tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5434340506068310402024-03-05T05:26:26.288-08:00Bolivarian TimesMatthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-40155214492940636542015-08-17T14:00:00.002-07:002015-08-17T14:04:08.834-07:00Te quiero, by Mario Benedetti<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">My cousin Simon asked me to read a poem at his wedding in August 2015 in Barrow Gurney. I read Te quiero, by Mario Benedetti. Lots of people asked to read the text, so here it is.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I LOVE YOU, by Mario Benedetti.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Your hands are my tender caress, my daily reminders.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I love you because your hands work for justice.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If I love you it's because you are my love, my accomplice and my everything.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And in the street, hand in hand, we are many more than two.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Your eyes are my magic that saves a terrible day.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I love you for your gaze that plans and plants the future.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I love you for your mouth that is yours and mine, your mouth that does not lie.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I love you because your mouth knows how to shout rebellion.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If I love you it's because you are my love, my accomplice and my everything.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And in the street, arm in arm, we are many more than two.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And I love you for your open face</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and your rambler's footstep</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and your passion for the world</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and because you are one of us</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I love you.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And because love is not a halo</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">nor a morality tale</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">and because we are a couple</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">that knows it is not alone.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I love you in our paradise</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">here, in our countries</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">where people can live happily</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">with or without permission.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So, if I love you it's because you are my accomplice and my everything.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And in the street, hand in hand, we are many more than two.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">*</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Note on the translation: When Simon asked me to read 'something Latin American' at his wedding to John, I knew straight away that I wanted to read something by Mario Benedetti. I took his collected poems 'El amr ...' off my shelf, and they fell open at Te Quiero. The poem's blend of attitude and sentimentality is perfect for the happy couple. I looked for an English translation but couldn't find one I liked. I used some sections of Nina Serrano's translation, which you can read <a href="http://larazachronicles.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/i-love-you-mario-benedetti-english.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and did bespoke translations of the rest which felt relatively esy because I had the two people I was translating for directly in mind. It was an honour and a pleasure.</span>Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-77405960897219374102015-04-28T06:37:00.001-07:002015-04-28T06:37:06.264-07:00Withdrawn<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Boats
in a forest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What
are they doing there? What do they mean? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Last
weekend I went to Leigh Woods, near my home town Bristol, UK, where the artist
Luke Jerram has installed five fishing boats amongst the trees as part of a
piece called ‘Withdrawn’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDM_nS2Eclm_KkvBE8pFGcL0u7Sr0VZg6C3OREH2VdLCIqOjIwkJVg5_BerC1iBIs4yZH0JWg7mqbx8M8RAsbv__1wTMWCLfyGlI_wolOFR79LUt94wiuh6XU0G7MhC0Z-rVJDsR8lA5o/s1600/20150425_151630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDM_nS2Eclm_KkvBE8pFGcL0u7Sr0VZg6C3OREH2VdLCIqOjIwkJVg5_BerC1iBIs4yZH0JWg7mqbx8M8RAsbv__1wTMWCLfyGlI_wolOFR79LUt94wiuh6XU0G7MhC0Z-rVJDsR8lA5o/s1600/20150425_151630.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by the author 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According
to Luke Jerram:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Miles from the sea, how did they
get here? Were they left by a receding tidal surge or a changing coast line? Or
is this the effect of over fishing, causing fish stocks to collapse and with it
the industry? This thought-provoking and engaging installation raises
discussion about climate change, extreme weather, falling fish stocks and our
impact on the marine environment</span>”.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
[Text from <a href="http://www.lukejerram.com/" target="_blank">http://www.lukejerram.com/</a>] </blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I like walking in Leigh Woods, and
I like fishing boats, and I loved Luke Jerram’s <a href="http://www.lukejerram.com/projects/urban_slide" target="_blank">Park and Slide</a>Park and Slide last year, so
this was perfect for me. It’s brilliant, and you should make the effort to go.
You can walk there from central Bristol in 20 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The idea of the abandoned ship in
a forest was tugging at something for a while until I remembered it is an idea
I use when talking to students about the legacies of colonialism in South
America. (Stay with me! I’ll explain). The image of an abandoned ship in a
forest is used by the Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez in his 1967 masterpiece
<i>One Hundred Years of Solitude </i>(1967).
The protagonists of the story are trekking through the dense forest seeking a
place to settle down and make their own, when they come across a Spanish
galleon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Here is Gregory Rabassa’s translation
from the original Spanish:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“It was a thick night, starless,
but the darkness was becoming impregnated with a fresh and clear air. Exhausted
by the long crossing, they hung up their hammocks and slept deeply for the
first time in two weeks. When they woke up, with the sun already high in the
sky, they were speechless with fascination. Before them, surrounded by ferns
and palm trees, white and powdery in the silent morning light, was an enormous
Spanish galleon. Tilted slightly to the starboard, it had hanging from its intact
masts the dirty rags of its sails in the midst of its rigging, which was
adorned with orchids. The hull, covered with an armour of petrified barnacles
and soft moss, was firmly fastened into a surface of stones. The whole
structure seemed to occupy its own space, one of solitude and oblivion,
protected from the vices of time and the habits of the birds. Inside, where the
expeditionaries explored with careful intent, there was nothing but a thick
forest of flowers”. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Gabriel García Márquez, <i>One Hundred Years of Solitude, </i>translated by Gregory Rabassa,
Jonathan Cape, 1970], p.12.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Of course the existence of a
Spanish galleon in the middle of the forest is a classic example of García
Márquez’s style of ‘magical realism’, in which time is stretched, apparently
magical events are presented as real and a lush, extraordinary marvellous world
is evoked. Commentators on <i>One Hundred
Days of Solitude </i>have gone further, arguing that the image of the galleon in
the forest asks the reader to reflect on the fate of Spanish colonialism in the
tropics. Colombia had been independent from Spanish colonial rule for over 150
years when García Márquez wrote the novel, but Spanish culture – from language
and religion to gender norms and recreational practises – had shown remarkable
resilience amongst the population. The galleon, covered in barnacles and
adorned with orchids, persists in time and outside of time. Colonialism in the
Americas – symbolised by the galleon - had
put down long-lasting roots which persisted long after the viceroys and their political systems had been overthrown
by Simón Bolívar and his generation of Liberators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">While I was in Leigh Woods (my son
was singing at a concert staged on the boats, which was brilliant) I bumped into Luke Jerram, who was taking some photos
and filming videos <a href="http://vimeo.com/126124501" target="_blank">like this one.</a> Mulling over these ideas I asked him if he’d
read <i>One Hundred Years of Solitude. </i>He
said he’d loved the book when he read it ages ago, but didn’t remember the
galleon, which is fair enough, as it's a small image in a big, amazing book. To my mind <i>Withdrawn </i>is a wonderful, meditative piece, and I'm grateful to all the people who have combined to dream it up and put it there. It asks us
to reflect on universal themes about the nature of time and space, and what
happens when we put things that shouldn’t be there – be they boats or empires –
in places where they apparently don't belong.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-74223260432883931412014-06-09T18:48:00.000-07:002014-06-09T18:48:01.811-07:00Francisco Antonio Zea: Dead and Buried in Bath, EnglandThis is the story of an obsession which, if it has not consumed me, has provided an alternative focus for my existence, for the last 5 years. Sometimes with intensity, more often with a distanced, languid concern, I have been on the trail of Francisco Antonio Zea. This has gone on for so long now that when we walk past a cemetery my youngest daughter instinctively asks 'Are we looking for Francisco Antonio Zea again?' And the answer is usually, 'Yes'.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73CQ-_GOO_MY-0KnFnhR8W9qJbtAHbBcqkQdCdeP0anJepFO1C3oVQqbDv_KwLyGcK5n9JBKO03sMVJ_7VpabUnBfM_SeNk9uE5PwCvuLqoOa6pXlxGbCfNW79vWKDpj0arWV9mv5nPrt/s320/Bolivar+20.jpg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="233" /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Engraving of F.A. Zea by W.T. Fry from 1822</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
from http://coleccionbolivarianajjperdomoboza.blogspot.co.uk/ </div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Francisco Antonio Zea was the first vice-president of Colombia, the civilian constitutionalist to Simon Bolivar's military general. In 1819 he was named in the role by the Congress of Angostura, widely respected as an Enlightenment man. During the colonial period he had travelled widely from his origins in Antioquia, and had directed Madrid's Botanical Gardens. In 1820 he was designated as Colombia's Plenipotentiary Minister to France and Great Britain, with instructions to negotiation recognition of Colombia's independence, and to secure financial loans to support the new republic's efforts to gain control of its territory.<br />
<br />
Zea negotiated a massive, £2 million loan in 1822 with the house of Herrings, Graham and Powles, at a rate of 6%. Subsequent politicians suggested that this was not a good deal for Colombia, and that it left the new republic saddled with debts from its very origins.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bc9hF2RVKVSQ8w2EjY_XyovLy6IwKUQY-Dd0ffwLSIy_GqYb6Lee34l7IXmgtiKHX20cpiA5eD0u1L4QGaRjrQxWz-qYSJILKHTMLpuPUzNnm4Ol7qQ87JzMK_tQ2QyjFLpNDROQeVg/s1600/20140326_135256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bc9hF2RVKVSQ8w2EjY_XyovLy6IwKUQY-Dd0ffwLSIy_GqYb6Lee34l7IXmgtiKHX20cpiA5eD0u1L4QGaRjrQxWz-qYSJILKHTMLpuPUzNnm4Ol7qQ87JzMK_tQ2QyjFLpNDROQeVg/s1600/20140326_135256.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Royal Mineral Water Hospital, Bath</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Very soon after signing the loan, and sending details back to Bolivar in Colombia, Zea became ill. He travelled from London to Bath in the west of England, and took up residence in the Royal York Hotel. His intention was to take the waters, and gradually recuperate away from the stresses of his diplomatic role. He died on 28 November 1822 in the Hotel. All biographies of Francisco Antonio Zea, including his wikipedia page, affirm that he was buried in Bath Abbey on 4 December.<br />
<br />
When I was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Bristol in 2005, one of the first things I planned to do was to visit the grave of Francisco Antonio Zea. The UK doesn't have too many historians of Colombia, and not many of us are based in the West Country. I appreciated that visiting Zea's grave might be a specialist interest. Anyway, for one reason or another it took me a couple of years before I made it into Bath Abbey. I walked around the aisles, spotted plaques and monuments to numerous dignitaries, presumed I had missed it, and left it at that.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpiDVJfUFxiYmJVbbpa1gABVYCsxOPwVPjRvv3rCqUUQwtpdb7ooMh6W7HsYnMQjVyug9Yz2wlbF8C7awV16LhlITsLVvaqnUFRt8H73oQwE3ZSJqK-wfSfIzAJdI0G3zWshBUj4UWrY/s1600/20140326_103304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPpiDVJfUFxiYmJVbbpa1gABVYCsxOPwVPjRvv3rCqUUQwtpdb7ooMh6W7HsYnMQjVyug9Yz2wlbF8C7awV16LhlITsLVvaqnUFRt8H73oQwE3ZSJqK-wfSfIzAJdI0G3zWshBUj4UWrY/s1600/20140326_103304.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bath Abbey photographed by a non-professional photographer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In autumn 2011 I decided to find the grave and take a picture. I'd just started the <i>Bolivarian Times</i> project that got this blog running in the first place, and a post on Zea seemed obvious given he was so close to home. I went to the Abbey, spoke to some of the guides, and asked them where Zea was.<br />
<br />
'Who?'<br />
<br />
'Francisco Antonio Zea, the vice-president of Colombia'<br />
<br />
Nothing. Lists of plaques and monuments were consulted. Zea did not appear.<br />
<br />
Confused, I perused the walls and floors looking for a forgotten mark, a broken name that might have been his. But it was true. There was no commemoration of Francisco Antonio Zea in Bath Abbey.<br />
<br />
It was obvious, then. He was not buried there. That was when my theorising began.<br />
<br />
The first thought was to check elsewhere in Bath. Perhaps there had been an error in transcription, and that he was actually buried in one of the other cemeteries. This seemed like a good avenue to explore, and a fine way to get to know Bath a little better. So while I was working on a part-time contract, I spent several mornings with my youngest daughter getting the train from Bristol Temple Meads to Bath Spa, and cycling or walking to a new cemetery, and wandering around looking at gravestones. Aged 3, she got very good at identifying the letter Z on a gravestone (mainly they were Elizas). Aged 4, she helped me enter into conversation with gravediggers and gardeners, who joined us in our quest. We discovered earth worms, saw squirrels and ate picnics. We took breaks in parks and played on swings.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Francisco Antonio Zea-Estatua-Medellin.JPG" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Francisco_Antonio_Zea-Estatua-Medellin.JPG/250px-Francisco_Antonio_Zea-Estatua-Medellin.JPG" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="161" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of Zea in his native Medellin, from es.wikipedia.org </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
During this period, which lasted 14 months, I developed some conspiracy theories. These were encouraged by the several trips I made to Colombia in these years researching my book <i>The Struggle for Power in Post-Independence Colombia and Venezuela </i>(Palgrave MacMillan 2013). Though Zea did not feature much in the book, many of its protagonists were his relatives, neighbours and friends. Did he have a secret history than none of them knew about?<br />
<br />
The first of my conspiracy theories was that Zea had committed suicide when he realised the disastrous conditions of his loan, and that this explained why he was not buried in the Abbey (as suicides did not tend to be buried in sacred ground). I disregarded an even more outlandish thought, which was that the non-appearance of his grave, despite press reports of the burial, meant that he might have faked his own death and run off into anonymity with a substantial swath of the loan money. The second reached the same conclusion by virtue of Zea's Catholicism, or even his Jewish ancestry. A third possible explanation, like the previous two entirely lacking in evidence to support it, was that he had been buried in a cemetery that was hit by bombs in the Second World War, and his gravestone had been exploded. (The gravedigger in one cemetery showed us instances where this had happened, and the dates of Zea's burial did seem to fit with the right area). We visited around ten cemeteries and burial grounds, in addition to more churches than I care to remember. All to no avail. I asked Mauricio Rodriguez, at the time Colombian Ambassador to Britain, if he had visited Zea's grave in Bath, but he did not know of it, and refused to entertain any of my theorising. In the new Bath Abbey cemetery high up on a hill overlooking the city, we found a monument to a British officer who served in Spanish wars of independence. My younger son caught a tick, which could only be removed with some difficulty. My children began to doubt the existence of Francisco Antonio Zea.<br />
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I did not. But it was clearly time to stop walking and hoping to just bump into Zea.<br />
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In April 2014, my youngest daughter and I returned to Bath on the train. Instead of seeking green spaces and masonry, we headed straight for the Bath Record Office, located in the basement of the grand Council buildings. I had called ahead, and emailed, a couple of days in advance. This was the first time in my career as a historian that a research trip has resembled an episode of <i>Who Do You Think You Are? </i>I fear it may be the last. Documents from the collections that the archivists had known would interest me were <i>laid out on the table already when I arrived. </i>They were <i>laid out on the table already when I arrived. </i>This never happens. My documents have tended to be missing, presumed lost, and entailed a great deal of persistence, resilience and detective work in catalogues and conversations with archivists in order to locate them. The Bath Record Office was henceforth one of my favourite archives ever.<br />
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From a photocopy of the Bath Abbey Burial Register Entries, I learned that Francisco Antonio Zea 'diplomat, botanist, vice-president of Colombia' did indeed die in 'York House' aged 51 on 28 November 1822, and was buried in Bath Abbey on 4 December the same year.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">That was it. Definitive proof. Story over?</span><br />
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Not by any means.<br />
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<i>I'll finish the story, with an account of what we found in Bath Abbey, in a future post. </i><br />
<br />Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-25053161790413415962014-01-14T05:08:00.002-08:002014-01-14T05:08:51.501-08:00Wars of Independence: New Overviews and Underviews (Reviews of books by Fletcher, McFarlane and Paez Victor)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In 2013, as in previous years, lots of new books and articles continued to be published on the subject of the wars of independence in Spanish America, as the wave of interest in the history of the period catalysed by the first bicentennial celebrations left its mark. In this post I want to draw your attention to three completely different books on the subject published in English in 2013.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yOrCsiT4_e-3KY27A1X1oDUE4Ub8Vf1ZtQnyCb1HceLDEohowpVT8vms59_qSQVXG6QxkDt7YhXoeb4-2FJyh93lCN4JB7PiLKCrudhtoGfnfFnR_oWLE7yYWJM5xtk722Pr6ONRIks/s1600/DSC04561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yOrCsiT4_e-3KY27A1X1oDUE4Ub8Vf1ZtQnyCb1HceLDEohowpVT8vms59_qSQVXG6QxkDt7YhXoeb4-2FJyh93lCN4JB7PiLKCrudhtoGfnfFnR_oWLE7yYWJM5xtk722Pr6ONRIks/s1600/DSC04561.JPG" height="300" title="Photo (M.Brown 2013) of stained glass window in Museo Maritimo Nacional, Valparaiso, featuring (l-r) Thomas Cochrane, Arturo Prat, Bernardo O'Higgins" width="400" /></a></div>
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They are John Fletcher's <a href="http://www.ospreypublishing.com/authors/profile.aspx?ID=6164" target="_blank"><i>The Wars of Spanish American Independence 1809-29</i></a> (Osprey Publishing), Maria Paez Victor's <i>Liberty or Death! The Life and Campaigns of Richard L. Vowell, British Legionnaire and Commander - Hero and Patriot of the Americas </i>(Tattered Flag) and Anthony McFarlane's <i>War and Independence in Spanish America </i>(Routledge).<br />
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John Fletcher's <i>The Wars of Spanish American Independence 1809-29 </i>(Osprey Publishing) is a lavishly illustrated and splendidly presented concise (96 pages) overview of the wars, aimed at the reader who has been bewildered by the complexity of the subject and its intricate regional variations and chronological overlaps. Each period of the wars is broken down and described region by region, with clear attempts to introduce the protagonists. The author has written gamers-guides on the conflict before and this book provides the historical background and context to complement them. The book is built around narratives of the military campaigning, providing some clear maps of the progression from battle to battle, and accessible introductions to the military strategies adopted. These are the strongest sections of the book; but the political summaries are succinct and useful as well, especially for a reader new to the subject. Historians who are well versed in the social, political and cultural histories of independence, but would like to dip a toe into the military history, would be well advised to start here.<br />
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Anthony McFarlane's<i> <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781857287837/" target="_blank">War and Independence in Spanish America</a> </i>also puts warfare at the centre of its analysis. Rather than narrating the battles, however, McFarlane (Emeritus Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick) argues that understanding the social, political and economic consequences of warfare is fundamental to understanding the processes and meanings of independence. This massive book of 450 pages covers the long build-up to war, digs deep into the crucial 1810-1815 period, and then broadens out into the 'final' period of 'reconquest and liberation' of 1815-1825. It is based on many years of research in dozens of libraries and archives. I am reviewing this book for the journal <i>War in History </i>so I won't write any more for now. Suffice to say for now that anyone studying and researching the wars of independence from now on will have to read this book.<br />
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Finally, after two very different overviews, a view of what the wars of independence looked and felt like from the outsider who got as far under the radar as was possible. Maria Paez Victor's <a href="http://www.thetatteredflag.com/component/content/article/73-vowell-liberty-or-death.html" target="_blank"><i>Liberty or Death!</i></a><i> The Life and Campaigns of Richard L. Vowell, British Legionnaire and Commander - Hero and Patriot of the Americas </i>tells the story of the life of Richard Longfield Vowell, the Somerset-born adventurer who dropped out of Oxford University, served under Simon Bolivar in Venezuela, joined the Chilean navy under Lord Cochrane and spent a total of eleven years in South America in a variety of military and naval postings. With a wealth of observations and notes he returned to Bath and wrote a magnificent travel narrative and two novels set in Venezuela. The author quotes liberally from these accounts, and gives a good sense of what an insightful person Vowell was. When I wrote the <a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/98/101098465/" target="_blank">entry on Vowell for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography</a> a few years ago, we worked out that Vowell had been deported from Britain after publishing his three books in the early 1830s, and that he had ended up in Australia. Maria Paez Victor has put in the hard yards chasing Vowell's story across continents, to great avail, and the reader of the book's final chapters is rewarded with an astounding tale (which I won't give away) ending with his death in Casterton, Victoria, Australia in 1870.<br />
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<img src="http://www.thetatteredflag.com/images/Vowell_jacket.jpg" height="320" width="206" /><br />
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When historians talk of the writing the 'global history' of the nineteenth-century, they often focus on ideas, or networks, or products, or diseases. Richard L. Vowell was one of those people who lived defiantly global lives. Anthony McFarlane's book reveals the big picture behind lives like Vowell's, in which imperial geopolitics, anti-colonial warfare and nascent states and nations came into conflict across Spanish America. The three books surveyed here are excellent, readable and original, and will certainly change the way their readers think about the conflicts of two centuries ago.Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-52430635472330899792014-01-09T06:16:00.001-08:002014-01-09T06:16:02.902-08:00Military Lists of Foreign Adventurers in Colombian Army, Achaguas, December 1820<div class="MsoNormal">
These six sheets are held in the Archivo Histórico de Guayas
in Guayaquil. Together they comprise the ‘Descriptive Roll’ of the soldiers of
the British Legion, compiled by its officers in Achaguas, Venezuela, in
December 1820.</div>
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I first became aware of the existence of this document,
unparalleled for the detailed information it provides about occupations, ages
and names of Colombia’s foreign soldiers, in the work of Eric Lambert, <i>Voluntarios británicos e irlandeses en la
gesta bolivariana. </i>I relied heavily on it for the quantitative sections of
my book <i>Adventuring through Spanish
Colonies: Simon Bolivar, Foreign Mercenaries and the Birth of New Nations </i>(2006).
I remain immensely grateful to the Archivo Histórico de Guayas, and to José
Antonio Gómez, for facilitating me the document. I look forward to thanking
them again in person when I am Ecuador in June this year. In the last few years
several people have asked me if would post these copies onto the blog, and I apologise that it has taken me so long.</div>
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<br />Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-9144688794590581272013-09-28T07:06:00.000-07:002013-09-28T07:06:44.825-07:00Independence and History: A Walk from San Martin to Bolivar, in Lima, Peru<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I walked from Bolívar to San Martín in Santiago de
Chile, enjoyed myself, and <a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.com/2013/09/independence-11-september-santiago-walk.html" target="_blank">learned a lot about Chile and its history.</a> Several
people said they enjoyed the blog, so I thought I might do it again, in Lima,
Peru, where I was researching the <i><a href="http://www.react-hub.org.uk/future-doc-sandbox/projects/2013/quipu-living-documentary/journal/thoughts-from-peru/" target="_blank">quipu </a></i><a href="http://www.react-hub.org.uk/future-doc-sandbox/projects/2013/quipu-living-documentary/journal/thoughts-from-peru/" target="_blank">project</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.react-hub.org.uk/future-doc-sandbox/projects/2013/quipu-living-documentary/journal/thoughts-from-peru/" target="_blank">,</a> </i>about the forced sterilizations of thousands of people under the Fujirmori government, as well as looking at the origins of the first sports clubs in Peru. This time I would walk
from San Martín to Bolívar, the reverse of my Santiago walk.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This time it didn’t go quite so well.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h04s1Y8Ylkv3tq-DN9P0nGS1QOBiUmlcNtPlMv3XG3RqSMLerkD_fLs8rh2D7vQIgh8hTGE1ylQM9Meu0LutNU5OLfwpwRAJj23tyRW7YOl4tnkNmd1PEu8oSIypjdGSwTdsrHXdyks/s1600/DSC04534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h04s1Y8Ylkv3tq-DN9P0nGS1QOBiUmlcNtPlMv3XG3RqSMLerkD_fLs8rh2D7vQIgh8hTGE1ylQM9Meu0LutNU5OLfwpwRAJj23tyRW7YOl4tnkNmd1PEu8oSIypjdGSwTdsrHXdyks/s320/DSC04534.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">San Marin in the Plaza San Martin in Lima</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For a start I was very poorly prepared. The Santiago
walk had a long genesis, and was planned over drinks with friends and
historians: I took on advice and moulded my plans accordingly. In Lima, I got
up early, overwhelmed by enthusiasm for the idea, swallowed a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cortado doble, </i>got on the Metropolitano bus,
and was stood in the Plaza San Martín, ready to go, before I had even
considered a route, a plan, a map or a direction.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So I looked around the Plaza San Martín for a while.
