning, Lima, Feb. 8, 1827, PRO/FO 61/11 ff 65–85, quoted in Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 45.

the 3rd Division:
Its leader was Colonel José Bustamante, a New Granadan, who ousted General Lara and a number of other Venezuelan officers and took over the position of commandant of the Colombian forces in Peru.

Days later, she was arrested, etc.:
Sáenz to Armero, Lima [n.d.], in Lecuna, “Papeles de Manuela Sáenz,” 507; Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 46.

“an insult to public honor and morals”:
Vidaurre letter, Pilar Moreno de Angel,
Santander, su iconografia
(Bogotá: Litografía Arco, 1984), 351, quoted in Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 47.

shuffled onto a boat, etc.:
Moreno de Angel; Murray,
For Glory and Bolívar
, 49.

“I come to you with an olive branch”:
SB,
Proclama a los colombianos en Guayaquil
, Sept. 13, 1826, in Groot, V, 147.

That olive branch was his new constitution:
Guerra,
La convención de Ocaña
, p. 81.

“Once more, I offer you my services”:
Ibid.

it was not his place to govern:
SB’s contemporary and minister, Restrepo, who later became a historian of record in Colombia, says this. Restrepo, III, 549.

“Everywhere I look”:
SB to Santander, Ibarra, Oct. 8, 1826, SB,
Cartas: Santander–Bolívar
, VI, 43.

The only way to solve it:
SB to Santander, Pasto, Oct. 14, 1826, ibid., 59.

issuing government appointments, etc.:
Restrepo, 549, quoted in Guerra, 88.

He chafed at his aide O’Leary:
SB to Páez, Bogotá, Nov. 15, 1826, SBO, III, 1458–60.

“A dictatorship would solve everything”:
SB to Santander, Sept. 19, 1826, ibid., 1441–42.

abhor the word “dictator”:
SB to the governor of Popayán, quoted in Guerra, 90.

it was precisely what came to pass:
Before leaving Lima, SB had sent Leocadio Guzmán, who traveled throughout Colombia, including Panama, to spread the word about SB’s constitution; Guzmán had urged leaders to press SB to assume dictatorial powers. Ibid., 75, 82–84.

Santander was furious, etc.:
Santander to SB, Bogotá, Oct. 8, 1826, ibid., 85–7.

Santander wanted no part of it:
O’Leary,
Bolívar y la emancipación
, 775.

had already warned Bolívar:
Santander to SB, Bogotá, July 19, 1826, ibid., 738.

began to see newspapers, etc.:
Guerra, 89.

had told Santander months before:
SB to Santander, Magdalena, July 8, 1826, SBO, III, 1395–97.

“I fear that Colombia,” etc.:
SB to Santander, Neiva, Nov. 5, 1826, SBO, III, 1456–58.

he wrote to Sucre and Santa Cruz:
SB to Santa Cruz, Pasto, Oct. 14, 1826, and Popayán, Oct. 26, 1826, SBO, III, 1449–50, 1453–56. In these, SB asks Santa Cruz to relay the contents to Sucre.

suffering the pain of inflamed hemorrhoids:
Slatta and Lucas de Grummond, 268.

He was determined to disabuse, etc.:
Bushnell,
Simón Bolívar
, 172.

met with only a few “Vivas!” etc.:
Guerra, 91.

Viva la constitución!:
Ibid.

As a chilling rain began to drizzle, etc.:
Ibid, 90–91, and for all subsequent details.

“celebrating the army’s glories”:
Ibid.

a dazzling, conciliatory speech, etc.:
Santander’s final words: “I will be a slave to the Constitution and to the laws, but a constant and loyal friend of Bolívar.” Ibid.

vice president was not completely averse:
Bushnell,
Simón Bolívar
, 173.

talk of a bold, new day, etc.:
Guerra, 91.

“General Castillo opposed me and lost,” etc.:
SB to Páez, Cúcuta, Dec. 11, 1826, SBO, III, 1472–74.

Bermúdez and Urdaneta had declared:
Liévano Aguirre, 436.

Bolívar was advancing on Venezuela:
SB to Páez, Puerto Cabello, Dec. 31, 1826, SBO, III, 1486–87.

He issued a unilateral decree, etc.:
SB, Proclama a los colombianos, Puerto Cabello, Jan. 3, 1827,
Discursos
, 280–81.

Were they so short of enemies:
SB said some version of this on several occasions, most notably on his arrival in Guayaquil, stepping ashore in Colombia after many years in Peru: “What!? Colombia now finds itself short on enemies? Are there no more Spaniards in the world?” Proclama en Guayaquil, Sept. 13, 1826,
Discursos
, 274; also Proclama en Maracaibo, Dec. 17, 1826, ibid., 278.

Páez . . . had lost much of the support:
O’Leary,
Ultimos años
, 109–14; DOC, XI, 74–77; O’L, II, 318–19, and VI, 20–21.

“Enough of the blood and ruin”:
SB to Páez, Puerto Cabello, Dec. 31, 1826, SBO, III, 1486–87.

but he appeared with armed guards, etc.:
Bushnell,
Simón Bolívar
, 175.

Páez later wrote, etc.:
Páez,
Autobiografía
, 370 fn.

“A good omen,” etc.:
SB, quoted ibid., 370.

a shudder of dread:
Ibid., 371.

“When catastrophe forced weapons into my hands”:
SB to the president of the Congress of Colombia, Cúcuta, Oct. 1, 1821, in O’L, XVIII, 541.

“I, too, shall play the game”:
SB to Santander, Potosí, October 27, 1825, SBSW, II, 547–49.

in an open carriage, etc.:
Páez, 372, and for subsequent details.

