{"id":1984,"date":"2019-04-07T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=1984"},"modified":"2020-12-20T18:39:53","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T18:39:53","slug":"basque-fact-of-the-week-simon-bolivar-the-liberator-had-roots-in-bizkaia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2019\/04\/07\/basque-fact-of-the-week-simon-bolivar-the-liberator-had-roots-in-bizkaia\/","title":{"rendered":"Basque Fact of the Week: Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar, the Liberator, had Roots in Bizkaia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Known as the Liberator, Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar is a national hero to many South American countries. Under his leadership, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama gained their independence from Spain. He also became president of what was then called Grand Columbia, encompassing the modern countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. Inspired by the American and French revolutions, he envisioned a united Spanish America, though felt that it needed a stronger central government than the United States because of the more varied peoples. Though Bol\u00edvar dreamed of a united Spanish America, his dream failed, in part due to the political ambitious of others as well as the fear that he was establishing a dictatorship with him at the helm. He died in 1830 of tuberculosis, at the age of 47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Statue of Bol\u00edvar in Washington, D.C., photo taken by Blas Uberuaga.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n