In contrast to his peripheral position in Santiago, in Lima San Martin is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the man. </i>San Martín led his liberating
army up from Chile, and presented himself to Peruvians as a Protector, modelling
his title on Oliver Cromwell. Peruvians were nonplussed. San Martín camped out
for many months before finally ceding to Bolívar and bidding goodbye to the
country he had taken as his own. His statue therefore dominates his plaza from
an enormous pedestal. I think he looks down his nose at the Hotel Bolívar opposite
him. Behind him stand an HSBC bank and the Fenix Club; both I think legacies of
the British presence in Peru in the nineteenth century. The square is
unrecognisable from when I was last here in 2000: it is now clean, bright and
civic. I didn’t recognise anything.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsibBtxU55exS3RUOcqpwREOJUgRKXw-LOJTa-ucDkqvKVJVejOw2Wa1NzH6WUK3ay4ZYZFqPJfvF2-LtT1cW7s8V8f9obWpKOH2e-DnShlh9ZhGKjZ1r0LZuXmas8MnrFCt5qKdZSsos/s1600/DSC04535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsibBtxU55exS3RUOcqpwREOJUgRKXw-LOJTa-ucDkqvKVJVejOw2Wa1NzH6WUK3ay4ZYZFqPJfvF2-LtT1cW7s8V8f9obWpKOH2e-DnShlh9ZhGKjZ1r0LZuXmas8MnrFCt5qKdZSsos/s320/DSC04535.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The starting point: with San Martin's statue behind me, and the Hotel Bolivar in front of me.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I strode off. Following the previous walk’s model my
aim was to walk to the statue of Bolívar in Plaza Bolívar going only along
roads named after independence figures. Immediately I waded into a marsh of
difficulty: very few roads in central Lima are named after independence
figures. In stark contrast<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the protagonist
role Heroes were given in Santiago, in Lima it is places that carry you here
and there, an attempt by nineteenth-century urban planners to inculcate a sense
of republican territoriality within the capital’s citizens. (Chile’s occupation
of Lima during the War of the Pacific, which resulted in the loss of a
substantial chunk of Peru’s and Bolivia’s national territories, may have had
something to do with that). There are one or two exceptions. What was Wilson
(named after Bolívar’s aide-de-camp, who was later British Minister in Lima) is
now Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, for example. Generally the streets retain their
colonial names. I circled the grid like a vulture hungry for Independence, and
found nothing. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Soon I was lost.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Happily lost. I wandered the streets, enjoying the
vitality, the smells, the restored urban architecture, turning here and there,
stopping for coffee, stopping for advice. I immersed myself in Lima’s
historical centre, its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">casco, </i>sensing
its proud revindication of its colonial glories, contrasting that with the
beggars and poverty encrusted along its pavements. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I became tired. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The incessant honking of car horns, klaxons, and
the revving of engines passed from being vibrant and intoxicating to being
annoying. Eventually I happened upon Calle Emancipación. This would have to do.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuYYUHDg2mX0QAsqkG97Pe3_tslbiDuU25BLA0U6kxYFLFhUD5rRgYlMsow1HK1zairvXfuNzWA2gNoqoXaPeJ9PvfpKGoeoEv_ay-xp7FKu3WnnrIufauXKfHCaw2nOtyYiqy18M50E/s1600/DSC04542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuYYUHDg2mX0QAsqkG97Pe3_tslbiDuU25BLA0U6kxYFLFhUD5rRgYlMsow1HK1zairvXfuNzWA2gNoqoXaPeJ9PvfpKGoeoEv_ay-xp7FKu3WnnrIufauXKfHCaw2nOtyYiqy18M50E/s320/DSC04542.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Tiring quickly, I fell onto Camaná street and into the
Instituto Riva-Agüero, a city-centre outpost of the Catholic University, and
where I had spent many afternoons researching my Masters thesis on Lord
Cochrane and the British and Irish naval volunteers, years ago. In the IRA I
saw a poster for an event organised by Gabriel Ramón on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La patria, los monumentos y el espacio publico</i> en Lima. My
salvation! Unfortunately it was to take place the day after I left Lima. My historical
urban education would remain incomplete.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I consulted my map, looking for the shortest possible
route. I found it. Out along Camaná, four blocks, turn right onto Avenida Junín
– named after Bolívar’s major battle in Peru, the 1824 battle of Junín (after
which Bolívar headed straight for Lima, leaving Sucre to actually win the war
against the royalists). I marched along Junín – a straight line wasn’t
possible, but I kept my speed up. Plaza Bolívar sits outside the Congress,
closed by Fujimori in his auto-golpe self-coup of 1992, now well and truly open
and a unfortunately often a byword for corruption and clientelism. Bolívar
looks away from Congress and over Lima, majestic on his horse as ever. His
square is fenced off with green spikes, so the public cannot get near his
statue (or their Congress). </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bolivar in the Plaza Bolivar, Lima. Explanatory note: the zoom on my camera is broken. Nevertheless, I was still trying to made a point re: restrictions on access, and by extension restrictions to democracy, regardless of my technological inabilities.</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In the picture a TV reporter might just be seen speaking
to camera, so special permissions must be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sometimes</i>
granted. I wasn’t in the mood for special pleading, nor for chatting with the
riot police unconsciously grazing at the side of the square. My walk had shown
me that the place of Independence in Peruvian history, its historiography, and
its urban landscape, remains a problematic and complicated matter. I should
have known this already. Historians such as Cecilia Mendez, Natalia Sobrevilla
Perea, Charles Walker, Heraclio Bonilla, Mónica Ricketts and others have
demonstrated the ambiguities and paradoxes of political loyalties amongst
Peruvians during the Independence period. There are no straight lines, no
binary splits, no easy answers. I walked back to the library, dragging my feet.</span></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-81620419975105868332013-09-20T09:56:00.001-07:002013-09-20T09:56:22.381-07:00Independence, 11 September, Santiago: A Walk through History<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To walk or to read? <i>A caminar. </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The National Library of Chile’s recent publication <i>La Memoria que nos une </i>(The Memory That
Unites Us, 2013) shows clearly how Chile’s buildings, books, roads and
institutions have been intimately linked to and shaped by the country’s domestic
history and international relations. So has it has been for 200 years, and so
it continues to be today.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">After an intense week of conferences, meetings and archival
research in Santiago, we established that the history of Chile in the 1820s was
not nation-centric, but closely connected to events and people elsewhere in the
world. Hopefully the publications that come out of our meetings will
demonstrate this. My colleagues from the Chilean 1820s project – Joanna Crow,
Andrés Baeza, Juan Luis Ossa, Daniel Gutierrez Ardila, Graciela Iglesias
Rogers, Manuel Llorca-Jaña, Susana Gazmuri – have returned to their homes. I
had a day to spare (14 September 2013) before travelling on to Lima, so put my
Independence Walk plan into action.</span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">En los
pasos de la independencia</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My route, in the end, was quite simple. From República
metro station I ascended to the statue of Simón Bolívar, then went south down
Avenida José Miguel Carrera, through the Parque O’Higgins, along Blanco
Encalada, up Calle Lord Cochrane continuing onto Amunátegui and back down Calle
San Martín to the statue of San Martín on the Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins. I
walked more or less due south, east a bit, due north, west a bit, due south. On
the map the route is like a long rectangle.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What did I hope to achieve on this walk? (see <a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.com/2013/09/walking-history-of-independence-in.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>). I wanted to see if limiting my walk to streets marked by the history of
Independence would give me any insight into the history of Chile, two hundred
years ago and today. Choosing such a route took me to areas of the city I
didn’t know. It allowed to stretch my legs after a week cooped up in libraries
and lecture theatres.</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbdjfsXwMOJOEyibahnvIceFWJ1PKvjudMj5JaFefGU1XULeA73hMY3gVlP6rw30BqKC36lVfqX3QenuwMOhOhyphenhyphenDm132MYVeKwYfuuGmFxvZgCs5u4BBMQQEcsWeNlx8ErXRanyGCUs0/s1600/DSC04441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbdjfsXwMOJOEyibahnvIceFWJ1PKvjudMj5JaFefGU1XULeA73hMY3gVlP6rw30BqKC36lVfqX3QenuwMOhOhyphenhyphenDm132MYVeKwYfuuGmFxvZgCs5u4BBMQQEcsWeNlx8ErXRanyGCUs0/s200/DSC04441.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The statue of Bolivar is a pretty standard affair, and
given that he never came to Chile, seemed a good place from which to depart on
this walk into the reaches of Chilean history. Avenida José Miguel Carrera,
named after one of the heroes of early Chilean history, expunged from political
life by his rival Bernardo O’Higgins and thus a patriotic martyr to the stunted
dreams of free, prosperous national life, begins as an immediately dark channel
away from the vibrant centre, overlooked by the immense Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones. Two-story houses with faded glamour begin to crumble, with many padlocked. </span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60ndvSEdwVN_uxG3t10IA9CduR53fo_BRbLr-s8iZ6gILQHAjSzRWmYkxX1cbLQyKb7jd6mSPwhj2Tj7KdgZ29N1mdyaPblIKAFv7K-GAaSV47zzFhajT74-qx3sxXScvBvqt2tadLGM/s1600/DSC04455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60ndvSEdwVN_uxG3t10IA9CduR53fo_BRbLr-s8iZ6gILQHAjSzRWmYkxX1cbLQyKb7jd6mSPwhj2Tj7KdgZ29N1mdyaPblIKAFv7K-GAaSV47zzFhajT74-qx3sxXScvBvqt2tadLGM/s200/DSC04455.JPG" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Further
down, the signs of early gentrification begin with street art and a
cafe or two. At the end of Carrera I moved on to Blanco Encalada, Chile’s first
naval hero who was moved aside upon the arrival of Lord Cochrane in 1818, when
the Scotsman became the first head of the Chilean navy despite Blanco
Encalada’s previous experience and national origins. B.E.’s road is a wide
boulevard with racing traffic lined by the sturdy buildings of the Universidad
de Chile. From here I entered the Parque O’Higgins.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqGHqWWTAivRZB_4O1Ge3GlYquu0fYijB43Rgxa9hcTmAzziWhsfRIc1Js6WdoSPwZmAANdwtF6RqIJnQjTPfj8N8kLH-4YF4CYAVHHCA1cv3gdmYC0TkcZ-QlkvU-VeZ5gGuy5eQPUk/s1600/DSC04458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqGHqWWTAivRZB_4O1Ge3GlYquu0fYijB43Rgxa9hcTmAzziWhsfRIc1Js6WdoSPwZmAANdwtF6RqIJnQjTPfj8N8kLH-4YF4CYAVHHCA1cv3gdmYC0TkcZ-QlkvU-VeZ5gGuy5eQPUk/s200/DSC04458.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyb4q4E8BAaOBtrdFMmMBda-r5z3z_zOleRdJdQs1K6zuLuWmckwbRpfsma8sJTynoTxptejE2_eptDEalJnRfBgcPAHwMsHmNsFx_-ML4HvdqF0RKqj-VrGgqKGgWHASjWzBX3RqFLQ/s1600/DSC04460.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyb4q4E8BAaOBtrdFMmMBda-r5z3z_zOleRdJdQs1K6zuLuWmckwbRpfsma8sJTynoTxptejE2_eptDEalJnRfBgcPAHwMsHmNsFx_-ML4HvdqF0RKqj-VrGgqKGgWHASjWzBX3RqFLQ/s200/DSC04460.JPG" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">During the c.19 this was the Parque Cousiño, and it
was here that Santiago’s first games of football were played, next to the
racecourses of the Club Hipico. On this Saturday afternoon families relaxed
after lunch, teenagers gaggled and couples embraced. There was little football
being played, so I walked through the park, and turned back on myself up
Avenida Manuel Rodriguez. M.R. was an ally of the Carrera brothers, another
whose heroics in the early stage of independence were recalled by later
radicals who wanted to achieve real freedom a century after independence. M.R’s
road is a massive dirty racetrack sliced through by the new metro line that
stops nearby at the Parque O’Higgins stop. I trekked northwards and quickly
came across, tucked into the corner of the Parque O’Higgins, the Santiago Lawn
Tennis Club, founded 4 November 1904. Inside, I asked permission to take a
photo, and was referred by the car park attendant to the grounds attendant to,
finally, the administrator, Hector Garrido. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Hector kindly showed me round the
12 clay courts and the mock-Tudor-English-chalet-style clubhouse, purpose built
in 1910 for the club, whose first director was Sir Gerald Lowther. After an
agreeable chat about the history of tennis in Chile and its present decline (as
we spoke Chile were being dumped out of the Davis Cup World Group I by the
Dominican Republic, though there was a football match on the clubhouse’s tv) I
headed back onto the trail of the history of independence. I wanted to reach the
Scottish hero of independence: Lord Cochrane.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">First I had to walk along Avenida Ejército Libertador,
the road of the Liberating Army, which took me around the Parque Militar.
Outside, I asked two apparently obsequious cadets if I could take a photo. ‘<i>La cosa está muy complicada’</i>, said
Fierro, gesturing towards the CCTV cameras that overlooked us with a glance
that implied that resistance was, and always would be, futile. Eventually I was
consented to take a picture of the building as long as I was 50m away. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkTZ0PpPjpRimAuId8FyZddAamuunLJkltLJl9BhonQ37ztjbuTB3hrvNkIFDQQGHYgeCHQ5bTgyBLcLuF0xRGHfI1YVG3-OMTOwoQ2lxJqDk1wiWZdUQxNHXBvVA9Flr6FgW_9gkriY/s1600/DSC04463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkTZ0PpPjpRimAuId8FyZddAamuunLJkltLJl9BhonQ37ztjbuTB3hrvNkIFDQQGHYgeCHQ5bTgyBLcLuF0xRGHfI1YVG3-OMTOwoQ2lxJqDk1wiWZdUQxNHXBvVA9Flr6FgW_9gkriY/s320/DSC04463.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Remaining in the Zona Militar, I rounded the building,
a huge, early c.20 monolith, to find the entrance, where entrance is not
allowed. Instead I was barked at by a dog, and I took a photo of a 1896 German
cannon which was aimed, threateningly, at the centre of the city. I took my
leave of the guard dogs, and headed up Ejército Libertador again. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGsHMi5SgPx9faN0m7s9CBfmDOcu2ElUYVK91h_rES1hZTdGqpvFdGcvmwaFVu4RdhZ9yaS6Y0aa6SkcqMsrz1EkuluFzCyeXees1PZQ7M18xkdaOiR3xfABC6T1d8q6AIUnlu5ZJ2Oc/s1600/DSC04471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGsHMi5SgPx9faN0m7s9CBfmDOcu2ElUYVK91h_rES1hZTdGqpvFdGcvmwaFVu4RdhZ9yaS6Y0aa6SkcqMsrz1EkuluFzCyeXees1PZQ7M18xkdaOiR3xfABC6T1d8q6AIUnlu5ZJ2Oc/s200/DSC04471.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My weak attempt at visual art: a view of the Santiago property bubble and construction boom seen through and over a nineteenth-century German canon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">As I headed
towards Cochrane I had to make my first and only leave of Independence. Walking
along Claudio Gay, named after the French mid.c19 traveller whose engraved
books are a treasure trove of tropes of European visions of South America, I
reached the corner with Manuel Rodriguez, and I was back on independent-ground.
Above a bakery was an old commercial sign for a previous owner '<i>Importadora y Exportadora de Alimientos: Walden y Lambreaux Ltda'</i>. The man stood
lolling beneath the sign said that as far as he was concerned I could take a
picture, as business was not his field. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_XCsFwhad4mzqMAjqW-k_xzAmwodZDHQccCQkLaJwW-OVNOdAS8FAO2k7irrUxHWUi1P3BndsTX9Jd2CvcS6tgCrfg5Kk-RmViiqc0o1kF0v4y5jx03LFZ7nYpFASqdyDHtuvWgtisE/s1600/DSC04476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_XCsFwhad4mzqMAjqW-k_xzAmwodZDHQccCQkLaJwW-OVNOdAS8FAO2k7irrUxHWUi1P3BndsTX9Jd2CvcS6tgCrfg5Kk-RmViiqc0o1kF0v4y5jx03LFZ7nYpFASqdyDHtuvWgtisE/s200/DSC04476.JPG" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Guillermo – who had returned to Chile
from exile in Brazil a decade ago and spoke Spanish with a Brazilian accent and
English showing the signs of the cassettes that had taught him - and I spent
half an hour under the sign, discussing conspiracy theories about Chilean
politics, and the history of Chilean Independence. The split between Carrera
and O’Higgins of two centuries ago, Guillermo contends, is the same chasm that still
separates left and right, impulse and order, passion and force, in the
twenty-first century. He is neither Carrerista nor O’Higginista. We separated
the best of friends.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I bought a <i>Golpe</i> chocolate bar to keep my energy up, realising
for the fisrt time that one of Chile’s best-selling chocolate bars, that I
bought and ate all the time was a teacher here, is called <i>Golpe: Coup</i>. A
chocolate bar called <i>Coup!</i> Surely if <i>Marathon </i>could be changed to <i>Snickers</i> it
might be possible, in the name of memory and reconciliation, to change Golpe to
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<![endif]--><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Perdón</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><i style="font-family: inherit;">, </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">for </span>example. Or perhaps keeping the word in the public domain through
chocolate has actually been an extraordinarily successful p.r. campaign.
Munching on my <i>coup</i>, I crossed Manuel Rodriguez and made for Lord Cochrane. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6hYaFQMBgNjuCD2BTvQYvWpL94VtFsQ_sf6jOQ1M4G0Zv-_6ZNCXMSkEBXk-4YlE9mtjQvSIH-pDoNR68Ygl7K0Ig4DsSM1BsIdyfv405EDxVEXv-UMHuQva-lAI3j_bzRdqJsxVVns4/s1600/DSC04477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6hYaFQMBgNjuCD2BTvQYvWpL94VtFsQ_sf6jOQ1M4G0Zv-_6ZNCXMSkEBXk-4YlE9mtjQvSIH-pDoNR68Ygl7K0Ig4DsSM1BsIdyfv405EDxVEXv-UMHuQva-lAI3j_bzRdqJsxVVns4/s200/DSC04477.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near to Cochrane is a square dedicated to Las Heras, another Independence-era figure. Like many it has been defaced with anarchist graffit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Cochrane is a down-at-heel kind of road at its southern end, distinguished
mainly by the car lot owned by Miguel Angel Helo, who a plaque told me is the
Consul of South Korea in Chile. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m not sure if this end of Cochrane has ever seen better days, perhaps reflecting the lowly status of foreign admirals here in inland Santiago. A
derelict lot was taken over by a graffiti collective. This made me feel like I
was back at home in Easton.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAG8EFdMW7yTaiS2yt795k57wwHMSkUl1qNIp4sK8k87uu8vz8OERZuZvqwOA0Su9YBhwE7_OnF_stlSfZztnHgSxSeeC1lcdRHXXTuIG0BbAZ6Dp4SWbBBojFvIaWHCrrwMn-t8bft0/s1600/DSC04482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAG8EFdMW7yTaiS2yt795k57wwHMSkUl1qNIp4sK8k87uu8vz8OERZuZvqwOA0Su9YBhwE7_OnF_stlSfZztnHgSxSeeC1lcdRHXXTuIG0BbAZ6Dp4SWbBBojFvIaWHCrrwMn-t8bft0/s320/DSC04482.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Further up Cochrane's road I came across an excellent art intervention, pictured below which has replaced Cochrane's name on a
street sign with the names of two young Chilean protesters, Rodrigo
Cisternas and Johnny Carriqueo, killed according to <a href="http://www.elciudadano.cl/2010/08/02/25053/chile-muertos-en-transicion-a-la-democracia/" target="_blank">El Ciudadano</a> by the Chilean state during protests in the last decade. These images say as much as I had hoped to find during my walk.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEbcJE61rHFPHlQItZ-lTVVcK6Eswg5lEbYwvtMNSfyHpcvsBw_RTju8o6-JJH7YVRaUlUxKJwLs5US4g0MTvZBqF_2ktPAoghBypdqurSIK0Ej5gxmBK8SEf5LORkQxqD-ow5rEwLKA/s1600/DSC04485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEbcJE61rHFPHlQItZ-lTVVcK6Eswg5lEbYwvtMNSfyHpcvsBw_RTju8o6-JJH7YVRaUlUxKJwLs5US4g0MTvZBqF_2ktPAoghBypdqurSIK0Ej5gxmBK8SEf5LORkQxqD-ow5rEwLKA/s320/DSC04485.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I passed through a park featuring two impromptu
mixed-sex volleyball games. At the northern end of Cochrane an electricity
substation and some major new developments fought for space with old, dark,
crumbling houses. When I entered the light of the Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins I
reflected on Cochrane’s minor place in the urban iconography of Santiago – not
even a statue. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCVUoBslr4chGXFAQZsycu0Qj23d7C49tj2Ca6bH8tYh9l-xCZr2lx5r8fan6aJc8ojbJGpAHnPFr8Zsq7QAp6TzGqwWDmtziNIuKt1bLAt_VWyFCKCRjvC9S3sYk1f8WJDtVyoKGbxg/s1600/DSC04484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Continuing in the same direction carried me on Amunátegui, named
after one of the major c.19 historians of independence. A former business
district, the highlight here was the corner building, formerly the hq of Braden
Copper Co, even more previously the residence of the Argentinian Legation in
Chile, where in 1891 President Balmaceda – cited by many as the inspiration for
President Allende’s decision to allow himself to be martyred on 11 September
1973 - blew his brains out after defeat in the civil war.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH5QOMfGlu68ss4Hn5CatzUL3ocb8vpP-4tqUY0FSVOh-sTKSrVG1fJK8mwqJCGgh7As5N87BdzcH9_rzQYZ2L4hmrs7yE6VNGHwpNQ_nImD5KXjoJB-GnfS7UB-l6zbmwyKq11kEwlE/s1600/DSC04505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">By now my legs were tired. I took a short-cut through
Huerfanos, literally Orphans street, which after 3 blocks took me to San Martín
street, and a turn south towards the end of my walk. Here, most obviously of
anywhere I had been in Santiago, were the signs of the protests, marches and
skirmishes of 11 September 2013. I reproduce here some of the photos I took of
the bill posters slapped on the walls, half-heartedly ripped down in the
subsequent days. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbIle7SSiXkG_d6QEF7BTZxZxQEj9qDvHgrxGuc_It3gQkaUP7G0yWXbwhd0O30L78bCKnVPZ_-2X7W0Tc1QvqdF8Dj5PkARadDc8MFPnTbJzAJMVWKQoasWpuUFu_iMsknJTxRnJJCA/s1600/DSC04507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbIle7SSiXkG_d6QEF7BTZxZxQEj9qDvHgrxGuc_It3gQkaUP7G0yWXbwhd0O30L78bCKnVPZ_-2X7W0Tc1QvqdF8Dj5PkARadDc8MFPnTbJzAJMVWKQoasWpuUFu_iMsknJTxRnJJCA/s200/DSC04507.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH5QOMfGlu68ss4Hn5CatzUL3ocb8vpP-4tqUY0FSVOh-sTKSrVG1fJK8mwqJCGgh7As5N87BdzcH9_rzQYZ2L4hmrs7yE6VNGHwpNQ_nImD5KXjoJB-GnfS7UB-l6zbmwyKq11kEwlE/s1600/DSC04505.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH5QOMfGlu68ss4Hn5CatzUL3ocb8vpP-4tqUY0FSVOh-sTKSrVG1fJK8mwqJCGgh7As5N87BdzcH9_rzQYZ2L4hmrs7yE6VNGHwpNQ_nImD5KXjoJB-GnfS7UB-l6zbmwyKq11kEwlE/s200/DSC04505.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9RT2Xx9ie2XFwgy2ekMKHaYQ_eAs_vTwPxfApX-vGLjxFgEnGLzahWM72r6TA_wO_RNzLMtMYgtF_YSUapHCcgRMEHmeJNLry4cbNvs5IZ-63EnmRxmvgv1v7y9BRXzXAtTfZpBToAM/s1600/DSC04510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9RT2Xx9ie2XFwgy2ekMKHaYQ_eAs_vTwPxfApX-vGLjxFgEnGLzahWM72r6TA_wO_RNzLMtMYgtF_YSUapHCcgRMEHmeJNLry4cbNvs5IZ-63EnmRxmvgv1v7y9BRXzXAtTfZpBToAM/s320/DSC04510.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Struggle Against Power is the Struggle of Remembering Against Forgetting" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">San Martín street was by far the most politicised of the roads
I walked down: San Martín himself, who was dedicated to overcoming
factionalism, would no doubt have been appalled. Their theme was clear: the
progress which has been made in terms of historical memory and recognition of
past crimes, has not been matched by social or economic change, and impunity
has not been overcome. Remembering is not enough.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">At the end of San Martin I reached the Avenida
Bernardo O’Higgins, and looked out for his statue. As I came towards
him, along the central reservation of this six lane highway, I met General
Ramon Freire, another hero of independence, president and supreme anti-Bolivarian.
His proud statue looks south; behind him slept a homeless <i>indigente</i>, an easy symbol for the way that the dreams of equality
and prosperity that accompanied independence have yet to be fully realised.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RmYDNjotkv73dGXYbKMLA7GBiXPckAiS0iRBPxfcVKSJOPaU0giU8mlrs07LYN22An0CnmfGST8GRvGK5RIakC5n9hTCww4-jx0imelvF_jhAYzAJuBRWn0UDZ9AehV6Gf0eEPqsHMs/s1600/DSC04511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RmYDNjotkv73dGXYbKMLA7GBiXPckAiS0iRBPxfcVKSJOPaU0giU8mlrs07LYN22An0CnmfGST8GRvGK5RIakC5n9hTCww4-jx0imelvF_jhAYzAJuBRWn0UDZ9AehV6Gf0eEPqsHMs/s200/DSC04511.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ramon Freire and friend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5msAnCE4vozT9yb4l2jT650O6NSae6RpYdI_67qW44pGNbeFT21VzaB5CldjNVrPBpN_E4TAhq4YNmpsmwp6ZlmOSs-L1km4VOZ4pA3zBQFE8Gs69xpYhimoc7rOxlcVTb7Jy9xbhY0/s1600/DSC04514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5msAnCE4vozT9yb4l2jT650O6NSae6RpYdI_67qW44pGNbeFT21VzaB5CldjNVrPBpN_E4TAhq4YNmpsmwp6ZlmOSs-L1km4VOZ4pA3zBQFE8Gs69xpYhimoc7rOxlcVTb7Jy9xbhY0/s200/DSC04514.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIlZ3l8PyQ7_iMY-RmrbHvbDQ7JiiDNvxkcSVOJBK9CKQmUMd9wKBrGSFaxn_DTs2NBcBG0aEcayIpeSojktD0DnTA1FYBn57ip0NjxBJex6nQdC519PbIPxA2OIsymRhjYF3LDujdI8/s1600/DSC04523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIlZ3l8PyQ7_iMY-RmrbHvbDQ7JiiDNvxkcSVOJBK9CKQmUMd9wKBrGSFaxn_DTs2NBcBG0aEcayIpeSojktD0DnTA1FYBn57ip0NjxBJex6nQdC519PbIPxA2OIsymRhjYF3LDujdI8/s320/DSC04523.JPG" width="240" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">With that, casting a glance at the 20m high photo of Salvador
Allende that overlooks the statue, at last I reached <span style="font-family: inherit;">don </span></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span></span>Bolívar’s statue, where I started my walk, just a few blocks further west. T</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">he Liberator is reaching for the sky, flying from the
streets of Santiago, leaving Chile to its own heroes, conflicts, politics and
memories. The streets retain that history much better than any statue. </span>Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-87638906507025380572013-09-12T15:31:00.004-07:002013-09-12T15:31:51.912-07:00Walking the History of Independence in Santiago de Chile<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">How do we remember what is important? Why are some
human beings remembered after their deaths with books or statues when most of
us pass into oblivion without bothering the pen-pushers or marble-scratchers?
