The Liberator’s Nightmare
- Ronal Intriago
- Aug 15, 2022
- 30 min read
Updated: Jun 26
By Ronal Intriago
One of Bolivar's widely known dreams, which he held as an obsession bordering on fanaticism, was to see the unification of his America. Many accounts throughout history speak of Bolivar’s dreams. He daydreamed because he knew he could make it possible. The very act of freeing us from the tyranny of the Spaniards was evidence of his genius in his military and political career. He was the wisest man of his time. There is no one who has achieved clearer recognition of his people than he, nor anyone who made a more accurate analysis of their political needs. With a keen and visionary mind, he closely observed the events of the entire world during the revolutionary era that spanned from the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth century. He studied the political forms developed in various countries and the psychological aspects of the populations. He applied his observations to his own problems to the point of relating them to the character of his own people, "of themselves willful and mischievous, and supposed to form under such principles the republican whole of South America united and great, which had been the object of its dreams." The most expensive of his dreams, we would say.
Sadly, before he died, and in anticipation of what was coming, he exclaimed, "I have plowed into the sea." His perception was so acute that he also said, "America is ungovernable by us." In all this, he was right, to our misfortune. But what disturbed him most and gave him anxiety in his last days was to realize that his America that he loved so much would come to be in the hands of incompetent rulers after his death. He said, "Our America will fall into the hands of vulgar tyrants." At another time he mentioned with disdain that, "only a skillful tyrant can rule America." His position as a political prophet has not been duly recognized because from that date onwards a wave of dictator-tyrants would rule the destinies of many peoples of Latin America. From his death onwards there was a promotion of tyranny, in which each one proclaimed himself the defender of freedom, the right way to happiness and peace. All these promises were made with the most brutal cynicism by people who came to power by virtue of an accident and not by historical inevitability.
For a correct interpretation of this essay, it is necessary to clarify the terms that we will use to designate the various leaders that governed us, whose remnants are still difficult to eradicate in all the classes of our society: authoritarianism. A tyrant is, "the ruler who imposes his will on his subjects without following reason or justice and, sometimes, with cruelty.” Some authors use the word caudillo (warlord) which is to say, "A person who exercises omnipotent influence over his people in political or administrative matters," and when we use the term dictator we are pointing to a "person who abuses his authority or who is inflexible in dealing with others." In any case, all three definitions have the same connotations that are consistent with this study.
