Independence Narratives, Past and Present
Upon Columbus’ arrival to the Americas, he struggled to describe and figure out everything he witnessed in the new continent. Further on, as the colonization process violently continued in Latin America, as racial diversity expanded across the continent. With the increased variety and combinations of the demographics of Latin America, it led to the creation of the Cast Paintings to categorise and classify each ‘family’ into social status. Casta Paintings visually narrated the diverse society Latin America was shaping into. This week, I would like to focus on the narratives of pre and post-independence of Latin America, but with more emphasis on Simon Bolivar.
Inhabitants of the Latin America did not have the political power to control their land, and in fact, the host of the colonies (Western powers) did. Political decisions were made on the other side of the continent, which led the citizens of the United States’ to rebel against the English empire as an example. The American independence movement from the English empire accelerated the Latin American citizen’s indignant feelings towards the host colonies. I believe it also gave confidence to the Latin Americans to rise up against the Spaniards.
Inhabitants of the Latin Americas were questioning if it was correct to hand over political and economic decisions over to the Spaniards instead of themselves who reside in a completely different environment.
Among the American revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated that “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights”, respectively, slaves in Haiti took action. In 1791, slaves rose up against the plantation owners, which led to the independence of Haiti.
Although Simon Bolivar himself was a creole (Latin American born European), and he disliked the dominant Spanish rule, Haitian revolution was a threat to him. This was because the creole maintained the upper crust on the social pyramid, and the event could’ve destroyed the societal hierarchy.
As I viewed the conversation video with Max Cameron, I was able to have a solid opinion about why Hugo Chavez, (viewed sometimes as a dictator), was able to maintain popular in modern day Venezuela. Chavez followed Boliarianism, where he hailed his charisma and attributes of Bolivar’s leadership. Known as a brilliant tactician, he confronted against the Spaniards and chased away Spanish domination. He eventually faced a problem, that countries in Latin America were in need of a new governing system, but obviously, there were no past models for these young countries to base their models on.
In the search for new governance model, Bolivar looked to France and UK’s traditional governance model. Meanwhile, Bolivar was also turning his back on the indigenous population in Latin America. There are mixed opinions about Bolivar’s accomplishment, as it gave more power to the creole’s who have treated the indigenous and the slaves fiercely than the Spanish born Spaniards.
Chavez wanted to complete the unfinished project of the Bolivar’s where it was to emancipate the Venezuelan citizens from a society where the Western powers do not ‘over-possess’ them.