How does history fit into and alongside our daily lives?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEUfG5WdE1KJGibfsX-hYG91ufrIqtCHEmkKGLPGsrbHWwwg2FOzqoTFipv_y6YR96sUegzprBprRSSy6XeUPENlSHQxVzJwoOVI_Zckm2V_bzDftCjwPG1nDUSGIH-0nXdCTSVb1Kjs/s1600/DSC04346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEUfG5WdE1KJGibfsX-hYG91ufrIqtCHEmkKGLPGsrbHWwwg2FOzqoTFipv_y6YR96sUegzprBprRSSy6XeUPENlSHQxVzJwoOVI_Zckm2V_bzDftCjwPG1nDUSGIH-0nXdCTSVb1Kjs/s320/DSC04346.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> <i>[photo of tourists learning about the history of La Moneda presidential palace, bombed on 11.9.1973, taken 10.9.2013] </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This week I have been in Santiago de Chile for five
days of workshops, meetings and conferences to discuss the significance of the
decade of the 1820s in Chilean history (funded by CONACYT, gratefully
acknowledged). We have spoken of Chilean exceptionalism (largely a self-serving
myth created by nineteenth-century elites), connections with the rest of the
world (fear of being invaded by Simon Bolívar’s armies, the efforts of British
and French school-builders and newspaper editors) and the local versions of
republicanism and liberalism that sprang up in this period. Also this week, the
local and global media and social networks have engaged in similar debates with
regard to the 40<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the coup, led by the Chilean armed
forces, which overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Salvador
Allende on 11 September 1973, and which began a dictatorship of seventeen
years. Commentators have also spoken of Chilean exceptionalism (was Pinochet’s
dictatorship worse, more cruel, more violent, than its counterparts in
Argentina, Paraguay or Brazil?), of connections with the rest of the world (the
role of the CIA, Nixon and Kissinger in provoking and supporting the coup; the fondly
remembered British support to Chilean asylum seekers) and the local versions of
neo-liberalism and torture strategies enacted by the coup-mongers in the 70s
and 80s.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I was last in Santiago in 1993 – 1994, when I worked
as an English teacher in Liceo de Aplicación, in the city centre, and lived in
the Internado Nacional Barros Arana, placed there by the Scottish charity
Project Trust. This week I have returned to some of my old haunts. I caught up
with old friends in Renca, where I enjoyed an eighteen-hour lunch/party that
ended under the stars with grilled steak at 4am. I chatted with the same grumpy
old porters at INBA, which now has as a neighbour the new Museo de la Memoria,
which acts as a space for contemplation of the social, cultural, political and
psychological impact of the coup, the murders, the disappearances and the
social rupture caused by Pinochet’s coup and dictatorship.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIHtZKdLwUEo2aqTwLLoyi1HQ7gPvURxblJKLo4wg1PHMakoh8q_oSwoifVe4EiwvRw_WDntjz-5YkFE0FpY39cebhyphenhyphenF_KPtJ7TiB-RERqNrE6-7Ookh0R2SVfZxJ7dOWYoVibBxnAVo/s1600/DSC04418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIHtZKdLwUEo2aqTwLLoyi1HQ7gPvURxblJKLo4wg1PHMakoh8q_oSwoifVe4EiwvRw_WDntjz-5YkFE0FpY39cebhyphenhyphenF_KPtJ7TiB-RERqNrE6-7Ookh0R2SVfZxJ7dOWYoVibBxnAVo/s200/DSC04418.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Wandering through the city I wondered how I might link
the two historical periods that have occupied my thoughts and activities this
week. How do certain interpretations become fixed in the memories of a country’s
people? How and why are they repeated and interrogated by those whose
profession is that of the self-important Historian? [<i>the photo shows me by the statue of Diego Barros Arana, a major Chilean historian of the c.19th]</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I decided to walk across Santiago without touching a
street, avenue or road that was named after any person, figure or event from
the history of Chile in the 1820s. I thought that I might trace a convoluted
route, around palaces, museums, shops and squares, that might demonstrate the
extent to which public spaces in Santiago have been drenched in the history of
the 1820s, the decade in which the country’s independence from Spanish colonial
rule was established after three centuries of rule from Europe.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Such a walk is impossible. The grid system road layout
makes it difficult to skirt round inconveniently-named thoroughfares. As I
scratched out road after road on my map I saw that I was setting myself up for
a walk around the Ring Road, rather like Iain Sinclair’s trek around the M25 in
<i>London Orbital. </i>I am not made of such
stern stuff as Sinclair, and have work to do, books to read, in the National
Library: I can’t take a week to walk however much I’d like to. And in any case,
following Santiago’s Ring Road, the Avenida Américo Vespucci, would have had me
crossing over intersecting roads named after many historians of independence, numerous
veterans of the independence struggle, as well as the Avenida Libertadores and
the Avenida Independencia itself. No. It is impossible to walk across or round
Santiago and avoid commemorations of independence. This in itself tells us the
great extent to which independence has been inscribed upon the city’s landscape
by subsequent generations of nation-building authorities.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">(It is, of course, extremely easy to walk across
Santiago without finding a road named after a victim of the dictatorship. Many
of the roads had their names changed by Pinochet’s regime, with a marked preference
for the names of military heroes of independence such as Bernardo O’Higgins,
whose Avenida streaks across the city centre).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So: a new walk was needed if I was to explore these
issues on foot rather than in the library. I had to get my boots dirty, get
stuck into the tarmac of independence, the pavements of the past.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The plan is this: to walk between the statues of Simón
Bolívar and José San Martín, walking only on streets named after figures linked
to independence. Bolívar (1783-1830), the great protagonist of the independence
of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Bolivia, to whom great feats
and failures are ascribed, never came to Chile. He stopped in Peru, where he
designed a constitution for Bolivia. His proposal for a life presidency, where
the president would choose his successor, catalysed waves of anxiety across the
newly-republican continent that this would mean the return of monarchy in
disguise. San Martín (1778-1850) , in contrast, crossed the Andes from his
native Argentina into Chile, led the defeat of the royalist forces, and
journeyed to Peru where he tried to lead a relatively peaceful transition from
colonial to republican rule. Bolívar and San Martín met in Guayaquil (now
Ecuador) in 1822, where their famously mysterious ‘interview’ resulted in San Martín
retiring from public life, and Bolívar leading the eventually victorious
campaign that resulted in the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">A walk from San Martín to Bolívar, along the figures
and places of Chilean independence. What will I find? What will I see?What will I learn?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ll report back in a further blog at the weekend.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[A note on methodology. According to my
newly-purchased but now thoroughly-scribbled upon <i>Plano del Gran Santiago Con Indice de Calles 2013-2014 </i>there are
three streets named after José de San Martín in Santiago, and eleven called Simón
Bolívar. Bolívar also has a metro station (next to Prince of Wales metro station)
which would have been convenient, but San Martín doesn’t. So statues it had to
be. There is a statue to, but not of, Bolívar in the Plaza de Armas, the city’s
central square. It dates from 1836, apparently the earliest stone monument to Bolívar
in the continent. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkFQoqWPVDjesFVTGLIyeZpemyV6Sre3tevaHrApZPzoOFDrTxzm2tQUoSzEAqgoSze15Lx_EaSt0zehXbuuibd8uMvUDlvTRIURPZkzSAdLyTEAVHzAvuchuMaJE0mcF4hJWloHBbSY/s1600/DSC04354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkFQoqWPVDjesFVTGLIyeZpemyV6Sre3tevaHrApZPzoOFDrTxzm2tQUoSzEAqgoSze15Lx_EaSt0zehXbuuibd8uMvUDlvTRIURPZkzSAdLyTEAVHzAvuchuMaJE0mcF4hJWloHBbSY/s200/DSC04354.JPG" width="150" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">(Caracas’ equestrian statue dates from 1842). Both statues,
in fact, turn out to be only a few blocks apart, both of them towards the
western end of the Avenida del Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins, the Alameda,
rather tucked away from the more prominent Chilean heroes. So I imposed a rule
upon my walk: I won’t take the easy route, walking along Bernardo O’Higgins to
get from Bolívar to San Martín (this was pretty tempting, given that many
Chileans in the 1820s felt that O’Higgins was a potential agent for imposing Bolívar’s
power upon Chile after San Martín’s departure from the scene). Instead, I’ll
take the long route from B to S, via Jose Miguel Carrera, Lord Cochrane,
Sargento Aldea, Vicuna Mackenna, Sucre, Bolívar, Francisco Bilbao, Amunategui
and all the rest]. </span></div>
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Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-64281593941239737732013-04-20T04:38:00.004-07:002013-04-30T06:43:38.508-07:00The Liberators of Spanish America: Canning House History Series, 24 April 2013<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">On Wednesday evening 24
April I gave a lecture entitled 'The Liberators of Spanish America' as
part of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.canninghouse.org/the-canning-house-latin-america-history-series" target="_blank">Canning House History Series</a>.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Liberators: Bolívar, Santander, San Martín,
Hidalgo, Iturbide, Cochrane, Sucre, Santa Cruz, et al: the men who are renowned for
liberating Spanish America from Spanish colonial rule at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, and who have cities, avenues, countries and plazas named after them, not to mention universities, museums, shops, currencies, buses and so one. But who were they? What or who did they liberate, and who
from? What did people think of them at the time? How do we people remember them
today – as heroes, as patriotic martyrs or as self-aggrandising egotists who
grabbed the glory for themselves and hung on to power at the expense of their fellow
countrymen and women? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In the lecture I argued that there were no 'good guys' in the wars of independence. The complicated mesh of loyalties, identities, armed forces, egos, ambitions, promises, betrayals and myths meant that the only individuals who emerged with positive reputations were either those who died tragically young, or those who managed to control the production of the histories that emerged after independence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Indeed, I suggested, given the major advances in the
historiography of independence in the past couple of decades, and historians'
understandings of the long-term processes and social changes that underpinned
the period - might it not be better to dispense with the term 'liberators' once
and for all? </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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There were some excellent questions from the audience afterwards. Some of them were: Why did Brazil remain united while Spanish America fragmented after independence? Did Bolivar threaten to kill San Martin at their Guayaquil interview in 1822? How accurate is the portrayal of Bolivar in Evelio Rosero's magnificent novel <i>La carroza de Bolivar </i>(2011)? Was Bolivar a British stooge? Would Bolivar have been a Chavista or opposition supporter in today's Venezuela? We would have needed an entire lecture series to answer those properly: my answers were (in brief): The Continuing Relative Legitimacy of Empire as opposed to Republic; We don't know; Very Good, though obviously quite one-sided; No; and, in such an unlikely, hypothetical situation as Bolivar returning to Venezuelan political life in 2013, I can't imagine him following anyone else at all, regardless of their political affiliations.</span></div>
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Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-91358326969486312652013-04-16T15:46:00.001-07:002013-04-16T15:46:07.182-07:00Margaret Thatcher, Chile and MeIn 1993 or 1994 I nearly met Margaret Thatcher in Chile.<br />
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Given that her funeral is tomorrow, Wednesday 17 April 2013, and that my previous blogpost was a reflection on the death and funeral of another long-standing leader of global reputation, both decisive and divisive, like her, I offer the following anecdote about the time I nearly met Margaret Thatcher in Chile.<br />
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When I left school I went to work as an English teacher at the Liceo De Aplicacion in the centre of Santiago de Chile. I spoke no Spanish upon arrival, and I learned the language slowly, through talking with my students, playing football and watching dubbed versions of The Simpsons in a local <i>completo</i> bar, eating hot dogs and drinking beer. Every day I walked along Lord Cochrane Street on my way to work - this experience was the catalyst that got me interested in the British involvement in Spanish American independence, which I have spent the last decade researching as a historian.<br />
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Although my two English co-teachers and I had been sent my a renowned British gap-year work placement organiser, we were formally employees of the Municipalidad de Santiago, to whose austere buildings we went each month to wait to be presented with our pay-cheques. From the many hours of waiting in turn to be called forward I can still vividly remember the dark shade of brown of the corridor's carpet.<br />
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In March 1994, when we had been in Santiago for six months or so, we received an invitation from the Municipalidad to a day-time reception to meet and greet Margaret Thatcher. At the time I wasn't really sure of the point of the event - researching it today I see that she was being made an Illustrious Citizen of Santiago, as well as promoting her recently published autobiography and making a symbolic visit to General Augusto Pinochet as a gesture of thanks for his support during the Falklands/Malvinas conflict. Pinochet himself had lost a referendum on his continuing rule in 1990, although in 1994 he remained as the head of the Armed Forces, and so retained considerable power and influence over the government of the transition to democracy. We often detected this shadow in the presence of tanks on the street, and in many Chileans' continuing reluctance to talk about politics in public. The most memorable episode of her trip to Chile was that she fainted during a speech.<br />
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As the date of the reception approached, my friend and I resolved that we would refuse to meet or greet her, as some sort of gesture against her politics, with which we disagreed with gusto. We eventually consented to being lined up and displayed as symbols of British-Chilean cooperation, and after she had thanked the schoolchildren who had danced and sung in her honour, she moved towards us along the line. At the last moment we ducked out of the line, and congratulated ourselves on such a staunch rejection of the policies of privatisation, the poll tax and so on. Mrs Thatcher, of course, glided by, barely noticing our rejection - presumably she was well used to such gestures, and did not waste energy on taking offence.<br />
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And that was that, a moment much more significant in my own political awakening than in the life of Margaret Thatcher or the history of British-Chilean relations. As the protocol continued, I noticed that Margaret Thatcher's husband, Denis Thatcher, was stood, forlorn and ignored, in the centre of the large hall where the festivities were ongoing. I stepped past the negligent security detail and asked him how he was enjoying Chile. Not much, he responded. 'You can't get a decent G&T here', he bemoaned, and he complained that the 'bloody natives' were extremely demanding of his wife's time. We chatted for a few minutes about the heat, language learning and gin and tonic. Then it was time to go, and he and Mrs Thatcher departed the building.<br />
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Margaret Thatcher's loyalty to Chile and to General Pinochet was absolute, especially during his imprisonment in Britain in 2000 awaiting (and eventually avoiding) extradition on charges relating to human rights abuses committed by his dictatorship. This week I have thought about the image that occurred to me at the time, of General Pinochet supping pisco sours with Margaret and Denis Thatcher, the evening after I nearly met her, lamenting why so many people failed to respect them for having saved their respective nations.<br />
<br />Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-46200002666049134922013-03-12T15:12:00.001-07:002013-04-16T15:11:44.131-07:00The Death and Afterlives of Hugo Chávez: Some Preliminary Comparative Reflections on the Death, Burials and Exhumations of Simón Bolívar<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The memorial ceremony held in Caracas
to commemorate the life of Hugo Chávez Frias on Friday was an international
event as well as a national moment of mourning and political transition. As I
watched the live Venevision webstreaming in the UK, I was drawn to reflect on
some of the historical parallels with the death and burials of Simón Bolívar, Chávez’s
historical lodestar. I have expressed some of these thoughts in piecemeal and
unsatisfactory fashion on various rolling news media over the last few days,
and this blog takes the form of developing some of ideas on the links and
comparisons between Chávez and Bolívar. It is also a first step towards a paper
I will be giving on 1 June 2013 at the ‘International Conference on <a href="http://wdm.web.unc.edu/" target="_blank">War, Demobilization and Memory: The Legacy of War in the Era of Atlantic Revolutions</a> at King’s College London (</span><a href="http://wdm.web.unc.edu/"><span style="line-height: 115%;">http://wdm.web.unc.edu/</span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">).
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There have been many assessments of Chávez’s
achievements in office in the last week or so: it is not my intention to repeat
these here, nor to reflect on his possible political legacy in Venezuela, Latin
America or worldwide (I refer readers to the
reflections of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/05/hugo-Ch%C3%A1vez-people-venezuelan-president" target="_blank">Oscar Guardiola Rivera</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/10/hugo-Ch%C3%A1vez-hector-abad-latin-america-left.%20." target="_blank">Héctor Abad Faciolince</a>). Many people have also written about the role of death and the rituals associated with it, in political cultures across the world, particularly in times of transition: I particularly like Katherine Verdery's 1999 book <i>The Political Lives of Dead Bodies: Reburial and Post-Socialist Change</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img height="275" src="http://caracas.ciberturista.com/files/2010/01/Panteon-Nacional-Caracas-Venezuela.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">An old image of the National Pantheon in Caracas, from http://caracas.ciberturista.com/files/2010/01/Panteon-Nacional-Caracas-Venezuela.jpg</span></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">International attendance at Friday’s
memorial service appeared to demonstrate a markedly ideological pattern.
Bolivia, Iran, Brazil and Cuba were well represented. Argentina’s Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner paid her respects but left before the ceremony on medical
advice. The U.S. sent two minor but sympathetic politicians, and Britain was
represented by its Ambassador to Venezuela.
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the days leading up to the
memorial service there was much media speculation as to where Chávez would be
buried. Opposition figures suggested, rather calumniously, that the immense new
mausoleum constructed to house the remains of Simón Bolívar in the centre of
Caracas, would now be adopted to shelter Chávez’s mortal remains alongside his
great hero. Others speculated that the convention establishing a minimum
twenty-five year waiting list for burial to the National Pantheon, might be
waived in the case of Hugo Chávez. The new mausoleum for Bolívar, which is an
annex to the existing National Pantheon, has attracted much media interest on
the basis of its size (it is huge), its shape (it looks like a skateboard ramp)
and its considerable cost. Bolivar’s remains have been in the National Pantheon
since the 1880s, when the former church was converted into a space of memory
dedicated to individuals who had given their lives in service to the Venezuelan
Republic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/files/2012/11/RTR3AHKL-e1353357870501.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Image of the new mausoleum to Bolivar, centre, from http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/files/2012/11/RTR3AHKL-e1353357870501.jpg</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the National Pantheon, a statue to
Bolívar occupies the space of the altar, leaving <i>el libertador </i>to physically take over the space formerly occupied
by religion – this is as good an example as any of the way that
nineteenth-century nation-states in Latin America tried, in the century after
independence from Iberian colonial rule, to replace religious iconography of
King and Spain with patriotic martyrs and new national identities. In Venezuela,
as the historian Germán Carrera Damas showed long ago, the <i>Cult of Bolivar</i> (1969) fitted the bill and was taken up by politicians and generals
of all political ideologies from the mid-nineteenth century. Dedicating this church to Bolívar, placing statues of him across the country,
and calling <i>Viva Bolívar </i>at political
rallies: we might think that Hugo Chávez invented all of this, but the ‘cult of
Bolivar’ has been a centrepiece of Venezuelan political and cultural life for
over a hundred and fifty years. The historian Elias Pino Iturrieta showed more
recently how t</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">he historical Bolívar was stripped of his human flaws and presented by
latter-day Bolivarians as an infallible hero, predestined to bring liberty to
the continent (<i>El divino </i></span><i style="line-height: 21px;">Bolívar, </i><span style="line-height: 21px;">2005)</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">. Nevertheless, the ever-present focus on Bolívar as a subject of history writing
has necessarily brought out his multi-faced and contradictory character in
recent years – as a slaveowning abolitionist, for example, as a democrat who
flirted with authoritarianism, and as an anti-imperialist who courted the
leading empires of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have spent quite a lot of time in,
or trying to get into, the National Pantheon in Caracas over the last decade or
so. When Chávez won the presidency in 1998, and decided to rename the country
as the ‘Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’, one of his aims was to renovate and
refurbish much of central Caracas and its historical monuments to the
independence era. Principal among its targets was the National Pantheon, which
consequently and ironically has often shut for refurbishments when I visited
from the nearby National Library, National Archive or the archive of the
Fundación John Boulton, which moved a few years ago into the colonial house
next door to the National Pantheon. Next to Bolivar’s statue lie the remains of
Daniel O’Leary, the Irishman who was Bolivar’s loyal aide-de-camp, and who in
later life became a historian who preserved and edited Bolivar’s correspondence
for publication (<a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/funeral-of-daniel-oleary-bogota-1854.html" target="_blank">I have written previously about Daniel O’Leary’s own funeral,which took place in Bogota in Colombia in 1854</a>, and which was – like Chávez’s,
like Bolivar’s – a moment where international and national agendas coincided
and were represented through death rituals). Also buried in the Pantheon,
alongside many Venezuelan presidents, writers, military officers and musicians,
are the Italian Carlo Castelli, the Prussian Heinrich Lutzen and the Venezuelan
Carmelo Fernandez, who had all fought under Daniel O’Leary at the Battle of El
Santuario in 1829 – <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=565371" target="_blank">the subject of my last book</a>. There are other British remains buried there too, testament to the legacy of
the British and Irish involvement in Venezuelan independence – Charles Minchin
and Thomas Green are two of those who names are recorded. I spent many hours
scanning the plaques in the naves for mention of General Gregor MacGregor, a
Scottish adventurer who served Venezuela’s armed forces and who died in Caracas
in 1845. I found none. MacGregor was a charismatic, controversial figure with
radical views and a love of new challenges: I suspect that he and Hugo Chávez
would have got on quite well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But Hugo Chávez and Gregor MacGregor
will not, it seems now, be sharing adjacent resting places. The day before the
president’s funeral, his deputy, Nicolás Maduro, declared that Chávez’s body
would be embalmed so that they could remain on view ‘for eternity’, placed in a
new Museum of the Revolution in central Caracas, several blocks away from
Bolivar’s mausoleum. Maduro compared this to the preservation of Lenin or Mao’s
remains, displayed for the enjoyment of party loyalists or curious tourists.
But a permanent location for the display is still a very long way off, and the
presidential election on 14 April, in which Maduro will most likely face off
against Henrique Capriles, defeated last year by Chávez, means that Maduro’s
decision could well still be overturned by a new president. It seems pretty
moot whether Maduro’s commitment to embalming would be honoured by a new
government run by anti-Chavistas. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two
weeks ago, Hugo Chávez returned from Cuba to Venezuela, a trip he had made on
repeated occasions during his cancer treatment, for the last time. His funeral
took place within a fortnight. In contrast, twelve years had to pass between Simón
Bolívar’s death in Santa Marta, Colombia, in 1830, and the repatriation of his
remains to Caracas in 1842. On March 1, 1830, Bolívar had resigned the
presidency of Gran Colombia (the super-republic comprising the republics we
know today as Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama), later declaring that
“he who serves the revolution ploughs the sea.” Sick, disenchanted, and
disillusioned he prepared to go into exile but died before he could leave Gran
Colombia, on December 17, 1830.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For ten
years after Bolivar’s death his friends were in exile across the Caribbean, or
slowly reintegrating themselves into political and economic life through civil
warfare and political violence. In the years 1839–42 Venezuela finally
experienced a period of peace presided over by its dominant national caudillo
José Antonio Páez, the overwhelming victor in the presidential elections of
late 1838. Páez’s cabinet was stacked with former Bolivarians. As the leader of
a government representing what Venezuelan historians call oligarchic
conservatism, Páez and his ministers proposed and enacted measures that they
thought would integrate the republic into the modern, prosperous world, for
example, private road-building schemes, national schools, immigration, and
repayment of the national debt. With Guillermo Smith in the Finance (and later,
also, Foreign Affairs) Ministry Venezuela’s progress was firmly tied to British
power in these years. In Daniel O’Leary’s words, “</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">General Paez has always shewn a desire to cultivate
the friendship of England in preference to any other country.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">”</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> One of the last acts of Paez’s administration, as
he sought to improve its popularity to ensure the election of his nominated
successor, Carlos Soublette, was to arrange the repatriation of the remains of Simón
Bolívar.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Repatriation of Bolívar’s Remains from Santa Marta to Caracas</span></h3>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicITMS0k6aHOLUEkCqcuU0KlyyutbbMAh8jKQ7v1-ZWzQx1OXx162b3VEghAal71PyVgOGr9AgKpgwR0DuyDHFLVhEx-VfnV_4zLHTYfoBP0mik5HVKvpawhw8pDp1rGD80uJhbRxy818/s1600/Funeral_Bolivar.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">One of Carmelo Fernandez's sketches of Bolivar's funeral procession, from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicITMS0k6aHOLUEkCqcuU0KlyyutbbMAh8jKQ7v1-ZWzQx1OXx162b3VEghAal71PyVgOGr9AgKpgwR0DuyDHFLVhEx-VfnV_4zLHTYfoBP0mik5HVKvpawhw8pDp1rGD80uJhbRxy818/s1600/Funeral_Bolivar.jpg.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The following discussion of the historical national and international contexts of the first exhumation of Bolivar's remains comes from my recent book <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=565371" target="_blank">The Struggle for Power in Post-Independence Colombia and Venezuela</a>With the consolidation of power in the early 1840s of Conservative
regimes in both New Granada (under General Herrán) and Venezuela (under General
Páez) came the rehabilitation of the memory of Simón Bolívar. The repatriation
of Bolívar’s remains from Santa Marta to the Venezuelan capital in 1842
provided an opportunity for the two governments to wallow in nostalgia for an
apparently lost and glorious past. The staging of the repatriation was notably
and consciously Eurocentric. The Italian Agustín Codazzi was commissioned to
design and build, in Paris, a carriage that would carry the urn containing
Bolívar’s remains, as well as “a Victory Arch to adorn the solemn act.” Daniel
O’Leary was charged with communicating with the Italian sculptor Pietro
Tenerani, who was to create, in Rome, a marble monument where the remains would
lie.<b> </b>Some of the friends who had
been with Bolívar in his last days were also invited, including Alejandro
Próspero Reverend, the French doctor who had treated Bolívar. A new urn was
commissioned to be made in Bogotá to carry Bolívar’s remains to Caracas, though
Bolívar’s heart was to be left in Santa Marta “as a symbol of eternal
friendship between the two countries.” Daniel
O’Leary was at the time British consul in Puerto Cabello and acting consul in
Caracas. It was Daniel O’Leary’s idea that a British warship should be sent to Santa
Marta to assist in transferring Bolívar’s remains. The
Venezuelan mission sailed for Santa Marta accompanied by the esteemed artist
and El Santuario veteran Carmelo Fernández. Throughout the journey Fernández
drew 18 sketches of the expedition’s progress. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">The governor of Santa Marta in 1842
was Joaquín Posada Gutierrez. In his memoirs he recalled that the Venezuelan
commissioners arrived at Santa Marta not on their own ship the <i>Constitución, </i>but in <i>La Circe,</i> the French corvette that had
in theory been accompanying them. This was a suitable beginning for a
multinational event where the British and French, especially, were ever
present. Posada Gutierrez welcomed the commissioners ashore with a speech
evoking the memory of Bolívar, “the man whose fame filled the world.” When the
marble stone was lifted away from the grave, the foreign and national warships
in the harbor (the </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">Venezuelan
</span><i style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Constitución</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"> and brig </span><i style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Caracas</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">, HMS </span><i style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Albatross</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">, the French corvette </span><i style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">La Circe</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">, the Dutch sloop </span><i style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Venus</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">, and the Danish sloop </span><i style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Sainte Croix</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">) all </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">began regular
cannon-fire to mark the occasion. The exhumation of the remains attracted
interest from invited guests and locals alike, who all crowded for a glimpse.
