Venezuela, Simon Bolivar’s legacy lives on in our America

teleSUR English

*Bolivar led liberation efforts across the continent *Commander Chavez highlighted the Bolivarian bond between Latin American and the Caribbean *Bolivar’s deed continues to be a source of inspiration

Transcript

00:00And on December 17th 1830 the great liberator of our America Simon Bolivar

00:05passed away at the age of 47. Today people across the continent pay homage

00:09to a man that changed the course of this territory forever. To better understand

00:14this present relevance to Latin America and the Caribbean our colleague Garfield

00:18Pulford preferred the following material. Simon Bolivar's image adorns public

00:24spaces across Venezuela and beyond. The reason is clear. El Libertador or the

00:30liberator has towered large over the movement for freedom and

00:34self-determination in Latin America and the Caribbean for over two centuries. The

00:39liberator died on this date in 1830 at the age of 47. However his legacy among

00:44the pantheon of history's great liberators had already been secured.

00:48Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro Morris praised Bolivar's leadership of

00:53the independence movement during a recent event.

01:02Then in 1999 commander Chavez came to this same hall. The Ayacucho Hall it is

01:10called. In commemoration of the great battle that freed all South America

01:16which we commemorated last Monday the 200th anniversary of the great battle of

01:20Ayacucho that ended the colonial imperial domination of Spain over all

01:25South America.

01:32Bolivar was a soldier and statesman whose early life had positioned him to

01:36rebel against Spanish rule in the Americas. His inspiring call to action on

01:40freedom from a Spanish rule was contained in the Cartagena Manifesto and

01:44the letter from Jamaica. Bolivar did not only encourage rebellion against Spanish

01:49rule across the region but led military expeditions against the Spaniards

01:53himself. He liberated Venezuela, the areas now occupied by Colombia, Panama and

01:58Ecuador. He also freed Peru and Bolivia which now bears his name. Bolivar's

02:04separate sojourns to Haiti and Jamaica also meant the Caribbean was also a

02:08crucial region in his push for freedom and self-determination. The late Hugo

02:12Chavez summoned that same spirit of Latin American and Caribbean integration

02:16as he spoke in Havana in 1994. This is a project that we already put in

02:23practice in Venezuela under the name of Simon Bolivar National Project but with

02:27our arms wide open to the rest of the Latin American and Caribbean continent.

02:32Some 13 years later then President Chavez continued to emphasize the

02:37importance of this bond between Latin America and the Caribbean.

02:42And we could easily consider the letter of Jamaica like the birth

02:51letter, the constitution letter of the project of independence, the project of

02:58liberation of our peoples. Most historical records indicate Simon Bolivar

03:04died from tuberculosis. His remains were exhumed in 2010 but scientists were

03:09unable to conclusively determine the cause of his death. Of one thing though

03:13there can be no doubt his legacy lives on providing echoes of inspiration for

03:19the indomitable human spirit. From Caracas I'm Garfield Burford for TELUSR.

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