“I value these symbols of victory”:
Ibid., 373.

had carried him four thousand miles:
Liévano Aguirre, 454.

Esteban, who had returned from Europe:
SB to Esteban Palacios, Cuzco, July 10, 1825, SBSW, II, 514–15.

an absence of thirty years:
SB says twenty-five to thirty. SB to Santander, Cuzco, July 10, 1825, ibid., 515–19.

His patriot sister, Juana:
She was not in Caracas, as some others have claimed. She was in Barinas with her daughter, Benigna, who had a child that year. That she was not in Caracas is confirmed in SB to Briceño Méndez, Caracas, Jan. 13, 1827, and Jan. 25, 1827, SBO, III, 1494–1504. Benigna had a child in Barinas, Juana Clara Briceño y Palacios, born 1827: V. Dávila,
Próceres trujillanos
(Caracas: Imprenta Nacional, 1971),
328. Benigna had married Briceño Méndez, one of SB’s generals, who had since been appointed secretary of state in Bogotá. Not only was Briceño Méndez Bolívar’s nephew-in-law, he was also Santander’s brother-in-law. SB to Briceño Mendez, Caracas, Jan. 12, 1827, and Jan. 13, 1827, SBO, III, 1493–95.

just graduated from school, etc.:
This was Germantown Academy, which was founded in 1759 and still exists today. The father of Louisa May Alcott (A. Bronson Alcott) was its headmaster at the time. Rivolba,
Recuerdos y reminiscencias
, 20–26. (Rivolba is the pseudonym of Fernando Bolívar, and an anagram for the name Bolívar.)

General Lafayette had visited, etc.:
Ibid., 36–40.

“savior of the nation”:
Páez,
Autobiografía
, 369.

“General Páez is the most ambitious”:
Perú de Lacroix, 71–72.

He had admitted this to very few:
Ibid.

an affront to those who had worked:
Guerra, 125.

a felicitous opportunity to redefine the republic:
Bushnell,
Santander Regime
, 331.

trying to boost public morale:
Páez,
Autobiografía
, 369.

Everywhere he went, he had heard:
SB to Briceño Méndez, Valencia, Jan. 6, 1827, SBO, III, 1492–93.

dissipating it irresponsibly:
The most complete analysis of the financial situation in 1823–27 and the accusations of corruption against the Santander regime can be found throughout Bushnell’s excellent
The Santander Regime in Gran Colombia.

“the most scandalous abuses,” etc.:
Patrick Campbell to Lord Aberdeen, June 4, 1829, PRO/FO, Colombia, LIV., LXV., LXXIII, quoted in Petre, 372.

He recalled all too well, etc.:
When SB was in Potosí, Santander had proposed that the Liberator take personal ownership of an enterprise to build a canal between the Pacific and Atlantic. “Your name would facilitate the business venture,” he wrote (Santander to SB, Bogotá, Sept. 22, 1825, SB,
Cartas: Santander–Bolívar
, V, 54). SB had responded with alarm: “No one would be pleased to see either you or me, who sit at the head of our government, mixing in purely speculative projects. . . . I refuse to involve myself in this or any business of a commercial nature” (SB to Santander, Magdalena, Feb. 22, 1826, ibid., 151).

“Let’s ignore for the moment”:
Santander to SB, Bogotá, March 9, 1827, O’L, III, 373–74.

extent of hostility he and his circle felt:
Bushnell,
Santander Regime
, 346–8.

To be blamed for the disastrous financial state:
Santander to SB,
Exposición
, Bogotá, Aug. 17, 1827, DOC, X, 203–8.

He informed Santander bluntly:
SB to Santander, Caracas, March 19, 1827, in O’Leary,
Ultimos años
, 149; and in Santander to SB, Bogotá, April 29, 1827, O’L, III, 390–92.

reckless spending, questionable negotiations, etc.:
Bushnell,
Santander Regime
, 113. SB called Zea “Colombia’s greatest calamity”: SB to Santander, Jan. 14, 1823, SBO, II, 718–20.

Colombia essentially had underwritten the liberation of six, etc.:
Bushnell,
Santander Regime
, 95ff.

the vice president had had to impose the death penalty:
Ibid., 87.

General Sucre believed he did:
Sucre to SB, La Paz, March 19, 1827, Sucre,
De mi propia mano
, 323–24. But Posada argues that Santander did not know Bustamante, and had to look up his name and rank in order to congratulate him for the uprising. Posada Gutiérrez,
Memorias
, I, 60.

so did Bolívar:
SB to José Félix Blanco, Caracas, June 6, 1827, Bolívar,
Obras Completas
, IV, 1597.

He strolled out into the night:
Baralt and Diaz, 202. Santander himself denies this in his own report to SB, but that report reflects a very different tone (and different information) from his letter to Bustamante. Santander to SB, Bogotá, n.d., O’L, III, 370–73.

wrote to José Bustamante:
Santander to Bustamante, Bogotá, March 14, 1827, O’L, III, 434–36.

signed the order promoting Bustamante:
Minister of War to Bustamante, in Baralt and Diaz, 204–7.

“The Liberator is astonished,” etc.:
Revenga to Ministry of War, April 18, 1827, O’L, XXV, 260–62.

equivalent to absolving Páez:
Santander to SB, quoted in Liévano, 458.

“Santander is a snake,” etc.:
SB to Urdaneta, Caracas, April 18, 1827, O’L, III, 383–84.

the city’s staunchly pro-Bolívarian head:
Col. Tomás Mosquera, who would go on to become president of Colombia numerous times.

the invasion was instigated by Peru:
Bushnell,
Santander Regime
, 348–50.