The funeral convoy to the port the next day was made up of “all the honourable
individuals, regardless of colour” who were in the town and “five or six
thousand people” waved goodbye to the relics on November 22, 1842, when they
began the 21-day journey from Santa Marta to the port of La Guaira. O’Leary
joined the “magnificent” cortege from La Guaira over the mountain to Caracas on
December 15, and he walked with the diplomatic community on December 17 when
Bolívar’s remains were taken into the San Francisco church. They lay there for seven
days before moving on December 23 to the cathedral. Dreaming that even in death
Bolívar would once again unite people despite their diverse origins or
politics, O’Leary noted that “every one seemed desirous that party spirit
should be buried in the Tomb of Bolívar.” He reported to London that “</span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">the British and Foreign naval officers who
attended the funeral rites have been treated with great hospitality.</span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0cm;">”</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the moment of their arrival in
Caracas, Bolívar’s remains were subject to the most pompous and exaggerated
accompaniment. The head of state, ministers, generals, the diplomatic
community, and “thousands of well-wishers” turned out to the streets. Rafael
Urdaneta, at the time the governor of Guayana, recalled that “the foreign
residents of Caracas and La Guaira, filled with the same enthusiasm as the
locals, had joined in the preparations and mixed in the lines wearing national
uniforms.” President José Antonio Páez presided over the ceremonies in one of
the last acts of his presidential term. The representatives of foreign powers, such as O’Leary, were to bear
witness to Venezuela’s modernity and the honours it paid to Bolívar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For O’Leary, the repatriation of
Bolívar’s remains to Venezuela had taken place under British guidance and with
British approval. This was only right and proper in O’Leary’s opinion, given
that (as he had written in 1841) Britain’s only “desire [was] to maintain with
[Venezuela . . .] the most friendly relations, without aiming at exclusive
advantages or pretending to establish any undue influence in the country.” The
beginning of the rehabilitation of Bolívar’s memory was proof for O’Leary that
he, his friends and Bolívar had been right all along, that a strong, central
government supported by European imperial powers was the only way to preserve
the republic.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<h3>
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Using History to Look Forwards: Hugo Chávez and the Death of Simón
Bolívar</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Even as Latin American leaders look
to the future, they often ground their political discourse, and the way they look at
the world, upon their countries’ historical pasts. One good example is the way
the mortal remains of Simón Bolívar have been treated and debated in
contemporary Venezuela. Bo</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">livar’s remains (excluding his heart, which
stayed back in Santa Marta, Colombia, after his first exhumation in 1842) lie
in what is now the National Pantheon in the centre of Caracas, which was
consecrated as such in the 1870s under the watchful eye of the caudillo Antonio
Guzman Blanco. Guzman Blanco is famed for his attempts to modernise Venezuela,
to overhaul its urban planning in the model of Von Hausman’s Paris, and for his
populist authoritarianism. Guzman Blanco gave the definitive shift to the
Bolivarian cult, erecting statues, renaming avenues, and orchestrating the
publication of the 32 volumes of Bolivarian documentation. Whereas in the 1870s
the National Pantheon occupied a secluded, rural setting in between urban
Caracas and the northern mountain range separating it from the Caribbean – and
with an awe-inspiring view of the city, combining peace and tranquillity with
scope and horizon –it has now been fully overtaken by urban development, and
now looks onto a concrete plaza and series of dual carriageway flyovers.
Despite frequent architectural makeovers, on the inside and outside, the
Pantheon still feels like a hangover from another, more patriotic era that had
been left behind by urbanisation and development. The new architectural gesture
of the mausoleum dedicated to Bolívar now stands behind it, looking down its
graceful slopes disapproving at the Pantheon’s colonial rigidity. Inside,
Bolivar’s remains have seldom been left to rest in peace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the
last decade the tomb of Bolívar enclosed within the National Pantheon has been
visited by luminaries including Vladimir Putin, Evo Morales and Lula da Silva,
as Chávez has made it into a unmissable stopping point on a Bolivarian tour of
the capital. In 2010 much of Hispanic America marked the bicentenary of its
separation from Spanish colonial rule. Although the first declarations of
independence had been issued in 1809 (in Quito, Ecuador, and Cartagena,
Colombia) and other regions first declared their separation in 1811 – including
Venezuela, 1810 was chosen as the year in which the continent as a whole would
come together to celebrate the end of colonialism. Of course – and I write as
someone who participated in many of the historical symposia, conferences and
lectures that took place in Europe and the Americas to mark the date – the
whole thing was a largely arbitrary excuse for diverse administrations to spend
money on celebrations and events that, they hoped, would shore up their own
popularity and legitimacy. 1810 was chosen because Mexico, the largest country
with the most money to throw at the celebrations at the time, had a clear event
and date to mark: the 1810 Grito de Dolores issued by the priest Miguel Hidalgo
(Mexico did not achieve independence until eleven years later, and even then it
was through negotiation with the departing rulers, rather than through military
victory – so expect further parties in 2021).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 2011, Venezuela organised a wide array of projects to celebrate its
own bicentenary – though, as with Mexico, independence had only been assured a
decade later, with the 1819 battle of Carabobo, the bicentenary of which Chávez
had pledged to attend, as president, in 2019. To commemorate 1811, historical
research projects were funded, entire barrios repainted, health centres opened,
and political battles waged, all in the name of independence. Political murals
festooned urban walls, and banners hung from the balconies of public buildings,
all declaring the ongoing urgency of maintaining Venezuela’s independence. In
2011, in Caracas, I witnessed the major night-time parade organised by the
government, in which two hundred years of history were synthesised into a three
hour rolling, acrobatic, choreographed and orchestrated tableau, ranging from
the heroes of independence and their heroism, through the discovery of oil and
the subsequent struggles of unionised workers. I have never seen so many
fireworks, or roller skates, in my life. This was a revolutionary history,
publicly funded, massively televised and disseminated, in which Bolívar kicked
open the door that became a national, proud and ongoing history. It is part of
a staunchly revisionist project which has little time for the niceties of
traditional historical interpretation, and a great appreciation of the value of
symbolic gestures in linking history to the daily revolutionary programme of
overhauling Venezuelan society. In early 2010, for example, Chávez and
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador presided over a ceremony in which the
supposed remains of Manuela Saenz, Bolivar’s lover, were buried in the National
Pantheon. Nobody at the time tried to hide the fact that Saenz had been buried,
in 1856, in a mass, pauper’s grave in Paita, northern Ecuador, and that it was
most likely that none of the earth being so honoured in Caracas in 2010 had any
physical link to her. However, the symbolic gesture reached beyond the
particles to display a continental and gendered appreciation for the sacrifices
of independence – which played well in Chávez’s popular constituencies. The BBC
cited a Chávez supporter, </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">a student called
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10504821" target="_blank">Silvester Montillo</a>, who explained his reasons for supporting the earlier effort
to exhume and celebrate Manuela Saenz, Bolivar’s lover: "Some people have
criticised the government for spending money on this," he said. "But
they don't understand what it stands for. It doesn't matter to us whether there
are traces of her DNA in the urn or not. What's important is that Manuela Saenz
represents the history of Venezuela and the history of all Latin America”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
Death of Bolivar</span></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ever
since his election as president in 1998, and with increasing prominence in the
wake of the 2002 attempted coup against him, Hugo Chávez liked to mention in
his public addresses that Bolívar might not have died, in 1830, of the drawn-out
battle against tuberculosis that he lost under the care of a French doctor,
Alexandre Prospero Reverend, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, in Santa
Marta. Instead, Chávez speculated, Bolívar might have been the victim of
poisoning; and that poisoning might have originated in Bolivar’s political
enemies – and those enemies might have been foreigners – like Dr Reverend – and
even might have been from the U.S.A. A team of U.S. scientists led by Paul
Auwaerter of Johns Hopkins University examined the case in 2010, and published
their findings in a scholarly journal (</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paul G. Auwaerter, John Dove, and Philip A. Mackowiak, ‘Simón Bolívar’s Medical Labyrinth: An Infectious Diseases Conundrum’, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Clinical Infectious Diseases</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2011;52(1):78–85)</span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">. They noted that arsenic poisoning was
indeed a possibility, and that this may have come from the water system in
Lima, Peru, where Bolívar lived for a year in 1825-6. Like a posthumous game of
Cluedo, it really might have been the lead piping. Alternative explanations
posited include the arsenic having been contained in a medical remedy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On 15
July 2010, Bolivar’s coffin was opened up in a ceremony with Chávez in
attendance without fanfare, subsequently broadcast on national television in an
interlude of the president’s television show <i>Aló Presidente</i>. Chávez told his audience that when he stood next to
Bolivar’s remains, with the coffin opened, the words of the poet Pablo Neruda
came to him: ‘Father, is it you, or isn’t it you, or who are you?’. (In
Neruda’s poem <i>Canto general </i>(1950), Bolívar replies ‘It is me, and I awaken every one hundred years,
when the people awaken’). Chávez
commented that opening the coffin was ‘a sublime moment directed straight at
the heart of our nation’s soul’. He told viewers that when he visited the
Pantheon that time, he remembered Bolivar’s last words: ‘If my death
contributes to consolidating union [in our country] I will go calmly down into
my grave’. Chávez confessed that he whispered to Bolivar’s remains: ‘Good
Venezuelans are building that union you wanted, so that one day you can rest in
peace’. Before showing the images on television, Chávez contrasted this public
gesture with the previous occasions when Bolivar’s remains had been
disinterred, for the private benefit and enjoyment only of the governing elites
and their friends. Observing from afar, it was clear to me that </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Chávez understood his
actions as revolutionising the similar exhumations undertaken by previous
regimes. His actions were legitimated, he argued, by being in the name of the
people – facilitated by the television pictures that enabled the exhumation to
be viewed across the nation.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> On the film, Chávez was heard to say ‘Viva Bolívar.
It is not a skeleton. It’s the Great Bolívar, who has returned’.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> He later tweeted ‘Bolívar has not died, we are his
children’ (</span></span>Quotes, and translations, from <i>The Scotsman, </i>16 July 2010)<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A<a href="http://www.rlp.com.ni/noticias/102987/confirman-cientificamente-identidad-de-restos-del-libertador-simon-bolivar." target="_blank"> final report</a> on the exhumation was announced, as
promised, in July 2011, in the week in which I was in Caracas participating in
a week of events to commemorate Britain’s involvement in Venezuela’s
independence. The President could not hide his disappointment at the ambiguity
of the final report, which concluded that Bolívar might not have died of
tuberculosis, but that the tests which had been performed could not confirm or
deny any cause. Chávez announced that he would continue believing that Bolívar might have been
poisoned, reported in</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><i style="background-color: transparent;">Ultimas Noticias </i><span style="background-color: transparent;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><i style="background-color: transparent;">El Universal, </i><span style="background-color: transparent;">28 July 2011).</span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> We can assume that popular memory in Venezuela continues to share some doubt
over the causes of Bolivar’s death.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Death of Hugo Chávez<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the last two years, it has been
well known across the world that Hugo Chávez was receiving treatment for
cancer, in Cuba, that was attacking his pelvic region. Whilst the government
released regular health/recovery updates, the opposition complained that they
were receiving insufficient detail about the president’s condition, and the
nature of the cancer from which he was suffering. This was particularly the
case during the election campaign of late 2012, when the president’s poor
health made him slow down his traditional national travelling and campaigning,
and therefore become a recurrent theme of the campaign itself. When he returned
to Venezuela in February 2013 there was some word that he had recovered his
health, but much stronger rumours that the Cuban doctors had decided that
nothing more could be done. Given the speed with which global communications
networks function, it has not taken long for doubts over the nature of Chávez’s
condition, and the cause and timing of his death, to surface. The Cuban blogger
Yoani Sanchez has suggested that the Cuban government manipulated Chávez’s
death in order to maximise the sentiment and melodrama of the announcement of
his death, and subsequent funeral, suggesting even <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/the-end-of-Ch%C3%A1vez_b_2817058.html." target="_blank">that Chávez may have died in Cuba</a>. The <i>ABC </i>newspaper in Spain, never renowned
for its objective reporting of Venezuelan affairs in recent years, ventured
that because Chávez was not seen alive in public after his return from Cuba, he
must have been dead upon arrival. It might be noted that Chávez himself, and
his successor Nicolás Maduro, played their own parts in promoting scurrilous
gossip about his illness. Both alleged – Maduro in the days after Chávez’s
death – that the CIA or other United States agencies had formed part of a plot
to poison Latin American leftist leaders with cancer. Already we can see the
faultlines emerging of a dispute over the causes and timing of Chávez’s death
that will have as much to do with political expediency as medical accuracy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some Conclusions</span></span></b></h3>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During
his period in presidential office, Hugo Chávez and his advisors worked to a
well defined plan to associate themselves with a revolutionised image of Simón
Bolívar, which they hoped cement themselves as the legitimate rulers of a
popular, democratic Venezuela. Clear continuities can be detected between that
plan, and the aims of the so-called oligarchy that ran Venezuela in 1842 under
Jose Antonio Paez, at the time of the first exhumation of Simón Bolívar. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
exhumation of Bolívar might also encourage us to reflect on the nature of Bolívar
as the outstanding dead body of the independence period. Repeated attempts to
dig up, recloth and rebury Bolívar speak to the absolute centrality of Bolívar in
Venezuelan nationality, the result of a century and a half’s conspicuous,
deliberate myth-creation. Bolivar’s remains were repatriated twelve years after
his death, the National Pantheon was designed around his body thirty years
later, and even one hundred and eighty years after his death, scientists were
still opening up his coffin and testing the contents of his bones and the
remaining materials which might once have formed a part of his body. The
decision to embalm Hugo Chávez, and leave him on display ‘eternally’, certainly
feels at the time of writing to be an act of political opportunism on the part
of Nicolás Maduro as much as a gesture of national gratitude. Of more
significance, however, are the long historical parallels with the death,
burials and exhumations of Simón Bolívar. Given these parallels, and the ways
in which Bolivar’s reputation has been used by governments of diverse political
persuasions in the years since his death, it might be expected that Hugo Chávez’s
mortal remains might not expect to rest in peace for many years to come.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like Bolívar, Chávez came as
President to represent the hopes of the majority of the people he governed.
They were both army officers who embraced democracy and recognised the
importance of a country’s history in shaping its contemporary identity and its
relationship with the world. Chávez saw himself as building on the foundations
constructed by Bolívar, which allowed him to redistribute wealth, build
alliances across continents and globally, and work to reduce poverty in South
America, long held to be the most unequal continent in the world. Compared to those goals, the question of where his mortal remains will lie, is of relatively little importance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-20395767955057463032013-03-05T14:28:00.002-08:002013-03-05T14:39:33.125-08:00Transcripción completa con fotos del ciclo de conferencias “Gran Bretaña y la independencia de las repúblicas bolivarianas” en Canning House, Londres, 05/09/2012<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>[Agradezco a mis colegas de la Universidad de Bristol, Aris da Silva y Ana Suarez Vidal, quienes hicieron la traducción al castellano - MB - Las muchas fotos del evento se mantienen en la <a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/full-transcript-with-photos-of-britain.html" target="_blank">página original.</a>]</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Bienvenida a cargo
del Dr. John Hughes, distinguido ex embajador de Venezuela:]</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Es un placer daros la
bienvenida a todos los aquí presentes en nombre de Canning House, a este ciclo
de conferencias tan importante para discutir y debatir el papel que Gran
Bretaña jugó en la independencia de las repúblicas bolivarianas hace doscientos
años. Canning House es la localización más apropiada para este tipo de
coloquios, ya que fue el secretario de Asuntos Exteriores George Canning
(parlamentario) el que pronunció su famosa cita “llamar al Nuevo Mundo a la
existencia”, cuando declaró el reconocimiento de Gran Bretaña de las repúblicas
latinoamericanas. Os dejo con el organizador de este ciclo de conferencias, Dr.
Matthew Brown de la Universidad de Bristol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Matthew Brown, MB]:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;">Muchas gracias a
todos por venir, es maravillosos ver a tanta gente aquí. Quisiera agradecer a
Canning House por acogernos, al </span><i><span lang="ES" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Engagement
and Impact Development Fund</span></i><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;"> de la Universidad de
Bristol y también al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y de la Mancomunidad
de Naciones (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) que sin su apoyo estas
conferencias nunca se llevarían a cabo. El acto se dividirá en dos partes. En
la primera parte, la cual está a punto de empezar, tenemos a tres historiadores
que presentarán sus investigaciones pioneras en este tema. EN la segunda parte,
los embajadores e historiadores públicos dirigirán una mesa redonda en la que
se debatirá cómo celebrar estos actos y a las personas que formaron parte de
los acontecimientos de hace dos siglos. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Cuando pensé por
primera vez en organizar este acto, inmediatamente vinieron a mi cabeza tres
nombres de los mejores historiadores que trabajan en esta materia. Estoy
encantado de que los tres hayan podido venir desde Canadá, Venezuela y Colombia
respectivamente, para acompañarnos en este día. Ellos son la Dra. Karen Racine
de la Universidad de Guelph, el Dr. Edgardo Mondolfi Gudat de la Universidad
Metropolitana de Caracas y el Dr. Daniel Gutierrez Ardila de la Universidad
Externado de Colombia, de Bogotá.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;">Sin embargo, antes de
darles la palabra, voy a hablar brevemente del estado de la investigación en el
tema de la participación de Gran Bretaña en el periodo de independencia en
Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">[Ya he subido a
este blog mi ponencia, “<a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-wreck-of-indian-december-1817.html" target="_blank">'The Wreck of the Indian'</a>].</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Tengo el placer de
darle la palabra a la Dra. Karen Racine: “<b>Americanos de origen español en
Londres en la era de la independencia”.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Karen Racine]:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Aunque se asume reflexivamente
que las revoluciones francesa y americana son la inspiración para los
movimientos de independencia hispanoamericanos, se debería dar mayor importancia al razonamiento de que los líderes
patriotas de la región basaron su modelo cultural más importante, su gran
energía y su fundamental apoyo material en Gran Bretaña. Entre los años
1808-1830, alrededor de 70 líderes de primer orden de la era de la
independencia vivieron y trabajaron juntos en Londres, incluyendo:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Francisco de Miranda, Bernardo O’Higgins, Simón
Bolívar, Andrés Bello, José de San Martín, Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, Lucas
Alamán, Agustín de Iturbide, Bernardino Rivadavia, Manuel Belgrano, Vicente
Rocafuerte, Juan Germán Roscio, Mariano Montilla, Francisco de Paula Santander,
Antonio José de Irisarri, jóvenes de las familias Aycinena y García Granados de
Guatemala, José de la Riva Agüero, Bernardo Monteagudo, José Joaquín de Olmedo
y Mariano Egaña. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Otros
importantes líderes patriotas, incluidos José de Cecilio del Valle, Juan Egaña
y Carlos María Bustamante se quedaron en América pero enviaron sus trabajos
para que se publicaran en Londres y siguieron con gran determinación una
correspondencia con distinguidos famosos británicos como el abolicionista
William Wilberforce, la reformista de priones Elizabeth Fry, los filósofos
utilitaristas Jeremy Bentham y James Mill, el científico Humphrey Davy y el
defensor de la vacunación Edward Jenner. Estas elecciones deliberadas, prácticas
y personales nos dicen mucho sobre el tipo de modelo cultural que los líderes
de la independencia hispanoamericana admiraban, y el tipo de país futuro que
querían crear para sí mismos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[Nota- ya
que la ponencia de la Dra. Racine se extrajo de su próximo libro “Spanish
Amercicans in London” no podemos publicar aquí el texto, lo siento.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[MB] Muchas gracias.
Me alegra poder darle paso al Dr. Edgardo Mondolfi, que hablará sobre el Acto
de alistamiento extranjero de 1819.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Edgardo Mondolfi]:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>NE EXEUNT REGNO
(“Nadie tiene permiso para salir del reino”): Algunas observaciones sobre el
“Acto de alistamiento” de 1819 pasaron por el Parlamento para evitar el
reclutamiento de los voluntarios británicos al Mar de las Antillas (Spanish
Main).</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">¿Qué significó el
“Acto de alistamiento” de 1819 para frenar el flujo de voluntarios británicos a
Hispano América? Teniendo en cuenta el número de reclutas que consiguió cruzar
el Atlántico desde 1817 ¿tuvo esta propuesta algún efecto? ¿Sería
verdaderamente vinculante, o por el contrario, tal como algunos historiadores
dicen, consistió en una legislación “vaga”, “tardía” e “ineficaz” promovida por
el gobierno británico? En términos prácticos ¿fue esa ley capaz de disuadir de
forma efectiva a los británicos que deseaban unirse a las fuerzas de los
insurgentes hispanoamericanos? Estas son el tipo de preguntas que planea esta
ponencia y que intenta explorar lo que significó la travesía clandestina al
extranjero teniendo en cuenta el mandato tradicionalmente como “Ne exeunt
regno”. De acuerdo con este mandato, ningún hombre tenía la libertad de salir a
la mar cuando quisiera en contra del real decreto, y mucho menos si el objetivo
era participar en una guerra irregular que tenía lugar en los dominios de una
nación aliada, ya que se suponía que España estaba lejos de la caída de
Napoleón en 1815<span style="color: red;">. </span>Como ese reclutamiento se
estaba llevando a cabo en suelo británico, se debe ver el acto de alistamiento,
sin lugar a dudas, como un esfuerzo más del gobierno británico por evitar más
rupturas con el régimen de su aliado Fernando VII. Sin embargo, el periodo
impuesto por las antiguas Leyes del reino fue una oportunidad para las
repetidas exigencias de algunos miembros de la Casa de los Comunes para revocar
la intención de Lord Liverpool de reforzar ese mandato adoptando el proyecto de
ley conocido como “Acto de alistamiento” con el propósito de poner fin al
reclutamiento clandestino de británicos con destino a Sudamérica. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Nota – Ya que la
ponencia del Dr. Mondolfi está en este momento bajo revisión para la
publicación en un una revista académica, todavía no podemos publicar el texto
completo, lo siento.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[MB] Muchas gracias
Edgardo. Finalmente, le doy la palabra a Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila, que habló en
español.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Daniel Gutiérrez
Ardila]:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Leandro Miranda: publicista
y diplomático (1824-1832)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: start;">
<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Uno de los hijos del revolucionario Francisco de Miranda sirvió a la República de Colombia como periodista y diplomático. En tanto que publicista, fundó y aseguró durante tres años (1824-1827) la edición de <i>El Constitucional</i>, uno de los mejores semanarios de su tiempo. Posteriormente, entre el mes de septiembre de 1830 y los primeros días de 1832, Leandro Miranda se desempeñó como representante del gobierno colombiano en Londres. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: start;">
<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TSO8HstfsxSYw1nxOtmFkkGhb4glLTRYFgW_rACZknD-3mGMRW9RAQ_0LWl-x7ByZj62dWSMYVEJX7h0hyl7W5gKx-GBv0N13tRq1Y-BsbzPTpiVQqZqMFsXo7hQ0_w2-7IceoSxFE8/s1600/IMG_1364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #cc0000; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TSO8HstfsxSYw1nxOtmFkkGhb4glLTRYFgW_rACZknD-3mGMRW9RAQ_0LWl-x7ByZj62dWSMYVEJX7h0hyl7W5gKx-GBv0N13tRq1Y-BsbzPTpiVQqZqMFsXo7hQ0_w2-7IceoSxFE8/s320/IMG_1364.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="213" /></a><span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Su misión coincidió con los estertores y la desagregación de la república, por lo que puede decirse que le cupo en suerte encarnar una entidad política moribunda. Como la misión se desarrolló también en medio de la coyuntura revolucionaria que sacudió entonces a Europa y puso fin al período de las Restauraciones, Miranda se encontró en la paradójica posición de un diplomático republicano que presenciaba al mismo tiempo el fin de la Santa Alianza y el de su propio país. Las páginas siguientes se ocupan de analizar estas dos facetas de la vida pública de Leandro Miranda con relación a la República de Colombia, esforzándose por establecer vínculos que permitan comprender mejor la agonía y la muerte de dicho Estado.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE;">[Nota – lo habéis adivinado. </span><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;">Ya
que la ponencia del Dr. Gutiérrez está en este momento bajo revisión para la
publicación en un una revista académica, todavía no podemos publicar el texto
completo, lo siento.]<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Debate tras la
primera sesión</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[MB] Gracias a los
tres. Ahora tendremos media hora para preguntas y comentarios de los
asistentes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 1]:
Preguntó si el gobierno pudo haber dejado de pagar la mitad del sueldo a los
mercenarios para que no se fueran. [Nota sobre la transcripción: como nuestra
grabadora no recogió las palabras exactas de cada uno de los interlocutores, he
proporcionado una transcripción basada en mis amplios apuntes. He identificado
a los interlocutores siempre que he podido. Si al leer esto, se da cuenta de
que no lo he reproducido bien, por favor hágamelo saber y lo corregiré. Si
reconoce su pregunta, y quiere que ponga su nombre, por favor comuníquemelo.
