Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan soldier and statesman who led the wars of independence that freed much of South America from Spanish rule, earning the title El Libertador. He was also a political writer shaped by the Enlightenment. In the Jamaica Letter (1815), written in exile in Kingston, he analysed why Spanish America had revolted and what kinds of government its new nations could sustain. His Angostura Address (1819) argued for a strong, stable republic suited to local conditions. His hope for a united Spanish America remains a reference point in Latin American political thought.

Key ideas

• Colonial rule had kept Spanish America in political infancy, without experience of self-government.
• Institutions must fit a people's history and circumstances rather than copy foreign models such as the United States.
• A strong executive and a stable republic were needed to prevent anarchy after independence.
• Slavery is incompatible with a free republic, and he called for its abolition.
• The new republics should cooperate closely, an aim behind his Congress of Panama in 1826.

Major works

• The Jamaica Letter (1815)
• Cartagena Manifesto (1812)
• Angostura Address (1819)

In the Book corner

• The Jamaica Letter 1815 · Beginner
  A long letter that Bolívar wrote in Kingston in September 1815, in exile after a defeat, replying to questions from Henry Cullen,…

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