Muchas gracias, MB]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[MB]: Sí, esto
sucedió, sin embargo podría llevar años y años, por lo que no era un elemento
muy disuasorio. Pero sí causó muchos conflictos para Thomas Manby, que se
estableció en Bogotá.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 2]:
preguntó si el gobierno británico en 1810 y 1820 jugaba a dos bandas, como
siempre en la historia británica, utilizando el Acto de alistamiento extranjero
para mantener su alianza con España. Observó que la Marina Real fue muy activa
en la región y destacó que Bolívar recibió la ayuda de la Marina </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Real. Preguntó
cuáles fueron las ayudas que ofrecieron otros representantes británicos.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[EMG]: Respondió que
no, Gran Bretaña fue cuidadosa y pragmática pero no jugaba a la ambigüedad. El
Acto de alistamiento extranjero fue un intento genuino de apoyar a su aliado
español.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 3]:
Pidió a Karen Racine que desarrollara un poco más el acto de tomar prestados
ideales e instituciones que había comentado en su ponencia. Sugirió que estos
encuentros, más que batallas o supuestos “aventureros” amantes de la historia
militar podrían ser más merecedores de una celebración y conmemoración. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 4]:
Preguntó si había más británicos (especialmente irlandeses) en el lado
hispano-monárquico en las guerras de independencia, como el caso de un
Arbuthnot que llegó a ser conocido como Albernoz. Destacó algunos paralelismos
con la Guerra Civil española de la década de los años 30 ya que recientes
estudios destacaron que muchos irlandeses participaron en el lado nacionalista.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;">[Dra. Graciela
Rogers, Universidad de Oxford] intervino entre el público destacando que
estudió a los británicos que combatieron por España haciendo conexiones con los
veteranos de la Guerra Peninsular. Sugirió que Arburthnot no fue un caso
representativo, y sostuvo que mirar al contexto Atlántico y transnacional puede
ayudar a entender el fenómeno. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">[Su
tesis doctoral se publicará dentro de poco como </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">British Liberators in the Age of Napoleon: British Volunteers under the
Spanish Flag in the Peninsular War</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">].<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 5]:
preguntó si algunas de las ideas de la independencia fueron de alguna forma
británicas, o si otras culturas europeas fueron más importantes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[KR] Dijo que sí, que
hubo una mezcla de influencias, pero añadió que las ideas de los británicos
fueron las más importantes, tal como dice en Hispanic American Historical
Review.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 6 –
Natalia Sobrevilla Perea]: preguntó a Daniel Gutiérrez si Leandro Miranda era
un personaje híbrido con múltiples identidades. Y qué le pasó después del fin
de la Gran Colombia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[DG]: respondió
diciendo que sí, precisamente, Leandro Miranda era un personaje híbrido,
actuando como un canal entre las culturas británica y colombiana. Después
volvió a Venezuela, donde fue uno de los primeros directores de banco. Se
conserva muy poca información relacionada con él, así que sería un personaje
frustrante para quien quisiera escribir una biografía. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 7 –
Catherine Davies]: destacó que era importante recordar la gran inversión británica en la Marina Real y la
Guerra Peninsular. Gran Bretaña no estaba jugando a dos bandas, sino que estaba
intentando proteger intereses y recursos. Nos recordó la importancia del
suministro británico en Cádiz cuando estaba bajo el cerco de los franceses, y
el papel de Wellington y sus fuerzas en la guerra de la independencia de
España. Advirtió a otros participantes sobre la dureza con la que estaban
tratando la política británica. Nos recordó que durante los años 1820-23 había
un gobierno liberal en España, al cual Gran Bretaña estaba dispuesta a apoyar,
y con todo después de 1823 Gran Bretaña no intervino en España a pesar de todos
los exiliados que recibió Londres tanto de España como de Hispanoamérica. Gran
Bretaña tenía un pequeño dilema pero no es adecuado describirlo como estar a
dos bandas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Interlocutor 8]:
preguntó sobre el papel de los masones, además de las relaciones entre las
instituciones y prensa británicas y hispanoamericanas durante la era de la
independencia, tal y como describieron Karen Racine y Daniel Gutiérrez en sus
ponencias. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[DG] contestó que los
materiales de los archivos de la era de la independencia son difíciles de
obtener pero está claro según los datos de 1840 que Leandro Miranda era masón. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[KR] contestó que
había investigado en el archivo del Centro Masónico y aunque hay algunos
documentos, no hay pruebas suficientes de que la masonería en ese periodo
tuviera algo más que un valor cultural y de entretenimiento. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[MB] agradeció a todo
el mundo por sus ponencias y sus preguntas y dijo que esperaba con interés la
siguiente sesión, en donde se ampliaría el tema desde el contexto histórico
hasta las relaciones actuales. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">[2] Karen Racine, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">‘This England, This Now’: British Cultural Influence in Spanish America in
the Independence-Era’, <i>Hispanic American Historical Review, </i>2010,</span><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://hahr.dukejournals.org/content/90/3/423.abstract"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">http://hahr.dukejournals.org/content/90/3/423.abstract</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><b>Mesa redonda, 16:00</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[Matthew Brown, presidiendo]:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Con esta mesa redonda espero que
tengamos la oportunidad de sacar ideas a la luz que quizás se desarrollen en
los próximos años, a medida que nos acercamos a las conmemoraciones
bicentenarias de la batalla de Boyacá de 1819 (en Colombia), la batalla de
Carabobo de 1822 (en Venezuela) y la batalla de Pichincha de 1822 (en Ecuador).
Todas esas batallas contaron con la participación en los bandos ganadores de
importantes personajes británicos e irlandeses. ¿Necesitamos o necesitan más
estatuas, calles con sus nombres o placas conmemorativas? ¿O deberíamos continuar
pensando como la gran cantidad de estudios históricos que han surgido
últimamente sobre la investigación de este encuentro histórico con mayor
profundidad, proponiendo nuevas exposiciones y poniendo en marcha conferencias
públicas? ¿O tal vez grandes actos culturales, celebraciones populares o
desfiles militares? ¿Hay algún papel para el turismo en los campos de batalla o
un espacio para la investigación compartida o para los proyectos culturales? ¿O
serían los gestos económicos o políticos más adecuados como actos
conmemorativos de los esfuerzos y sacrificios de los
voluntarios/mercenarios/aventureros de hace 2 siglos? Contamos con cuatro
distinguidos oradores, los cuales tengo el placer de presentaros. La
catedrática Inés Quintero de la Universidad Central de Venezuela; su excelencia
Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera, embajador de la República de Colombia en el Reino
Unido; su excelencia Samuel Moncada, embajador de la República Bolivariana de
Venezuela en el Reino Unido y la Dra. Natalia Sobrevilla Perea de la
Universidad de Kent. Les he pedido a cada uno de ellos que hablen durante un
máximo de diez minutos sobre el tema de la influencia de Gran Bretaña en la
independencia de las repúblicas bolivarianas y después tendremos alrededor de
una hora para comentarios y observaciones de los asistentes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[Inés Quintero]: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[MB]: Muchas gracias Inés.</span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><b>[Mauricio Rodríguez]:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Buenas tardes. Estimado Dr. Brown,
muchas gracias por su amable invitación a este interesante ciclo de conferencias
en Canning House. la historia del papel de Gran Bretaña en las guerras de
independencia del norte Sudamérica es fascinante. En los últimos años he leído
más y más sobre la participación de miles de británicos en las batallas por la
libertad que tuvieron lugar en Colombia y estoy profundamente impresionado con
el gran papel que desempeñó el coronel James Rooke. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Hace dos años, como parte de la
conmemoración en el Reino Unido del bicentenario de la independencia de
Colombia, la embajada de Colombia pidió a cinco distinguidos expertos
británicos, entre ellos el Dr. Brown, que escribieran ensayos sobre su visión
de este tema. Ya habréis recibido o recibiréis una copia de este documento al
final del ciclo de conferencias. Copia de este documento “Gran Bretaña y la
Independencia de Colombia” (Great Britain and the Independence of Colombia).
Pero teniendo en cuenta que no soy un experto en temas históricos, llegué a un
acuerdo con el Dr. Brown de que no voy a hablar sobre el pasado de las
relaciones entre Gran Bretaña y Colombia. En su lugar compartiré con vosotros
brevemente mi opinión sobre lo que yo creo que debería ser el futuro de estas
relaciones. El futuro que hemos estado construyendo con el </span><span lang="ES" style="line-height: 115%;">Ministerio
de Relaciones Exteriores y de la Mancomunidad de Naciones (Foreign and Commonwealth
Office), otros ministerios del parlamento, las comunidades financieras y
empresariales, científicas, académicas e instituciones culturales a través de
un trabajo en equipo maravilloso que ya está dando sus frutos. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">¿Qué necesita
Colombia? ¿Qué necesitamos de Reino Unido? ¿Y qué puede ofrecer Colombia al
Reino Unido?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Resumiendo, estos son las cinco
contribuciones más importantes que nosotros esperamos de Gran Bretaña:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Primero, apoyo político a la agenda
de prosperidad social de Colombia, prestando especial atención al bien-estar de
las comunidades más desfavorecidas de mi país, que incluye el tan importante
proceso de paz que anunció oficialmente ayer por la noche el presidente Santos,
al cual en un comunicado esta mañana el Primer Ministro británico David Camero
dio su apoyo. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Segundo, la ratificación del tratado
de comercio libre en la Unión Europea y Colombia, que esperamos sea aprobado el
próximo mes por el parlamento europeo y más tarde por el parlamento británico.
Este tratado que he estudiado de forma exhaustiva en los últimos años
beneficiará a la economía de ambas naciones. Hay magníficas oportunidades para
grandes, medianas y pequeñas empresas a ambos lados del Atlántico para aumentar
sustancialmente el flujo de mercado y de inversión. Tenemos el mismo objetivo
para duplicar el comercio entre nuestros países en los próximos tres años y
personalmente estoy convencido de que vamos a superar este objetivo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Tercero, afianzar y diversificar las
relaciones entre las universidades británicas y colombianas. Estoy convencido
de que las universidades británicas como la Universidad de Bristol son las
mejores del mundo y quiero crear un vínculo entre más catedráticos, investigadores,
estudiantes y directores con sus homólogos colombianos para que mi país pueda
aumentar lo antes y lo más posible la calidad de nuestra enseñanza superior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Cuarto, vuestros conocimientos
técnicos y experiencia fortalecerán nuestras instituciones jóvenes y débiles,
en particular, las áreas de justicia, sanidad, infraestructura e innovación.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Y quinto, la inversión británica. El
Reino Unido ya se ha convertido en el segundo mayor inversor de Colombia con
un capital de 20 billones de dólares,
pero todavía hay sigue habiendo espacio para la inversión en muchos sectores. Las
inversiones dentro del porcentaje del PIB de Colombia han crecido de un 12% a
casi un 30% en la última década, pero para ser capaces de mantener un alto
grado de crecimiento necesitamos erradicar el nivel extremo de pobreza, con lo
cual este ratio debería ser de un 40% aproximadamente. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Ahora, ¿qué puede ofrecer Colombia
al Reino Unido? En mi opinión, hay cinco importantes contribuciones que
podríamos ofrecer al Reino Unido y a nuestras relaciones bilaterales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Primero, Colombia es la nación con
mayor biodiversidad por metro cuadrado en el planeta, lo cual da al Reino Unido
la oportunidad de trabajar con nosotros para preservar este regalo único de la
naturaleza y el descubrir las muchas maravillas que los científicos creen que
se encontrarán en los 331 ecosistemas de mi país. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Segundo, una economía emergente muy
atractiva, una de los protagonistas globales en los años venideros, según los
expertos, con 46 millones de consumidores potenciales de muchos productos y
servicios británicos. Queremos y podemos aumentar sustancialmente nuestras
importaciones del Reino Unido y recibimos de buen agrado las inversiones del
Reino Unido en Colombia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Tercero, nuestra increíble cultura,
la cual se está empezando a conocer en el resto del mundo; es una cultura que
puede contribuir a la felicidad global a través de: su música, otras
manifestaciones artísticas y sus tradiciones, sabiduría y creatividad de
nuestras comunidades indígenas, nuestra comida y nuestro impresionante paisaje,
que por supuesto, ha jugado un papel fundamental en la creación de nuestras
expresiones culturales. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Cuarto, Colombia puede y ha sido un
buen aliado del Reino Unido en lo que concierne a la política internacional. En
América Latina y el resto del mundo, defiende y promueve la democracia, el
mercado libre, los derechos humanos, el cumplimiento de las leyes y esa
solución multilateral para temas tan complejos de la humanidad como el cambio
climático, la pobreza extrema, la violencia y la droga. Un ejemplo de esta
alianza ha sido el buen trabajo en equipo hecho en los últimos dos años por
Colombia y el Reino Unido en el Consejo de Seguridad de Las Naciones Unidas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Y por último, un voraz apetito por
el aprendizaje. Los colombianos están muy dispuestos a aprender, nos encanta
estudiar y hay muchos campos en los que necesitamos y queremos expandir nuestro
conocimiento y el Reino Unido tiene una gran riqueza de conocimiento en este
aspecto y esta es vuestra mayor ventaja. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Muchas gracias a todos [Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[MB]: Muchas gracias embajador.
Escuchando su discurso, con el embajador de Venezuela sentado a mi lado, me
acordé de que en los recientes juegos olímpicos de Londres, tanto Colombia como
Venezuela ganaron unas medallas de oro fantásticas, en las carreras de BMX y en
esgrima respectivamente. Esto fue un empate muy justo, y estoy seguro de que el
embajador Moncada también se ajustará al tiempo tal como ha hecho su homólogo
colombiano. Embajador Moncada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><b>[Samuel Moncada]:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Muchas gracias. No seré breve, pero
intentaré aprovechar al máximo mis diez minutos, Cuando Matthew me invitó a
este encuentro, me pidió concretamente que hablara sobre el tema de la
influencia británica en la independencia de las repúblicas bolivarianas de
Sudamérica. Y de eso es de lo que voy a hablar ya que soy un historiador y me
encanta este tema. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Cuando llegué escuché a una experta
que está sentada al fondo [la catedrática Catherine Davies, de la Universidad
de Nottingham], y estaba hablando de la posición británica en la independencia
de Sudamérica. Estoy seguro de que ella sabe más que yo de esto, pero de todas
formas voy a abordar este tema desde mi punto de vista. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Creo que hay dos importantes
influencias británicas en las independencias de Sudamérica – ya que hay varias
independencias, no solo una independencia. Pueden estar divididas, por
conveniencia, en dos temas principales. El primero es la posición del Reino
Unido con relación a la independencia de Sudamérica. El segundo es la
influencia de los británicos en Sudamérica, lo que ellos realmente hicieron en
el terreno de las batallas por la independencia. Son temas conectados pero no
son el mismo. Están relacionados, pero no están subordinados el uno al otro.
Quiero decir, por supuesto los británicos en América Latina fueron hasta cierto
punto la consecuencia de la posición del gobierno británico en relación con
América Latina, pero no estuvieron dirigidos por el gobierno británico. Fueron
totalmente independientes del control del gobierno, y muchos de ellos incluso
se nacionalizaron venezolanos y colombianos, sirviendo a la armada y
considerándose a sí mismos como venezolanos y colombianos. Así que es
interesante resaltar estas diferencias y ver cómo se les recuerda en cada uno
de los bandos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Primero: la posición británica. Creo
que es justo decir que la posición del gobierno británico con respecto a la
independencia de las colonias de Sudamérica fue cruel,<span style="color: red;"> </span>cruel,
siguiendo sus propios intereses nacionales. Quiero decir, los británicos
estaban allí como cualquier otra nación intentando conseguir sus propios
beneficios. Buscaban expandir su poder sobre poderes inferiores, y se puede ver
esa competición dentro del contexto de las guerras imperiales y del mundo
entero. Concretamente, en el Atlántico y en América Latina, por supuesto,
estaban los españoles y los portugueses, pero también los franceses, los
holandeses (que por cierto, ¡nadie habla de los holandeses! Pero en relación
con Venezuela, ellos fueron muy importantes con respecto a Curasao, la cual
cambió de manos muchas veces durante la guerra de la independencia y estuvo
vinculada al puerto venezolano de Coro, que fue muy importante en la guerra de
independencia venezolana). De todos modos, hubo una fuerte competición
imperial: los españoles, los franceses, los holandeses y los británicos por la
parte europea. Y después las antiguas colonias británicas, Estados Unidos, en
el lado Americano del Atlántico, y todos ellos se estaban expandiendo o
luchando por la expansión; o luchando para preservar su poder (en el caso de
los españoles). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Se podría decir, a modo de entender
este proceso, la posición británica tuvo 3 fases o etapas diferentes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">La primera etapa consiste en todo el
siglo XVIII, hasta 1808. Durante este período, los británicos solo actuaban
como cualquier otra potencia imperial: robando tierras, luchando por
territorios y mercados. Eso fue lo que hicieron cuando se hicieron con
Trinidad, cuando se hicieron con Jamaica en el siglo XVII, e incluso cuando
intentaron apoderarse de Buenos Aires en 1806. Hay informes de primera mano de
cuando los británicos pensaron que habían ganado en 1806, y cuando pensaron que
se habían apoderado de Buenos Aires, y planearon continuar apoderándose de
Chile, México, Perú, etc., etc., etc. Los británicos pensaron que esa era la
decisión correcta, minar a los españoles apoderándose y arrebatando las
colonias españolas. Sin embargo, no pudieron hacer esto porque más o menos en
ese mismo momento, en 1807 y 1808 Napoleón invadió España y España se puso del
lado de los británicos para luchar contra los franceses. Se puede decir que la
contribución británica más importante en las independencias de Sudamérica fue,
en realidad, en la victoria de la batalla naval de Trafalgar, cuando la Marina
Real acabó completamente con las flotas francesas y españolas, y dejó a España
sin medios para contraatacar las guerras revolucionarias en las Américas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">En la carta del general Simón
Bolívar, escrita en Jamaica en 1815, se preguntaba “¿cómo vamos a obedecer a
una corona o a un reino que no tiene medios para dominar o para llevar a cabo
la guerra contra nosotros en Sudamérica, si no tienen ni barcos ni cañones ni
armas; con lo cual es ridículo aceptar el poder de un reino que había sido
destruido”. [1]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">La segunda contribución europea más
importante en la independencia de América Latina fue la invasión napoleónica de
España. Cuando Francia invadió España creó un imperio sin cabeza ya que no
había un rey reconocido. Aunque Francisco de Miranda y otros muchos estaban
pidiendo a los británicos que organizaran una invasión de las colonias
españolas en las Américas mucho antes de la invasión napoleónica. Cuando
Napoleón invadió España era obvio que era el momento justo para hacer algo al
respecto. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">La tercera contribución más
importante en la independencia de las colonias españolas de Sudamérica fue la
implosión dentro del imperio español. Con esto, quiero decir la cabezonería –
algunas personas le llaman estupidez- de los monarcas españoles Carlos IV y
Fernando VII. Cometieron errores garrafales en las políticas internacionales y
tuvieron problemas con sus propias contradicciones entre liberales y
absolutistas, y también entre las facciones pro-francesas y pro-españolas. Es
interesante que las divisiones en España se reprodujeran exactamente en
Hispanoamérica, había una simetría. No se podía definir como guerra de
independencia en Sudamérica ya que era muy compleja. Fue, en cierta forma, una
guerra civil, Se podría decir que la guerra civil estaba ocurriendo exactamente
al mismo tiempo en España en su guerra de la independencia. Más tarde, la
agitación y la confusión de América Latina después de las guerras de
independencia duraron lo que quedaba del siglo XIX, y se pudo ver reproducido
exactamente una vez más en España en lo
que quedaba del siglo XIX; quiero decir, las fracturas y los conflictos que
generaron la independencia siguieron durante mucho tiempo después del final de
las guerras. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Hoy he escuchado la frase “mirar los
toros desde la barrera/no comprometerse” para describir la neutralidad
británica en la causa de la independencia. [Examinando la historia] no veo
ninguna neutralidad sino que estaban trabajando activamente para minar a los
españoles antes de 1808. Después, ayudaron a los españoles solamente para
prevenir que los franceses se apoderaran de Sudamérica (cuando los franceses
tomaron España). Más tarde, después de 1815 estaban esperando solo para ver so
los sudamericanos podrían conseguir la independencia, y después ello
reconocerían eso. ¿Por qué los británicos reconocieron la independencia de
Sudamérica en 1823? Por dos razones: una fue porque Estados Unidos también lo
había hecho en 1822, y los americanos lo hicieron porque acababan de firmar un
acuerdo con España para quedarse con Florida, y porque tenían sus propias
ambiciones en Sudamérica. La doctrina Monroe fue instaurada en 1823 precisamente
para intentar frenar que los europeos no intervinieran en el hemisferio
Americano, fue la primera vez que vio la luz la expresión “backyard policy” de
Estados Unidos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Es interesante ver que fue una
república imperial la que se formó allí [en el norte] porque el mismo Bolívar,
en ese momento en Sudamérica creía que España y las Américas estaban divididas por
la monarquía. Vio que habría una expansión [en el norte]. Pensó que la
república era una sistema que intrínsecamente no podía apoyar o proponer el
robo imperial de tierras [y añadió] imperialistas, republicanos y
expansionistas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Cambiando al otro lado de la
historia solo por un minuto, [es importante destacar que las expediciones
británicas a Colombia y Venezuela] fueron hechas por representantes de todas
las clases sociales. Sería ridículo generalizar sobre ellos, ¡incluso cuando no
nos ponemos de acuerdo en cómo llamarlos”! Les llamamos aventureros,
voluntarios, mercenarios, patriotas, etc. Del mismo modo que no estamos de
acuerdo con los nombres que les damos, también estamos en desacuerdo con los
lados en los que lucharon: por un lado, tenemos a los partidarios del régimen,
monárquicos. Y por otro lado, lo que la gente llama republicanos, patriotas,
insurgentes, independientes, rebeldes, revolucionarios, etc. Cualquiera de los
que escojamos muestra el ángulo por el que vemos el mundo. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Pero a lo que quiero llegar es que
la contribución británica a la independencia en el terreno –no la política británica,
sino los mismos británicos- alrededor de 7,000 individuos que Matthew Brown
estudió concienzudamente, su contribución fue diferente. Había soldados, comerciantes,
periodistas, políticos, médicos y marineros [su contribución a la
independencia] fue grandiosa, y en especial, en las repúblicas bolivarianas,
donde lucharon al lado de los venezolanos, de los colombianos y los
ecuatorianos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Estos británicos sacrificaron mucho
– Matthew, en su libro, suena un poco frío cuando analiza su discurso del sacrificio-
hubo verdaderamente un sacrificio de miles de vidas. Son lo que la gente llama
innombrables tumbas en las llanuras de Perú y en las montañas de Venezuela.
Miles de británicos sacrificaron sus vidas allí y muchos otros [que no eran
soldados, pero] que estaban limpiando casas, borrachos, cadáveres, estafadores,
había todo tipo de gente pero también había idealistas, monárquicos y
británicos románticos que luchaban por la libertad. Muchos de ellos dieron sus
vidas, como por ejemplo William Ferguson que fue asesinado en 1828 al salvar a
Bolívar de un intento de asesinato fallido. Las batallas de Carabobo fue la
batalla más importante de la independencia de Venezuela [en 1821] y ahí había
una legión británica que fue esencial para la victoria. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Podría hablar mucho más sobre eso, y
sobre esas personas, pero para acabar: sería de persona mal intencionada,
mezquina e ingrata no reconocer el sacrificio de los británicos en nuestras
guerras de independencia, y nos sentimos felices de hacerlo doscientos años después.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">Muchas gracias.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES"><a href="file:///F:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftnref1"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[1]</span></a></span><span lang="ES" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"> <i>Nota de MB: mi traducción
completa de la carta puede verse en Simón Bolívar: The Bolivarian Revolution,
introduced by Hugo Chavez (Verso: 2009), </i></span><span lang="ES"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugo-Ch%C3%A1vez-presents-Simon-Bolivar/dp/1844673812"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugo-Ch%C3%A1vez-presents-Simon-Bolivar/dp/1844673812</span></i></a></span><i><span lang="ES" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<i><span lang="ES" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[MB]: Muchas gracias. Le doy ahora
la palabra a Natalia Sobrevilla Perea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><b>[Natalia Sobrevilla Perea]:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Muchas gracias. Muchas gracias Matthew por
invitarme.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Escuchando al resto
de los oradores, disculpadme porque no soy una especialista en las repúblicas
bolivarianas sino en el impacto que tuvo Bolívar mucho más al sur. Soy mucho
más experta en los Andes, Perú, Bolivia, y hoy he notado la ausencia de los
representantes de la embajada de Ecuador. Imagino que todos estarán muy
ocupados en temas urgentes. [1]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Creo que el debate de
Inés Quintero sobre el archivo bolivariano es muy importante. Algunos
mencionaron al principio de los comentarios de la sesión anterior cuál sería la
mejor manera de conmemorar y celebrar (el bicentenario). ¡Por supuesto, la
documentación! Pienso como historiadora que hacer la documentación accesible es
la mejor manera de en la que se puede contribuir. De hecho, quiero dar las
gracias al embajador y a todas las personas de Venezuela por su generosidad, no
solamente por hacer que el archivo sea accesible a todo el mundo y que pueda
ver estos documentos sino también por sus esfuerzos con un gran proyecto
cultural, la Biblioteca Ayacucho, la cual creo que es una de las colecciones
más increíbles, y que también está en la red y puede consultarse en cualquier
lugar. Se puede ver todo el catálogo de obras literarias, viajes, historia y me
gustaría invitar a todo el mundo aquí presente a que verdaderamente sacara
ventaja de estos recursos. Realmente no solamente son la historia de Venezuela
sino también de todo el continente. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Vamos al tema del
día, que es el papel de Gran Bretaña en la independencia de las repúblicas
bolivarianas. Como mencioné con anterioridad, soy una experta en la
participación británica más al sur, y me gustaría invitar a mis colegas como
Matthew y Daniel [Gutiérrez] a pensar cómo Bolívar no se paró en Ecuador en
1822. ¡No lo hace! Va mucho más al sur y el impacto que tiene en Perú es
considerable. Después crea una nación llamada Bolivia que realmente no está
representada hoy en día, ya que no es vista [por historiadores] como la
tradicional república bolivariana. ¿O lo es? En cierto modo, tenemos que
preguntarnos sobre ese término. SI miras al monumento, que está muy cerca,
dedicado a Simón Bolívar en Belgrave Square, en Londres, dice “Liberator of
many countries” (“Libertador de muchos países”), incluyendo Perú y Bolivia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Hubo una gran
participación británica e irlandesa que vino con Bolívar, las legiones que
Matthew estudió, pero también si miramos a Perú, ellos encontraron otros
participantes británicos en estas guerras que habían venido del otro lado de
los Andes. En ese momento, la armada chilena era más bien la armada británica,
fueron hombres como Lord Thomas Cochrane, el que la creó y como Martin Guise
que fue el que realmente dirigió toda la campaña e hizo posible la travesía de
Chile a Perú y allí empezó todo el proceso desde 1819 a 1821. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Hubo gente como
William Miller, por ejemplo, que fueron muy importantes en este proceso. Él no
fue con Bolívar, fue a Perú de otra forma. De hecho, cuenta en sus memorias,
que estaba en Buenos Aires y que pensaba convertirse en un comerciante después
de las guerras de la Península en España. Había formado parte de los hombres
que habían luchado al lado de Wellington. EN aquella época, había conocido a
muchos oficiales españoles y de alguna forma estaba sin trabajo, estuvo en la
guerra de 1812 contra Estados Unidos y estaba buscando un nombramiento,
pensando en convertirse en comerciante en Buenos Aires. Después tuvo un
encuentro con una mujer que le convenció de que su vida estaba destinada a la
gloria. Decidió viajar a Chile, y se unión a San Martin y fue a Perú. Miller fue
el creador de la armada peruana y una persona muy influyente en todo este
proceso. También se unió a otros hombres irlandeses y británicos que iban con
Bolívar. Francisco Burdett O’Connor fue uno de ellos. O’Connor fue uno de
muchos de los que iban con Bolívar, y en
sus diarios recuerda la celebración del día de San Patricio en Perú, de cómo reunieron
algunas cajas de ron porque no tenían whiskey y solamente lo celebraban juntos
porque compartían la misma identidad. Tenían esto en común, había algo en ellos,
eran británicos e irlandeses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Anteriormente también
hubo una mención a los otros irlandeses que había luchado al lado del rey
español. En el caso de Perú hay un general muy famoso, el general O’Reilly que
fue derrotado en 1820 en una batalla en Cerro Uliachin. Estaba tan afligido en
su vuelta a España que salto del barco, pensó que ya no merecía vivir. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Estas fueron vidas
muy interesantes de las cuales habría que aprender. Cuando se piensa en la
participación de los irlandeses, se piensa en Bernardo O’Higgins, alguien al
que se le ha conmemorado por aquí, que fue mencionado por Karen Racine
anteriormente. Bernardo O’Higgins fue parte de esa conexión irlandesa que
siempre estaba vinculada con los españoles. Como ya se dijo antes, no es que
estuvieran solamente en un bando sino que estaban en los dos. No solo fueron
los irlandeses y los británicos, sino también los franceses y los alemanes. En
aquella época hubo todo tipo de vínculos muy interesantes e importantes. Creo
que debemos recordar y me gustaría hacer referencia al punto de vista del
embajador y el hecho de que los [británicos] realmente lucharon y dieron buena
parte de sus vidas. Miller perdió la movilidad de uno de sus brazos en uno de
los ataques de bomba que recibió y al final de las guerras era un hombre con
muchas lesiones. Este es solo un ejemplo de muchas de estas vidas que fueron arruinadas
por su participación en las guerras y eso es algo que tenemos que recordar en
este momento.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">¿Cómo deberíamos
recordarlo? ¿Deberíamos ir a los lugares de las batallas y volver a representar
las batallas? ¿Deberíamos ir y celebrarlas? ¿Deberíamos ir y pensar en toda
esta gente? ¿Deberíamos pensar sobre la transmisión de conocimiento, o algo muy
similar a lo que Inés Quintero mencionó? Creo que esto es algo muy interesante
sobre lo que deberíamos reflexionar. ¿Cuáles son las diferentes maneras de
recordar y conmemorar? Por supuesto el embajador de Colombia mencionó en su
discurso la idea de lo que ocurre en el futuro. Una de las cosas que subrayó
fue la idea de la transferencia de conocimiento, la comunicación de ideas, de
la información. Karen Racine mencionó anteriormente, cómo estos mineros fueron
llevados de Cornwall a Perú a trabajar en las minas, y utilizaban vapor y
nuevas tecnologías, y cómo la inversión era la palabra de moda de aquella
época. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 74.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Una
de las cosas de las que no nos estamos acordando, es de los aspectos
financieros de cómo se libraban estas guerras. Cuando pensamos en la guerra de
independencia de Norteamérica, tenemos que pensar en el hecho de que se les dio
casi un cheque en blanco, no se les cobró todo lo que costó. Eso no fue lo que
ocurrió en las repúblicas hispanas de América Latina. Todos vinieron a Londres,
pidieron dinero, y todos obtuvieron dinero, mucho dinero, pero en seguida se
dieron cuenta de que realmente no tenían mucho para devolverlo. Y después
empezaron a aparecer todos esos comerciantes, con patines de hielos para Río de
Janeiro, y sombreros de bombín para Perú, miles de sombreros que nadie sabía
qué hacer con ellos. Incluso hoy en día, se pueden ver campesinos con sombreros
de bombín y parece un poco extraño.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 74.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES">Las relaciones
comerciales eran muy importantes, [eran el entorno para] la participación
británica en la independencia. Creo que el embajador hizo hincapié en un tema
muy importante, [por un lado] distinguir entre el gobierno británico y lo que
el gobierno quiere, y por supuesto [por otro lado] lo que los individuos harán
y por supuesto el problema comercial de alguna gente que estaba intentando
sacar beneficio de todo esto. Por supuesto que mucha de la gente que acabó
invirtiendo en estas nuevas repúblicas acabó perdiendo mucho dinero –los
titulares de bonos tenían una deuda incobrable, algo a lo que estamos muy
acostumbrados hoy en día; tenían una deuda que no se podía sostener. De hecho,
Matthew estudió a alguien que estaba consiguiendo juntar fondos para un país
que ni siquiera existía –fue un aventurero británico [Gregor MacGregor] que
convenció a la gente de Londres a darle dinero para un país que había inventado.
Es una historia increíble. </span><span lang="ES" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">(</span><span lang="ES"><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0261-3050.2005.00124.x/abstract" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">‘Inca, Sailor, Soldier, King’, Bulletinof Latin American Research, 2005)</span></a></span><span lang="ES" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 74.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Para
concluir, necesitamos considerar todas estas diferentes conexiones. Sobre esto,
para unir todos los hilos, creo que tenemos que pensar en el pasado y de dónde
viene esta relación tan larga. No viene solamente de las guerras de la
independencia, sino mucho antes de la época colonial, con la conexión
española-irlandesa de la que no deberíamos olvidarnos. Tenemos a todos estos
hombres que han luchado tanto en las batallas, tenemos las consideraciones
comerciales, los problemas mineros y también el aspecto del conocimiento.
Tenemos muchas cosas en las que pensar y de las que ahora podemos debatir. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 74.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="ES"><a href="file:///F:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftnref1"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;">[1]</span></a></span><span lang="ES" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ES;"> Una referencia a
la permanente presencia de Julian Assange en la embajada ecuatoriana, donde se
le había dado asilo político, mientras nosotros debatimos el 5 de septiembre
2012.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Preguntas
y debate después de la mesa redonda</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Aportación
1 [Isaac Bigio]: resaltó que el debate de hoy ha demostrado la duradera y
excelente relación entre Gran Bretaña y América Latina y subrayó que la
manifestación más importante de esa relación, y un vehículo para ello, es la
comunidad latinoamericana que vive en Reino Unido. Una etapa importante hacia
el reconocimiento de la comunidad latinoamericana del Reino Unido ha sido la
decisión tomada por el Ayuntamiento de Southwark para reconocer a los
latinoamericanos como un grupo étnico. Señaló que todos debemos trabajar para
acabar con la invisibilidad de los latinoamericanos en el Reino Unido. Al
final, dirigió la atención de los allí presentes al recientemente creado <span style="color: #00b050;">AMIGO month</span>, que tiene lugar cada año y este año
será del 7 de septiembre al 15 de octubre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Esto
pretende ser el mes dela historia latinoamericana, de la misma manera que el
mes de la historia negra es tan exitoso promoviendo la cultura, identidad y
memoria en el Reino Unido. Dijo que el acto de hoy fue una excelente forma para
empezar el mes, y dijo que espera que pronto, si la gente se une a la causa, no
solo será el alcalde de Londres es que esté interesado, sino que también estará
el Primer Ministro y la Reina.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
2]: dijo que los ponentes que se centraron en mirar hacia el futuro fueron los
más convincentes, y los que se anclaron en el pasado, y buscaban cosas
complicadas, fueron los menos útiles. Argumentó que los proyectos de
digitalización, tal como dijo el catedrático Quintero eran más interesantes, y
dijo que espera que se puedan crear otros proyectos para continuar con esa
iniciativa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[MB]:
destacó que los documentos de Mary English, la cual viajó y vivió en Venezuela
y Colombia durante la época de la independencia, están en la Bristish Library
(biblioteca británica). Está buscando fondos para digitalizar estos manuscritos
y que puedan estar disponibles para todos los académicos de todo el mundo.
Cualquier persona interesada en contribuir con ese proyecto, por favor póngase
en contacto…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
3]: lamentó que la mejor forma de resaltar los bicentenarios de la
participación británica en la independencia de América Latina sería revertir
todas las pérdidas de la última década. Hizo una especial referencia a la
pérdida de las Becas Chevening (xxinsert link), y a los recortes a través de
las operaciones del British Council en América Latina. Hizo constar que por
ejemplo ahora es mucho más difícil para los peruanos conseguir un visado de
turista. Concluyó mencionando que hace 200 años España fue incapaz de maniobrar
en América Latina por culpa de una crisis económica y política, lo cual abrió
la puerta a Gran Bretaña, y sugirió que las resonancias de hoy en día pueden sugerir
oportunidades para Gran Bretaña en la región, si centrara mejor sus energías y
recursos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
4]: agradeció a los ponentes y remarcó que la educación fue el área clase para
compartir sabiduría. En concreto, señaló la necesidad de nuevas herramientas
educativas y mejoras en los dos lados de la ecuación. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
5]: remarcó el declive del British Council, así como el ascenso de las escuelas
de lengua estadounidenses en América Latina a costa de las escuelas de lenguas
británicas. Recalcó que esto es un síntoma del debilitamiento de la influencia
británica y la hegemonía de Estados Unidos en casi toda la región. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
6]: [Baronesa Hooper] resaltó que uno de los principales desafíos a superar es
que los británicos no saben mucho sobre América Latina. Dirigió la atención de
los allí presentes a la labor de Canning House con respecto a esto, organizando
eventos y en particular su Annual Essay Prize Competition (Competición anual de
ensayos) para las escuelas. Sin embargo, mencionó que se debería poner más
esfuerzos en enseñar más español en escuelas, institutos y universidades. Esto
es esencial para mantener unas buenas relaciones en el futuro. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
7]: [Catherine Davies] siguió con el tema de la enseñanza de lenguas. Resaltó
que el gobierno actual había hecho severos recortes en los departamentos de
Lenguas Modernas en las universidades. Mencionó que el punto de partida
empezaba con la enseñanza de español en las escuelas, pero la política del
gobierno también había minado este aspecto. Constató que hay un círculo
vicioso, en el que no hay suficientes profesores de lenguas modernas y tampoco
hay suficientes alumnos estudiando, ¡a pesar de la gran demanda de español
entre los alumnos de primaria! ¡Hay que romper este círculo! Mencionó varios
pasos a seguir. Los colombianos y venezolanos deben imitar a las universidades
brasileñas, que hicieron un contacto directo con las International Offices
(oficinas internacionales) de las universidades británicas. Deberíamos estar
agradecidos al Banco Santander por la gran cantidad de dinero que ha invertido
en los Estudios españoles y latinoamericanos en las universidades británicas, y
animar a otras instituciones y corporaciones financieras a seguir sus pasos.
Finalmente, debería haber un empuje para involucrar a gente común de las
comunidades latinoamericanas en el Reino Unido a las vidas de los consulados y
las embajadas, para llegar y aumentar la base de la relación. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
8]: constató que los colombianos hablan el mejor español de cualquier parte del
mundo, y por lo tanto los británicos deberían ir a estudiar español allí.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
9]: comentó que los medios de comunicación británicos deben empezar a remediar
sus errores imperdonables y constantes sobre América Latina. Destacó que ayer (4
de septiembre de 2012) el periódico <i>Independent</i>
escribió dos veces “Columbia” (en lugar de Colombia). Continuó diciendo que,
sin embargo, los latinoamericanos a menudo cometen el error de combinar
“inglés” y “británico”, dejando a un lado a los escoceses y galeses, y pidió
una mejor educación y más vigilancia –y publicaciones corregidas – por parte de
los embajadores y profesores universitarios. Concluyó sugiriendo que una serie
televisiva sobre las intervenciones británicas en las guerras de independencia
de Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador sería un paso excelente para promover el tema.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
10]: continuó con el tema de las series de televisión. Mencionó que esto es
extremadamente importante, e hizo referencia al proyecto de hacer una película
sobre Policarpa Salvarietta en Colombia. Sugirió que los artistas
latinoamericanos contemporáneos eran otra ventana que esperaba ser abierta para
la comunicación entre Gran Bretaña y América Latina. Concluyó que hoy en día
América Latina sufre por no haber sido formalmente parte del imperio, y por lo
tanto no es cortejada por las agencias culturales de Reino Unido que están
ansiosas por trabajar con países postcoloniales. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
11]: remarcó la pobre calidad del periodismo que se hace en Reino Unido sobre América
Latina. Hizo referencia a los numerosos errores históricos y geográficos hechos
a diario en referencia a Julian Assange y Ecuador, incluso, en la BBC. Continuó
remarcando la falta de acceso a programas de televisión y películas de calidad
en la mayoría de América Latina, y sugirió que un proyecto de producción
conjunta sobre Thomas Cochrane, William Miller, et al, sería una excelente
idea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
12]: un director de cine, comentó que era medio británico, medio mexicano, y
que se había pasado mucho tiempo preguntándose cuál era su identidad. Dirigió
la atención de los allí presentes a la larga campaña de reconocimiento hecha
por el Ayuntamiento de Southwark, y a los grandes actos culturales
latinoamericanos que se pueden ver en el distrito municipal, no solo en las
tiendas y los centros comerciales como Elephant & Castle, sino también en
el carnaval veraniego y en los proyectos en desarrollo del retrato de la
sociedad. Concluyó diciendo que en este momento, la financiación de los
proyectos culturales que quieren unir la cultura británica con la
latinoamericana era muy ajustada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
13]: sugirió que tanto la cultural como la historia latinoamericana debería
enseñarse más en las escuelas, y recomendó que la gente se involucre con los
Exam Boards (consejos de evaluación) para que los programas incluyan más
asignaturas sobre América Latina. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
14]: [Enrique Rodríguez] continuó con las ideas anteriores sobre las series de
televisión. Dijo que se tenía que hacer algo como <i>Sharpe </i>o como los <i>Conquistadores</i>
de Michael Wood. Ya había contactado con algunas personas, pero nada había
llegado a buen puerto. ¡Dijo que estas son grandes historias y tienen que ser
filmadas y contadas!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
15]: [Charles Goodson-Wickes, director general de Canning House] recordó a la
gente el <i>Canning House annual prize essay
competition</i> (Premio anual de ensayos de Canning House). Aceptó que la
representación del British Council se había reducido, e instó a la gente a
hacer un buen uso de Canning House en sus esfuerzos por ser un puente entre
Gran Bretaña y América Latina. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
16]: destacó que desde el punto de vista del personal de Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y de la Mancomunidad
de Naciones), este debate había sido energético y estimulante. Reconoció que se
habían intercambiado muchas y diferentes ideas, y agradeció a los organizadores
de este evento por sus esfuerzos. Preguntó, ¿cómo podemos recoger las ideas que
han surgido hoy para poder llevarlas a buen puerto?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aportación
17]: [Estefanía Tello, de la embajada ecuatoriana] pidió perdón por la ausencia
del embajador ecuatoriano. Expresó que Ecuador estaba encantado de ver un
evento tan importante como este, y que estaba muy contenta de poder escuchar un
debate con personas tan expertas en la materia. Declaró que Ecuador está buscando
la cooperación en términos científicos con Reino Unido, y ha encontrado en el
Ministerio de Exteriores socios informativos. Concluyo diciendo que la
educación a todos los niveles es esencial; que el acto nos mostró que todos
podemos aprender de la historia y que todos deberíamos aprender más de las
historias comunes que nos unen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Matthew
Brown]: prometió escribir las transcripciones de todas las aportaciones, para
ponerlas en este blog para que todo el mundo pudiera leerlas, tanto si estaban
presentes como si no. Después, sugirió que las iba a redactar en una carta
abierta al nuevo Ministro de Estado para América Latina (Hugo Swire
–parlamentario-), que también estará presente en su blog y la gente podría
añadir sus nombres si lo deseaban. Y agradeció a todos por sus aportaciones, y
pidió a los cuatro miembros de la mesa redonda que respondieran o resumieran. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Ines
Quintero]: (habló en español). Una de las motivaciones para cualquier
historiador de América Latina, cualquier historiador en América Latina, es ver
qué magia podemos emplear, qué recursos podemos encontrar, para conectar
nuestras historias con las sociedades de hoy en día. La educación, por lo
tanto, es crucial para las tareas puestas hoy ante nosotros. Es crucial mejorar
la educación en América Latina, para conocer nuestra historia. Agradecemos esta
oportunidad, para ver que nos preocupamos por las mismas cosas. ¿Llenaría este
vacío una nueva película? No lo sé – pero no deberíamos desperdiciar ninguna
estrategia-. Todas las acciones para mejorar la educación y la transferencia de
conocimiento deberían ser bienvenidas. Muchas gracias.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Mauricio
Rodríguez]: Aquí tenemos dos puntos. Creo que el gobierno británico ha hecho un
buen trabajo en los últimos años, reforzando, ahondando y diversificando las
relaciones entre Reino Unido y América Latina. La mayoría de mis colegas que
están aquí esta noche, todos los embajadores latinoamericanos, estarían de
acuerdo conmigo, en mayor o menos medida, que el Ministerio de Exteriores ha
hecho un trabajo excelente y que el secretario de Estado, el Sr. William Hague
y el Ministro para América Latina, el Sr. Jeremy Browne han hecho esfuerzos muy
grandes. Dejadme que os dé algunos buenos ejemplos: Reino Unido reabrirá o
abrirá embajadas en El Salvador y en Paraguay; y han aumentado el personal en
Colombia. En medio de una situación financiera tan apretada, el Ministerio de
Exteriores está haciendo un especial esfuerzo y el British Council ha hecho un
increíble trabajo en América Latina. Estoy de acuerdo en que debería haber la
presencia del British Council en muchos otros países porque es el mejor
embajador de Gran Bretaña. El British Council es una institución maravillosa.
Creo que hay tres instituciones maravillosas que hacer un gran trabajo de
promoción de Reino Unido en el extranjero. Estas son: el British Council, la
BBC y las universidades británicas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Lo
que estas tres instituciones hacen por Gran Bretaña es muy importante y
deberíais intentar defenderlas y promoverlas lo más posible. Estas
instituciones son vuestro mejor Ministerio de Exteriores. Hay que dar mérito al
Ministerio de Exteriores, en el caso particular de Colombia, el Ministerio de
Exteriores ha hecho un excelente trabajo en relación con la agenda de
prosperidad que he compartido con vosotros anteriormente. Solo un ejemplo: el
Ministro Jeremy Browne, desgraciadamente deja su puesto, tiene un nuevo trabajo
en el Ministerio de Exteriores [esta noticia se anunció en medio de nuestras
conferencias el 5 de septiembre de 2012], pero ha visitado Colombia tres veces
en dieciocho meses. [Los debates de hoy muestran que] hemos estados a un gran
nivel, y realmente hemos diversificado nuestras prioridades.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Mi
segundo punto, [estoy de acuerdo en que] en relación a los medio de
comunicación [deberíamos debatir] cómo llamar la atención de los medios y los
productores de cine y televisión. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Creo
que, supuestamente, nosotros los latinoamericanos somos las personas más
creativas e imaginativas en el mundo. Somos muy buenos inspirando,
persuadiendo, convenciendo y seduciendo a la gente con nuestras historias, con
nuestros bonitos bonitos paisajes, con nuestra magnífica música y cultura,
nuestra comida, etc., etc., etc. Bueno, aquí tenemos un desafío, una
oportunidad. Tenemos que ir a hablar con la BBC, hablar con productores
independientes y directores de cine y convencerles precisamente de todas esas
increíbles historias y personajes para que se hable sobre ellos en los medios
de comunicación británicos. Creo que tenemos que mejorar nuestras habilidades
de venta, porque creo que tenemos maravillosas, maravillosas historias que
compartir con Reino Unido, y serán una importante forma de conectar nuestras
sociedades y nuestras gentes. Tenemos excelentes conexiones con el gobierno,
instituciones educativas y empresas, pero necesitamos conectar a los ciudadanos
británicos con los ciudadanos latinoamericanos. Y los medios de comunicación,
les gute o no, es la mejor ruta para fortalecer esos lazos. Así que este
mensaje es para nosotros, amigos latinoamericanos, seamos más creativos a la
hora de vender nuestras historias para ganar el hueco que nos merecemos en los
medios de comunicación británicos, pero solo ganaremos ese hueco, si mejoramos
a la hora de contar nuestras historias.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Y el
último punto, y creo que la Baronesa está en lo cierto, una forma muy buena de
fortalecer los lazos con América Latina es a través de la enseñanza del
español. Creo que desarrollar este punto también es un desafío. ¿cómo podemos
hacerlo? ¿Qué más podemos hacer? Tenemos que ser creativos y pensar
conjuntamente en cómo aumentar el número de ciudadanos británicos que hablan
español, ya que esto facilita mucho las cosas. Cuando la gente tiene un
conocimiento básico de la lengua, visitará América Latina, y una vez que lo
haga, se enamorará de ella. Probablemente todos vosotros habréis estado o
queréis ir a América Latina, y si poseéis la habilidad lingüística, eso
facilitará las cosas. Así que creo que también tenemos que mejorar nuestras
ideas de cómo expandir el interés y atraer más ciudadanos británicos a aprender
español. Muchas gracias.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel
Moncada]: Vale, muchas cosas se han dicho sobre cómo aumentar el conocimiento,
las relaciones y las conexiones entre América Latina y Gran Bretaña. He tomado
algunas notas sobre el debate, en concreto, he destacado los temas: lengua,
historia, universidades y comunidades.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">La
comunidad latinoamericana en Reino Unido, la cual está creciendo, es una de las
más importantes en el sentido de que es muy humana, concreta, con una conexión
muy viva dentro de este país, pero sin embargo, no tiene el reconocimiento que
creo debería tener. La UE está trabajando en ello, pero creo que hay miles, no
sé cuántos hay…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Intervención
del público, Isaac Bigio]: un millón, incluyendo brasileños, tenemos un millón
de latinoamericanos viviendo en Reino Unido.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel
Moncada]: Vale, esta es una muy buena base con la que trabajar. No sé cuántos
británicos viven en América Latina, pero sé que hay, por lo menos, decenas de
miles. La última cifra que tengo es que más de 200,000 británicos van a Cuba
cada año y muchos más van a la República Dominicana, así que por lo menos,
400,000 viajeros y turistas británicos van a América Latina cada año.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Los medios
de comunicación, las universidades, la comunicación y la lengua, son todos muy
importantes, pero me gustaría seguir con otras areas de las que no se ha
hablado en el debate y que para mí son muy importantes. El embajador Rodríguez
mencionó la BBC, el British Council y las universidades británicas, lo cual
estoy totalmente de acuerdo. Pero hay muchas otras instituciones, instituciones
británicas que para mí merecen admiración. Una de ellas es el NHS (sistema
sanitario británico) y el NHS es un ejemplo de servicio universal sanitario,
que como poco, admiramos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Mauricio
Rodríguez]: ¡nosotros también lo queremos!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel
Moncada]: queremos algo como esto que vosotros admiráis, pero vosotros [los
británicos] os quejáis del NHS todo el tiempo, pero nosotros querríamos tener
algo así en Venezuela.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Mauricio
Rodríguez]: ¡y en Colombia!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel
Moncada]: La forma que veo para mejorar la conexión de Venezuela con los
británicos, a parte de la diplomacia, del gobierno, de las inversiones, de las
corporaciones y de los medios de comunicación, es buscar un punto en común,
problemas que nos relacionan hoy en día, pero no necesariamente porque
conectamos hace 200 años. Porque como Matthew sabe, después de 1830 los
ingleses, el interés británico en América Latina se desvaneció y [en
retrospectiva] el periodo más intenso de las relaciones entre Gran Bretaña y
América Latina fue exactamente, el momento del que estamos hablando, las
guerras de independencia. Después de ese fracaso, hubo una reanudación a
finales del siglo XIX con la minería, las vías de ferrocarril y algunas
inversiones petroleras en el siglo XX, pero no hubo nada tan intenso como la
conexión humana que crearon los miles de británicos que fueron allí en 1820. No
creo que haya habido tanta participación británica en otra guerra, aparte de
América Latina y quizás la Guerra Civil española [en 1930], este es el único
ejemplo que conozco de británicos que viajaron al extranjero para luchar por la
liberación de otro país. Puede que haya algún otro, pero ahí entra mi
ignorancia; esto es nuestro terreno en común. Como por ejemplo, los juegos
paralímpicos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Mauricio
Rodríguez]: Deportes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel
Moncada]: No, deportes no, los juegos paralímpicos. Personas con necesidades
especiales, la forma en que se trata a la gente en América Latina, las
políticas que estamos desarrollando para la gente con necesidades especiales y
cómo compararlo con las políticas de aquí, de Gran Bretaña [ese es un punto en
común]. El trato a los niños, el trato a los mayores, hablo de políticas
sociales, cómo lidiamos con la pobreza y cómo lidiamos con la vivienda social.
Hay muchos, muchos temas de los que podemos aprender mutuamente; nosotros
podemos aprender de los británicos pero nosotros también les podemos enseñar. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Podemos
aprender mutuamente en el proceso que anhelo. Pero quizás, añadamos un punto de
discordia, es algo que en Gran Bretaña tenéis que corregir. Hay muchísimas
cosas que se pueden hacer [para mejorar las relaciones entre Gran Bretaña y
América Latina], una de ellas son las becas. Muchos latinoamericanos vienen a
Reino Unido a estudiar con becas, pero ahora las becas están desapareciendo.
Pero hay otras cosas que para mejorarlas no necesitan dinero. Una de ellas, ya
se ha mencionado: el problema de los visados. ¿Realmente queréis que la gente
de otros países venga a gastar su dinero aquí? ¡Bueno, primero tenéis que
dejarlos venir a estudiar! Es una pesadilla para los estudiantes extranjeros
conseguir visados, ¡una pesadilla! Si un estudiante me pidiera su opinión, en
este preciso momento, de si es una buena idea venir a Gran Bretaña, bueno.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Dejadme
que os dé un ejemplo: durante años de tres años, hemos intentado llegar a un
acuerdo con la London Metropolitan University para traer a cientos de
estudiantes para estudiar sobre el petróleo, químicos, polímeros, y muchas
otras cosas relacionadas con los asuntos petroleros. Y justo la semana pasada,
nos enteramos de que la universidad había retirado la licencia para conseguir
visados a los estudiantes extranjeros. Y ahora, tenemos a dos mil estudiantes
extranjeros atrapados en una situación difícil, ¡y ya han pagado! Tenemos a
varios venezolanos en esta situación; han pagado varios años de matrículas, han
gastado miles de libras en manutención, o solo en matrículas, están a punto de
acabar sus carreras, y ahora se encuentran con esta situación, ¡que han perdido
todo su dinero! Y lo único que se les ha dicho es que tiene que pagar todo y
perder otra vez su tiempo ¡o serán deportados! Esto es ridículo, si seguís con
esta política nadie vendrá aquí a estudiar, y ¡este es un error que debe ser
subsanado y que no cuesta dinero! Este es un buen consejo para vosotros, no
estropeéis vuestra buena industria de la educación, que es muy buena, muy
prestigiosa en todo el mundo pero la vais a estropear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Muchos
aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Natalia
Sobrevilla Perea]: No puedo dejar de estar de acuerdo con todos [los que han
hablado]. Especialmente con los que tienen el problema del visado, de hecho,
uno de nuestros ponentes acaba de mencionar lo difícil que es conseguir un
visado. Personalmente, yo misma sigo sufriendo esa suerte, así que es algo que
yo respaldo completamente. Ya he hablado sobre los temas audiovisuales [así que
ya no hablaré más]. Creo que todos estamos listos para una copa de vino.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Matthew
Brown]: Gracias a los cuatro oradores en esta mesa redonda tan estimulante,
Inés Quintero, Mauricio Rodríguez, Samuel Moncada y Natalia Sobrevilla. Ahora
podemos seguir el debate acompañado de un vaso de algo, y muy pronto en
internet cuando las transcripciones estén completas. Muchísimas gracias.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">[Aplausos]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Aquí
tienen algunas fotos del acalorado debate pero amistoso que ocurrió después del evento (¡sin transcripción!). (<a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/full-transcript-with-photos-of-britain.html" target="_blank">Versión en inglés con fotos</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-3092057043916305052013-02-15T02:46:00.000-08:002013-03-05T14:37:49.422-08:00Q&A Matthew Brown with Mihir Chandraker<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mihir Chandraker, a student at the Perse School in Cambridge, is researching the subject of the history of the British influence in the Latin American Wars of Independence for a Higher Project Qualification. We conducted an interview via email, which I post here with Mihir's permission as it may be of interest to others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>MC: Why were so many British soldiers attracted to the
prospect of adventures in Latin America?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MB: The first thing to remember is that only about a
third of the adventurers had actually been soldiers or sailors before they
travelled to Colombia. The vast majority were artisans, labourers, aristocrats
– a real cross-section of society, seduced by dreams of the gold and land and
freedom that they expected to find in South America. Of those who did have some
military experience (around 2,000 of the 7,000 foreign adventurers in total)
there were a lot of Irish Catholics who thought they had a better chance of
promotion in the Colombian service than in the British Army, and lots who saw
that military opportunities had dried up at home after the demobilisation that
came after the end of the Napoleonic Wars from 1815. It is a combination of
push factors and pull factors, giving people a reason to leave Britain and Ireland, as well as giving them a reason to go to South America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>MC: What sort of background were these soldiers from?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MB: 319 adventurers recorded their previous profession, trade or occupation
in a document preserved in the Archivo Histórico de Guayas in Guayaquil,
Ecuador. 148 described themselves as labourers. The next most popular
occupation was ‘Weaver’ (twenty-six). In descending order, eleven volunteers
said that they were shoemakers, and another eleven were tailors. Seven were
bakers, seven were mariners and six were musicians. There were five carpenters,
and four each of book-binders, breeches-makers, and painters. There were three
respondents each for bricklayer, butcher, hatter, miner, servant and
watch-maker. There were two respondents each for accountant, chandler, clerk,
cloth-cutter, cordwainer, craftsman, farrier, gardener, glass blower/stainer,
glazier, hairdresser, potter, printer, silk-maker and water-man. There was one
apothecary, a basket-maker, a blacksmith, a boat-maker, a cabinet-maker, a
cooper, a cotton spinner, a courier, a draper, a founder, a gunsmith, a
ham-beater, a horseman, a lawyer, a lightman, a machinist, a mason, a merchant,
a miller, a papermaker, a poulterer, a roller, a rope-maker, a saddler, a
sawyer, a shearer, a slater, a soapmaker, a stocking-maker, a stone-cutter, a
tanner, a tin-man, a varnish-maker, a wood-cutter, a wood Merchant and a
woollen draper.<a href="file:///W:/spxmb/My%20Documents/Bristol/Impact/Response%20to%20Mihir%20Chandraker%2002%202013.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All this material is included in my <a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/hispanic/latin/research.html" target="_blank">online database</a> of the soldiers. Some of the officers, of course, came from rather
grander backgrounds. There were a couple of lords in there, the sons of
aristocratic families. Many of the officers, however, exagerated their social
standing back home in order to gain a higher rank in the Colombian army – this
was a source of much tension, conflict and amusement once the campaigns got
going. It also meant that there were quite a few high-ranking officers who
didn’t have the faintest idea how to command soldiers or win battles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>MC: How were relations between Britain and Spain at the
time?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MB: Britain was neutral in the conflict between Spain
and its American colonies. This was because it had needed the Spanish alliance
against Napoleon’s France but also because it didn’t want to support the idea
of other powers piling into colonial conflicts on the side of rebels – this had
happened in the United States’ War of Independence in the late eighteenth
century, and Britain had enough of its own problems in the rest of its empire
without worrying if any rebels would get support from Spain, France, Prussia or
Russia, for example. So Britain had a public policy of neutrality.
Nevertheless, lots of the British public were in favour of Spanish American
independence because it chimed with their ideas about liberty, freedom, down
with tyranny, and so on. Also, many British merchants and their friends in
parliament and government were keen to have access to these new markets in
Spanish America, which had hitherto been very difficult to get into because of
the trade barriers erected by the Spanish colonial regime. The enlistment of
adventurers, in London, to fight in Colombia, kicked a great hole in the middle
of this delicate balancing act. Spanish officials in London were incandescent
that ships moored on the River Thames could be so bare-faced about recruiting
men. That’s why the ‘Foreign Enlistment Act’ was brought in in 1819, and after
that the recruitment of adventurers did rather dry up. The British policy of
neutrality survived, independence was eventually achieved, and the merchants
did indeed get access to the new markets. So, everyone won (except for the
Spanish, who had lost all their American colonies by 1826, apart from Cuba and
Puerto Rico).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>MC: What were the differences in armoury between the
British and the Royalist fighters?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MB: That is a good question. Military historians have
rooted round in archives trying to answer this question, and archaeologists have
unearthed surviving weapons from the period. Broadly speaking the weapons being
used on either side were quite similar. Bayonets, rifles and lances were the
principal weapons. Obviously each new expedition, either from Britain or Spain,
brought new weapons with it. Many of the British officers spent a lot of time
teaching recruits how to use them, <a href="http://www.unacolombiaobjetiva.com/uco/index.php/rafael-alvarez-salcedo/11-el-fusil-de-infanteria-en-las-guerras-de-independencia-1810-1824-" target="_blank">for example the rifles</a>, but the vast majority of battles were fought
using weapons like swords, daggers, knives and lances. The battle of Junín, in
Peru in 1824, was famously silent, with no gunfire at all, given the
topographical difficulties in dragging cannons up and down the Andean mountain
ranges, and without getting the gunpowder wet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>MC: Did the British soldiers respect the leadership of
Bolivar and Sucre?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MB: I think on the whole the answer here was yes, but
not always. Bolívar had a certain charisma which appealed to his British
soldiers, and they played a crucial part in transmitting his revolutionary
image across the Atlantic. Sucre got on well with most of the British and Irish
officers. Francisco Burdett O’Connor, an Irish adventurer, has a lovely
anecdote in his memoirs, published in Spanish as <i>Independencia americana, </i>about he and Sucre tossing a coin in order
to decide which should of them should be allowed to court a particular woman. Clearly
there was a lot of mutual respect there. Of course not all leadership was respected:
British and Irish soldiers deserted all the time (rates of 10% per year were
not unknown) and the Irish Legions staged a famous rebellion at the Caribbean
port of Riohacha in 1820. (I have an article on the <a href="http://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/jbla/JBLA_Band_42-2005/jbla05_077_098.pdf" target="_blank">Rebellion at Riohacha in 1820</a> and its consequences).
They made a real mess of the town, caused a load of havoc and got themselves a
really bad reputation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>MC: And I was wondering if it was possible for you to
give a couple of other reasons, non-military, how the British influenced the
independence of the nations which temporarily became Colombia.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">MB: Crikey: that’s a big question. I suggest you read
<a href="http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/sites/default/files/Document%20Bicentenary%20UK.pdf." target="_blank">The Role of Great Britain in the Independence of Colombia</a>, the volume edited by Malcolm Deas, published by the Colombian Embassy in London. All in all, you have the military assistance, the diplomatic neutrality, the
arms sales, the public support and solidarity as well as the provision of a
cultural and political model (as argued by the historian Karen Racine in her
article ‘This England, This Now’: British Cultural Independence in the Spanish
American Independence-Era’, <i>Hispanic
American Historical Review </i>(2010). That’s quite a lot of British influence,
but independence was still, clearly, primarily the work of Colombians,
Venezuelans and Ecuadorians, who fought, wrote, died, thought, argued, saved
and battled for their independence – with a little help from their friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="file:///W:/spxmb/My%20Documents/Bristol/Impact/Response%20to%20Mihir%20Chandraker%2002%202013.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
This paragraph is taken from my book, Matthew Brown, <i>Adventuring through Spanish Colonies: Simón Bolívar, Foreign
Mercenaries and the Birth of New Nations </i>(Liverpool: Liverpool University
Press, 2006), 28.</span></div>
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Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-35987444028861179622013-01-09T12:36:00.003-08:002013-03-05T14:36:51.226-08:00Connections after Colonialism: Europe and Latin America in the 1820s<br />
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<img height="320" src="http://www.uapress.ua.edu//images/temp/212-5542-Product_LargeToMediumImage-thumb.jpeg" width="212" /></div>
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<i>Connections after Colonialism: Europe and Latin America in the 1820s, </i>edited by Matthew Brown and Gabriel Paquette, is just out, published by the University of Alabama Press. Gabe and I are as proud as punch to have pulled together a stellar line-up of historians to work on this project, which began as a symposium at Trinity College Cambridge back in 2009.<br />
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In the project we wanted to test our hypothesis that the 1820s was a decade marked by substantial continuities in the economic, cultural and political relationships between Europe and Latin America. This ran against some meaty historical arguments which assumed that Europe and Latin America had been definitively separated in this decade by the tumultuous processes of independence from colonial rule. The book shows quite clearly that this was not the case at all - which means historians need to do some serious thinking about the paradigms that rest upon this assumption, for example Eric Hobsbawm's <span style="font-family: inherit;">influential 'Age of Revolutions' argument, as well as much writing about Atlantic history.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The book's table of contents is:</span><br />
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‘Introduction: Between the Age of Atlantic Revolutions and
the Age of Empire’, Matthew Brown and Gabriel Paquette</div>
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1. ‘Themes and Tensions in a Contradictory Decade: Ibero-America
as a Multiplicity of States’, Brian Hamnett</div>
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2. ‘Rafael del Riego and the Spanish Origins of the
Nineteenth- Century Mexican Pronunciamiento’, Will Fowler</div>
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3. ‘Include and Rule: The Limits of Liberal Colonial Policy,
1810–1837’, Josep M. Fradera</div>
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4. ‘Entangled Patriotisms: Italian Liberals and Spanish
America in the 1820s’, Maurizio Isabella</div>
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5. ‘The Brazilian Origins of the 1826 Portuguese
Constitution’, Gabriel Paquette</div>
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6. ‘An American System: The North American Union and Latin
America in the 1820s’, Jay Sexton</div>
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7. ‘The Chilean Irishman Bernardo O’Higgins and the
Independence of Peru’, Scarlett O’Phelan Godoy</div>
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8. ‘Corinne in the Andes: European Advice for Women in 1820s
Argentina and Chile’, Iona Macintyre</div>
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9. ‘Heretics, Cadavers, and Capitalists: European Foreigners
in Venezuela during the 1820s’, Reuben Zahler</div>
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10. ‘Porteño Liberals and Imperialist Emissaries in the Rio
de la Plata: Rivadavia and the British</div>
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David Rock</div>
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11. ‘“There Is No Doubt That We Are under Threat from the
Negroes of Santo Domingo”: The Specter of Haiti in the Spanish Caribbean in the
1820s’, Carrie Gibson </div>
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12. ‘Bartolomé de las Casas and the Slave Trade to Cuba circa
1820’, Christopher Schmidt-Nowara</div>
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13. ‘The 1820s in Perspective: The Bolivarian Decade’,
Matthew Brown</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">Additional essays on the topic may be found in the </span><a href="http://ehq.sagepub.com/content/41/3.toc" style="background-color: white; color: #cc6633; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;" target="_blank">special issue</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;"> of </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">European History Quarterly </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">we guest-edited in July 2011.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.899999618530273px;">It was an absolute pleasure to work with all these excellent scholars on this collaborative project. It can be purchased through Amazon or direct from the <a href="http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Connections-after-Colonialism,5542.aspx" target="_blank">publisher.</a></span></span><br />
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It is increasingly popular to write books, produce t.v. series or simply speculate wildly about the supposed identity of particular decades from history. To my knowledge this is the first book on the 1820s to have such a broad geographical approach. Of course the 1820s have been celebrated for many things we don't touch on, like Georgian architecture in the U.K., fashion or horse-racing. But much more important than that, this book demonstrates the extent to which Europe and the Americas were tied together back in the 1820s, long before people started talking about globalization.Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-89835506135826437982012-12-20T05:30:00.000-08:002013-03-05T14:34:58.474-08:00Christmas books and Radio Shows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm probably a little late to be suggesting Christmas reading given that today is the 20th December, but now that I have made it to the end of term and emerged relatively unscathed, here are some ideas as to how you might spend your book tokens in the new year. Also here, a few words about the BBC Radio 4 series 'The Invention of Spain' which featured lots of the contributors to the event I organised on <a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/full-transcript-with-photos-of-britain.html" target="_blank">'Britain and the Bolivarian Republics'</a>. <i>(note: we are halfway through translating the transcriptions into Spanish: they should be here on the blog by mid-February 2013 at the latest)</i></div>
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First, the log-rolling: my book on the Battle of El Santuario came out this summer. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Struggle-Post-Independence-Colombia-Venezuela-Americas/dp/0230341314" target="_blank">The Struggle for Power in Post-Independence Colombia and Venezuela</a><i> </i>tells the story of the veterans of one battle in the Colombian Andes from 1829. Its protagonists include Irishmen, Englishmen, Italians and Germans as well as the several hundred Colombian officers, slaves, recruits and campesinos who joined a rebellion led by General José María Córdova. (Apologies for the cheap plug!).<br />
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<a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products/ShowJacket.asp?ISBN=9780230341319&width=155&height=205" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="9780230341319" border="0" height="320" src="http://www.palgrave.com/products/ShowJacket.asp?ISBN=9780230341319&width=155&height=205" width="211" /></a></div>
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Next, a great new collection of historical sources about Latin America's independence period. John Charles Chasteen and Sarah Chambers have pulled together a brilliant, diverse body of contemporary accounts about the independence period from across the continent. All the documents are in English, often for the first time. I can't recommend it highly enough to people who want to get a sense of what all the fuss about independence was about, but are anxious that all the best sources are in Spanish or Portuguese. Thanks to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Latin-American-Independence-Anthology-Sources/dp/087220863X" target="_blank">Latin American Independence: An Anthology of Sources</a>, that is no longer the case.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hackettpublishing.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/l/a/latin_american_ind.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Latin American Independence" border="0" height="320" src="http://www.hackettpublishing.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/l/a/latin_american_ind.gif" width="206" /></a></div>
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Third, for those of you looking for an Olympic-themed historical book , I can't quite offer anything closely-tied enough to Latin American independence. But Matt Rendell's <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympic-Gangster-Beyaert-Cycling-Champion/dp/1845965930" target="_blank">Olympic Gangster: The Legend of José Beyaert</a> is a cracking story of many of the same themes: the European who seeks adventure and riches in the New World (in this case, the French cycling gold-medallist from the 1948 games, who travels to Colombia) but ends up finding fulfilment, adventure, family and life in the places where he least expected it. Highly-recommended.<br />
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<img height="320" src="http://www.urbanhunter.biz/acatalog/matt-rendell-author.jpg" width="203" /><br />
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Finally, a word about <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nm4qm" target="_blank">The Invention of Spain</a>, a wonderful three-part series produced by the BBC in Bristol on the construction of Spain as a nation, which put the American colonies, their conquest, colonisation and loss, at the heart of the story. I was privileged to contribute to the series alongside much more distinguished historians including Sir John Elliott and Felipe Fernández Armesto, and two of the speakers from our Canning House event back in September: Samuel Moncada and Karen Racine. Each episode, presented by Misha Glenny, is half-an-hour long, and provides a brilliant introduction to this complex subject. I heartily recommend downloading from the BBC website on the link above (free, and probably forever, at least within the UK) and settling down to listen to it with a cup of something warm next to a roaring fire. Merry Christmas!</div>
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Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-1576753313143912342012-11-02T14:35:00.003-07:002013-03-05T14:34:08.857-08:00Open Letter to Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (with responsibility for Latin America)<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the 5 September 2012 public meeting at Canning House, I promised to write up all the suggestions for how to commemorate Britain's involvement in the independence of the Bolivarian republics, in an open letter to the new minister of state with responsibility for the UK's relationship with Latin America, who was appointed to his post the very same day. Here it is: (hay una versión en castellano al pie de la página, traducción por Aris da Silva y Ana Suarez Vidal de la Universidad de Bristol).</span></span></div>
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29 October
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Open Letter
to Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Minister of State
at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(with
responsibility for Latin America)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Minister,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On 5
September 2012, a public meeting at Canning House in London discussed the ways
in which Great Britain could best mark the bicentenaries of its historic
involvement in the independence of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador from
colonial rule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Those
present included the ambassadors of Colombia and Venezuela, academics, retired
diplomats, members of the public as well as descendants of the 7,000 British
and Irish adventurers who crossed the Atlantic between 1816 and 1822 to join
Simón Bolívar’s armies and fight for independence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A full
transcription of the debates, discussions and proposals can be found on my
blog, at <a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/full-transcript-with-photos-of-britain.html">http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/full-transcript-with-photos-of-britain.html</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
sacrifices and contributions of the British and Irish soldiers and sailors who
fought in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador were recognised by all present. But
how to commemorate them? Do we need more statues? I’m delighted that Canning
House will be hosting a series of lectures on the history of Latin America in
2013, to capitalise on the growing interest in the subject. Perhaps some kind
of commemorative plaque could be designed to mark the places across the region
where particularly strong evidence of British and Irish participation was
found?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On a broader
level, at our meeting most people seemed to feel that the </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">bicentenaries</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> necessitated a strengthening of present-day relations between Britain and the
region. Some of the suggestions made at the meeting, which may be of interest
to you and your team as you engage with these matters, included:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Britain
should:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Support
British Council operations across the region as a crucial means of providing
access to British culture, education and language training;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reverse
damaging immigration restrictions which put off Latin Americans from coming to
study at British universities; reinvigorate long-standing scholarship programmes
which have done much to cement link in previous decades;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Support
cultural engagement programmes such as Canning House and Latin American history
month;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Support
projects that remind people of Britain’s historic support of Latin American
independence; such as the digitisation of archives, museum exhibitions,
historical research;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Support
efforts in the arts and media (TV, print, online) to promote the shared history
of Britain and Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, through documentaries, films
and exhibitions;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Continue
bilateral cooperation on human rights, educational, science and social and environmental
projects; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, and
perhaps most importantly, we should be making every effort to encourage
school-pupils and students to learn Spanish and Portuguese, both at school and
at university, as the principal and most effective way to build cultural
bridges with Latin America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two hundred
years ago, thousands of British and Irish adventurers risked their lives to
assist Simón Bolívar and his followers in their efforts to bring independence
to their lands. Many of them suffered because they did not speak Spanish or because
they were unable to understand the cultures of the countries they were living
in. Your predecessors have done many excellent things to foster better
relations between Britain and Latin America in recent years. I hope that these
suggestions are useful as you move into your new post, and begin to think about
the bicentenaries of Britain’s most celebrated involvement in the independence
of northern South America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yours
sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Matthew
Brown</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Organiser of
‘Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics’ at Canning House, 5
September 2012 <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Versión en castellano:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">El 5 de septiembre de
2012 en la reunión abierta en Canning House prometí escribir una crónica de
todas las sugerencias de cómo conmemorar la participación de Gran Bretaña en la
independencia de las repúblicas bolivarianas en una carta abierta al nuevo Ministro
de Estado responsable de las relaciones del Reino Unido con América Latina, el
cual fue nombrado para desempeñar ese cargo ese cargo ese mismo día. Aquí
tienen la carta:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carta abierta al
Honorable Hugo Swire MP<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ministro de Estado
para el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y de la Mancomunidad de Naciones
(responsable de América Latina)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Estimado Ministro:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">El 5 de septiembre de
2012, en una sesión pública en Canning House, Londres, se discutieron las
maneras en las que el Reino Unido podría conmemorar los bicentenarios de su
histórica participación en la independencia de Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador
del régimen colonial.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Algunos de los que
estuvieron presentes en esta sesión fueron el embajador de Colombia y
Venezuela, profesores universitarios, diplomáticos retirados, miembros del
público así como descendientes de los 7,000 aventureros británicos e irlandeses
que cruzaron el Atlántico entre 1816 y 1822 para unirse a los ejércitos de
Simón Bolívar y luchar por la independencia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pueden encontrar una
transcripción completa de los debates, discusiones y propuestas en el siguiente
enlace de mi blog:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Los sacrificios y
contribuciones de los soldados y marineros británicos e irlandeses que lucharon
en Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador, fueron reconocidos por todos los presentes.
¿Pero cómo les rendimos homenaje? ¿Son necesarias más estatuas? Estoy encantado
de que Canning House albergue una serie de conferencias sobre la historia de
América Latina en 2013 para sacar provecho del creciente interés en este tema.
¿Se podría diseñar alguna placa conmemorativa que marcara los lugares de la
región en los que se encontraron pruebas evidentes de la participación de los
británicos e irlandeses?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A un nivel más
amplio, en nuestra reunión, la mayoría de la gente creía que las
conmemoraciones bicentenarias necesitaban una consolidación de las relaciones
actuales entre Gran Bretaña y la región. Algunas de las sugerencias hechas en
la reunión, las cuales pueden ser de interés para ti y para tu equipo al mismo
tiempo que te involucras con estos asuntos, incluyeron:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gran Bretaña debería:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Apoyar las
operaciones del British Council a través de la región como un medio crucial
para dar acceso a la cultura británica, educación y a la práctica lingüística.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Invertir las
dañinas restricciones de inmigración que disuaden a los latinoamericanos de
venir a estudiar a las universidades británicas; revitalizar los programas de
becas a largo plazo, los cuales han hecho mucho para fortalecer el nexo en
décadas anteriores.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Apoyar los
programas de compromiso cultural tal como Canning House y el mes de la historia
latinoamericana.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Apoyar proyectos
que recuerden a la gente el apoyo histórico de Gran Bretaña a la independencia
de América Latina; tales como la digitalización de los archivos, exposiciones
en museos e investigación histórica.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Apoyar los
esfuerzos de las actividades artísticas y de los medios de comunicación
(televisión, prensa escrita y medios digitales) para promover la historia
compartida entre Gran Bretaña y Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador, a través de
documentales, películas y exposiciones. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Continuar la
cooperación bilateral sobre los derechos humanos, la educación, las ciencias y
los proyectos sociales y medioambientales.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Y por último, y
probablemente lo más importante, deberíamos hacer todos los esfuerzos posibles
para animar a los alumnos de los colegios y a los universitarios a aprender
español y portugués, las dos lenguas tanto en el colegio como en la
universidad, como la manera principal y más efectiva de construir puentes
culturales con América Latina. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hace doscientos años,
miles de aventureros británicos e irlandeses arriesgaron sus vidas para ayudar
a Simón Bolívar y sus seguidores en sus esfuerzos para conseguir la
independencia para sus tierras. Muchos de ellos sufrieron porque no sabían
hablar español o porque eran incapaces de entender las culturas de los países
en los que vivían. En los últimos años, sus predecesores han actuado
adecuadamente para fomentar una mejor cooperación entre Gran Bretaña y América
Latina. Espero que estas sugerencias puedan ser de utilidad en su nuevo cargo,
y comience a pensar en las conmemoraciones bicentenarias de la más celebrada
participación de Gran Bretaña en la independencia del norte de América Latina. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Muy atentamente,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matthew Brown<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Organizador de “Gran
Bretaña y la independencia de las repúblicas bolivarianas” en Canning House, 5
de septiembre de 2012.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</span></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-90495685957767187192012-09-28T03:24:00.001-07:002013-03-05T14:31:26.363-08:00Full transcript, with photos, of 'Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics' event at Canning House, London, 05/09/2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>[Welcome from Dr. John Hughes, former H.M. ambassador to
Venezuela]:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-H9gBI1ZZohOxI36BvtmAEUxH-jWSG-k9gzG4zjiKImI-cTx3tCj3qmajpkBArQCosuCMSDuBsLjo8W5WHDZrzqCXbkELnh8hTCdtU8a5-GBza-E8g9as2q3qLZikItDOUp4H1NErSs/s1600/IMG_1341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-H9gBI1ZZohOxI36BvtmAEUxH-jWSG-k9gzG4zjiKImI-cTx3tCj3qmajpkBArQCosuCMSDuBsLjo8W5WHDZrzqCXbkELnh8hTCdtU8a5-GBza-E8g9as2q3qLZikItDOUp4H1NErSs/s320/IMG_1341.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It is a pleasure to welcome you all here, on behalf of Canning House, to this important event discussing and debating the role Great Britain
played in the independence of the Bolivarian Republics two hundred years ago. Canning
House is the most appropriate venue for this type of discussion, as it was
Foreign Secretary George Canning MP would famously ‘called the new world into
existence’ when he declared Britain’s recognition of the South American
republics. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">I hand now you over to the organiser of today's event, Dr. Matthew Brown of the University of Bristol.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>[Matthew Brown, MB]</b>: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Thank you
all for coming, it is wonderful to see so many people here. I would like to
thank Canning House for hosting us, and the University of Bristol Engagement
and Impact Development Fund, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, without
whose support this event could not have taken place. The event has two parts.
In the first, which is about to begin, we have three historians who will
present their cutting-edge research on this subject. In the second, ambassadors
and public historians will lead us all in a round-table discussion of how we
might commemorate these events and individuals of two centuries ago. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEUsG14qL7xef3L3HfZa_GB6ffAYU-E_W0YX-kI5NpU0Ny-azFGJeW5VjoxM3b_9Oi0J774rDKpW6S23TNpUk17z5JSlsU_VWQt4ry0WrncMBG7nibcOBAkW2AcHTA2xDHUPodQDzIVA/s1600/IMG_1344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEUsG14qL7xef3L3HfZa_GB6ffAYU-E_W0YX-kI5NpU0Ny-azFGJeW5VjoxM3b_9Oi0J774rDKpW6S23TNpUk17z5JSlsU_VWQt4ry0WrncMBG7nibcOBAkW2AcHTA2xDHUPodQDzIVA/s320/IMG_1344.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When I
first thought of organising this event, three names came immediately to mind as
to the best historians working on this subject. I am delighted that they were
all able to travel, from Canada, Venezuela and Colombia respectively, to join
us today. They are Dr Karen Racine, of the University of Guelph, Dr. Edgardo
Mondolfi Gudat of the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, and Dr Daniel
Gutierrez Ardila of the Universidad Externado de Colombia, in Bogota. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;">Before handing over to them, however, I will first talk a little about the state of research on the topic of Britain’s involvement in the Independence-period in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBbTMRRGvjMvlG8fV5Ei_iToQ6vEHWpBzngc1ki0HjXdiS-Je5NEN41Tmqn9qlRwWZ8VbBv38BChyphenhyphenjbzjqmyZ8uSxIie2myfH97LNtxzpxdXBBb9z9Crg8JXmF39_dEdRuuRMsVSGvhE/s1600/IMG_1347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBbTMRRGvjMvlG8fV5Ei_iToQ6vEHWpBzngc1ki0HjXdiS-Je5NEN41Tmqn9qlRwWZ8VbBv38BChyphenhyphenjbzjqmyZ8uSxIie2myfH97LNtxzpxdXBBb9z9Crg8JXmF39_dEdRuuRMsVSGvhE/s320/IMG_1347.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[I
have already posted my paper, 'The Wreck of the Indian' on this blog – see <a href="http://bolivariantimes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-wreck-of-indian-december-1817.html" target="_blank">'The Wreck of the Indian, December 1817'</a> </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">].</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">MB] I now have the pleasure to hand you over
to Dr Karen Racine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Spanish Americans in
London in the Independence-Era</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>[Karen Racine]: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Although the French and American
Revolutions are reflexively assumed to be the inspiration for Spanish American
independence movements, a stronger case can be made for the argument that the
region’s patriot leaders derived their most important cultural model, their
animating energy, and their major material support from Great Britain. Between
the years 1808-1830, over seventy independence-era leaders of the first rank
lived and worked together in London, including: </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtaWjrG5lJPYvYL32sx9dLgRKp2yOEMjzrE1g9n-BnyeHBmHvEOIrXE1CWvt9QsAMvEpqusk6jDfpIfHn5QKVy47ZZZpfttgoiaSyYvP7GTe8dSf_jASCToZFLgOciliJx_Vff9PRzj0/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtaWjrG5lJPYvYL32sx9dLgRKp2yOEMjzrE1g9n-BnyeHBmHvEOIrXE1CWvt9QsAMvEpqusk6jDfpIfHn5QKVy47ZZZpfttgoiaSyYvP7GTe8dSf_jASCToZFLgOciliJx_Vff9PRzj0/s320/IMG_1350.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Francisco de Miranda, Bernardo
O’Higgins, Simón Bolívar, Andrés Bello, José de San Martín, Fray Servando
Teresa de Mier, Lucas Alamán, Agustín de Iturbide, Bernardino Rivadavia, Manuel
Belgrano, Vicente Rocafuerte, Juan Germán Roscio, Mariano Montilla, Francisco
de Paula Santander, Antonio José de Irisarri, youthful members of the Aycinena
and García Granados families of Guatemala, José de la Riva Agüero, Bernardo
Monteagudo, José Joaquín de Olmedo, and Mariano Egaña. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Other
important patriot leaders, including José Cecilio del Valle, Juan Egaña and
Carlos María Bustamante remained in America but sent their works to be
published in London and carried on a purposeful correspondence with famous
British figures such as abolitionist William Wilberforce, prison reformer
Elizabeth Fry, utilitarian philosophers Jeremy Bentham and James Mill,
scientist Humphrey Davy and vaccination proponent Edward Jenner. These
conscious, practical, personal choices tell us much about the kind of cultural
model the Spanish American independence leaders admired, and the sorts of
future countries they wanted to cultivate for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Note –
because Dr Racine’s paper was extracted from her forthcoming book Spanish
Americans in London, we are unable to publish the text here. Sorry!]<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">[MB] Thank you. I am now delighted to hand over
the lectern to Dr Edgardo Mondolfi, who will talk to you on the subject of the
Foreign Enlistment Act of 1819.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>[Edgardo Mondolfi]</b>: </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><i>NE EXEUNT REGNO (“No one is entitled
to leave the realm”</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">): Some observations regarding the “Enlistment Act”
of 1819 passed by Parliament in order to avoid the recruitment of British
volunteers to the Spanish Main</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What did the “Enlistment Act” of 1819 mean in order
to restrain the flow of British volunteers to Spanish America? In view of the
number of recruits that were able to cross the Atlantic since late 1817, would
such provision have any effect at all? Would it be truly binding or on the
contrary, as some Historians argue, it consisted on a “vague”, “late” and
“toothless” piece of legislation promoted by the British Government? In
practical terms, was such Law able to impose effective restrains on British
subjects willing to join forces with the Spanish American
Insurgents? </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">These are the kind of
questions posed by this Paper which aims to explore what the clandestine
passage overseas meant in view of the existing writ known traditionally
as </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">“Ne exeunt regno”.</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> According to such writ, no man was in
liberty to put to sea at his pleasure against the King´s Charters, much less if
the aim was to participate in an irregular warfare which was taking place in
the dominions of an allied nation as Spain was still meant to be well beyond
the downfall of Napoleon in 1815. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">So far as such recruitment
was being implemented in British soil, the Enlistment Act must be seen, without
doubt, as an additional effort by the British Government to avoid further
breaches of its alliance with Ferdinand VII’s regime. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQdsI7zOIqJS24BZXEPW0ymfjYACO3U55yQ4toHePrP35SIxSrCxr3L9bLN11nj9cQmdRtFu1uTRGdbZdL5euDGqM0ekLQg_FHhRsWhfOU2VlGp-gBkqZSmKVww8FLIvd5t059tJAi-I/s1600/IMG_1355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQdsI7zOIqJS24BZXEPW0ymfjYACO3U55yQ4toHePrP35SIxSrCxr3L9bLN11nj9cQmdRtFu1uTRGdbZdL5euDGqM0ekLQg_FHhRsWhfOU2VlGp-gBkqZSmKVww8FLIvd5t059tJAi-I/s320/IMG_1355.JPG" width="213" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">However, the stretch
imposed by the ancient Laws of the Realm was the occasion for repeated demands
by some members of the House of Commons to repeal Lord Liverpool’s intention to
reinforce such a writ by passing a Bill known as the “Enlistment Act” aimed at
putting an end to the clandestine recruitment of British subjects bound for
South America. </span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><i>[Note – As Dr Mondolfi’s paper is currently
under review for publication in an academic journal, we can’t publish the full
text here yet. Sorry!]</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[MB] Thanks Edgardo. Finally, I now give you
Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila (<i>who spoke in
Spanish; translation by Aris da Silva and Ana Suarez Vidal of the University of Bristol)</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>[Daniel Gútierrez Ardila]: </b></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Leandro
Miranda: publicist and diplomat (1824-1832)</b></span><span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">One of the sons of the revolutionary
Francisco de Miranda served the Republic of Colombia as journalist and
diplomat. Aa a publicist, he founded and assured for three years (1821-1827)
the edition of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>El
Constitucional</i>, one of the best weekly magazines of its time. Subsequently,
between the month of September 1830 and the first days of 1832, Leandro Miranda
worked as the representative of the Colombian government in London.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">His mission coincided with the death
rattles and the disintegration of the Republic, so it can be said that he had the
fortune to personify a dying political entity. As the mission was also
developed in the middle of the revolutionary moment that shook Europe and put
an end to the Restoration period, Miranda found himself in the paradoxical position
of being a republican diplomat that witnessed at the same time the end of the
Holy Alliance and the fading of his own country. The rest of my paper will
analyze these two facets of the public life of Leandro Miranda regarding the
Republic of Colombia, making the effort to establish links that allow the
better understanding of the agony and death of such State.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Note –
you’ve guessed it. As Dr. Gutierrez’s paper is currently under review for
publication in an academic journal, we can’t publish the full text here.
Sorry!]<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></h4>
<h4>
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Debate after the First Session</span></b></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">[MB] Thank you to all three of
you. We now have half an hour for questions and comments from the floor.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 1]: asked if the government could
have stopped the half-pay of mercenaries to stop them going.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> <i>[A n</i></span><i>ote here on the transcription: as our audio recording didn’t capture the exact words of each questioner in the hall, I have provided a passive transcription based on my extensive notes. I have identified questioners where I have been able. If, upon reading this, you recognise that I have mis-represented you, please let me know and I will amend! If you recognise your question, and want me to insert you name, please let me know too! Thanks, MB]</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[MB]: Yes, this did happen, though it could
take years and years so it was not a great deterrent. But it did cause a lot of
strife for Thomas Manby, who settled in Bogota.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlp714DP6iWSY8bgiFI8IYGsgRID3qF976bdRDBSPfqragGaVxnCEXwVRqcX2HH3UgRORwYPYSEbPb-8NyXpGRhQJ8_ZFMm95-IJRUgbPOJ4yrY00myzY4prb_kDI1_Dc48pgYS_L8yk/s1600/IMG_1372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlp714DP6iWSY8bgiFI8IYGsgRID3qF976bdRDBSPfqragGaVxnCEXwVRqcX2HH3UgRORwYPYSEbPb-8NyXpGRhQJ8_ZFMm95-IJRUgbPOJ4yrY00myzY4prb_kDI1_Dc48pgYS_L8yk/s320/IMG_1372.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 2]: asked if the British
government in the 1810s and 1820s had been duplicitous, as so ever in British
history, by using the Foreign Enlistment Act to maintain the alliance with
Spain? He observed that the Royal Navy was very active in the region, and noted
that Bolivar received helped from the Royal Navy. He asked what help did other
British representatives provide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[EMG]: responded that no, Britain was careful
and pragmatic, but not duplicitous. The Foreign Enlistment Act was a genuine
attempt to support its Spanish ally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 3]: asked Karen Racine to
elaborate more on the borrowing of ideals and institutions that she had
discussed in her paper. She suggested that these encounters, rather than the
battles or supposed ‘adventurers’ beloved of military history, might be more
worthy of celebration and commemoration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 4]: asked whether there were more
British subjects (especially Irishmen) on the Spanish, Royalist side in the
wars of independence, such as the case of an Arbuthnot who became known as
Albernoz. He noted some parallels with the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s,
where recent scholarship has uncovered lots of Irish involvement on the
Nationalist side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[<b>Dr Graciela Rogers, University of Oxford</b>]
interjected from the floor, noting that she has studied the British subjects
who fought for Spain, drawing links with veterans of the Peninsular War. She
suggested that Arburthnot was not a representative case, and argued that
looking at the wider Atlantic and transnational context can help to understand
the phenomenon. [Her doctoral thesis is soon to be published as <i>British Liberators in the Age of Napoleon:
British Volunteers under the Spanish Flag in the Peninsular War]<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 5]: asked whether some of the
ideas of independence were in some degree British, or if other European
cultures were more important?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[KR] responded saying that yes, there were a
mixture of influences at play, though as she argued in the <i>Hispanic American Historical Review, </i>the British was the most
important.<a href="file:///E:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivarian%20Republics%20Transcript%20of%20session%201.doc.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Questionner 6 [Natalia Sobrevilla Perea]:
asked Daniel Gutiérrez if Leandro Miranda was a hybrid character with multiple
identities? And, what happened next to him after the end of Gran Colombia?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">[DG] responded saying that yes, precisely,
Leandro Miranda was a hybrid character, acting as a channel both ways between
British and Colombian cultures. He later returned to Venezuela, where he was
one of the first ever bank directors. Very little information survives relating
to him, so he would be a frustrating character of whom to write a biography.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 7] [Catherine Davies]: noted that
it was important to remember that British investment in the Royal Navy and in
the Peninsular War was great. Britain was not being duplicitous at all, rather
it was seeking to protect those interests and resources. She reminded us of the
importance of British supplying of Cadiz when it was under siege from the
French, and the role of Wellington and his forces in the Spanish war of
independence. She cautioned other speakers against being too hard on British
policy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">She reminded us that during 1820-23 there was a Liberal government in
Spain, which Britain was keen to support, and yet after 1823 Britain did not
intervene in Spain, despite all the exiles it received in London from both
Spain and Spanish America. Britain was in a bit of a quandary, but it is
inaccurate to describe it as being duplicitous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[Questionner 8]: asked about the role of
freemasons, in addition to the links between British and Latin American
institutions and press in the independence-era, as described in both Karen
Racine and Daniel Gutierrez’s paper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[DG] responded that archival materials are
hard to come by for the independence-era, but it seems clear from the 1840s
that Leandro Miranda was a freemason.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[KR] responded that she had researched in the
Freemasons’ Hall archive, and although there are some papers, there is not
enough evidence to suggest that freemasonry was of more than cultural, leisure
value, in this period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">[MB] thanked everyone for their papers and
questions, and looked forward to the next session, when the subject would be
opened out from the historical material, to present-day relations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="file:///E:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivarian%20Republics%20Transcript%20of%20session%201.doc.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></a>
Karen Racine, ‘This England, This Now’: British Cultural Influence in Spanish
America in the Independence-Era’, <i>Hispanic
American Historical Review, </i>2010, <a href="http://hahr.dukejournals.org/content/90/3/423.abstract">http://hahr.dukejournals.org/content/90/3/423.abstract</a>.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Round-table Panel Discussion, 4pm</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">[Matthew
Brown, chairing]: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With this round-table discussion I hope
that we can <span style="background: white;">provide an opportunity for ideas to
surface that might take flight over the next few years, as we move towards the
bicentenaries of the 1819 Battle of Boyacá (in Colombia), the 1821 Battle of
Carabobo (in Venezuela), and the 1822 Battle of Pichincha (in Ecuador). All
those battles featured the participation of important British and Irish figures
on the winning sides. Do we/they need more statues, roads named after them or
commemorative plaques? Or should we be thinking in terms of continuing the
impressive waves of historical studies that have recently emerged, of
investigating this historical encounter in greater depth, curating new
exhibitions and commissioning public lectures? Or perhaps great cultural
events, popular celebrations, or military march-pasts? Is there a role for
battlefield tourism, or a space for shared research or cultural projects? Or
would contemporary political or economic gestures be a more fitting
commemoration of the efforts and sacrifices of
volunteers/mercenaries/adventurers two centuries ago? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdaBjtgAXe4M_EsLPgknk9i_kXo7lT8JN8cFqJC-owJnsHtMC2tUUjRZ2rYET7pSR6qMzjlkblasbC-8i_VXfzrWmezY-Jnl0wvEzlDe2Q_rvNRlhN0XR9IGYKnZ2125ojzbTIlkKZdA/s1600/IMG_1377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdaBjtgAXe4M_EsLPgknk9i_kXo7lT8JN8cFqJC-owJnsHtMC2tUUjRZ2rYET7pSR6qMzjlkblasbC-8i_VXfzrWmezY-Jnl0wvEzlDe2Q_rvNRlhN0XR9IGYKnZ2125ojzbTIlkKZdA/s320/IMG_1377.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We have four
extremely distinguished speakers, who I am delighted to introduce to you in
turn. Professor Inés Quintero of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, His
Excellency Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera, ambassador of the Republic of Colombia to
the UK, His Excellency Samuel Moncada, ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela to the UK, and Dr Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, of the University of
Kent. I have asked each of them to talk for a maximum of ten minutes on the subject
of Britain’s influence in the independence of the Bolivarian Republics, after
which we will have around an hour for comments and observations from the floor.</span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>[Inés Quintero]</b></span></span><span lang="ES-VE" style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE;">: </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One week before
his death, 10 December 1830, Simon Bolivar, wrote his will. In the ninth clause
established what would be the destiny of all his documents: “I order to burn
the documents that are held by Mr. Pavageau”.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What documents
was Simon Bolivar talking about? It was, no more no less, his personal archive:
all the documents that, since the first years of his involvement in the
Independence, he had accumulated for two decades.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All these
documents, hundreds of thousands of originals, organized and kept in 10 chests,
were deposited in Cartagena in hands of the French merchant Juan Bautista
Pavageau, who had instructions from Bolivar to send them over to Paris, when he
had fixed residence in that city, the place where he thought about retiring for
the rest of his days.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3liW67q_Syo7h4xNJ14g0TRhE3u1riOb6BxU3DDBkDBYQjw48PVA4GTIB6YSwqVPipD-h7Gh1WBPSJgB7wKc297GTOPOS9JOi4Hmsd4_IFYum8Y7I03MbaN8R3mdnVkrQkG7t2ljQkqY/s1600/IMG_1381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3liW67q_Syo7h4xNJ14g0TRhE3u1riOb6BxU3DDBkDBYQjw48PVA4GTIB6YSwqVPipD-h7Gh1WBPSJgB7wKc297GTOPOS9JOi4Hmsd4_IFYum8Y7I03MbaN8R3mdnVkrQkG7t2ljQkqY/s320/IMG_1381.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Simon Bolivar
had to be in a special emotional state to take this decision. The murder of
Antonio Jose de Sucre in June 1830 had been a fatal blow. The open and
generalized reaction against his presence in the leadership of the Colombian
government, the reaction to his dictatorship, the end of his ambitions for
political predominance in the different parts of the Republic of Colombia by
the press, in pamphlets and wall posters, and finally, the definitive
liquidation of the unity of Gran Colombia and his resignation from power, all
definitely influenced his emotional state. He was alone, condemned, insulted
and loathed by his own country. In the middle of all that horror, he decided to
condemn to flames the only thing that remained of his public life: his
documents, the whole archive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Luckily, also
in his last will, he named his executors: his executors were the ones that took
the decision of ignoring the ninth clause of the will, ordering the French merchant
Pavageau to send the 10 chests from Cartagena to Jamaica to avoid its
disappearance or destruction. When the documents arrived in Jamaica, the Irish
General Daniel Florencio O’Leary would have a leading role in the preservation,
extension and creation of the initial core of what we nowadays know as the <i>Archivo
del Libertador</i>. O’Leary was an aide-de-camp and a close collaborator of
Simon Bolivar since he arrived to Venezuela en 1818; to the point that years
before Bolivar’s death he was given the task of writing Bolivar’s biography. So
when they received the chests with the documents of El Libertador, O’Leary
himself and Juan Francisco Martin, one of the executors, decided to divide the
archive in three parts: one of the parts was kept by the Irish General with the
documents corresponding to the years 1819-1839, with the aim of completing the
deceased’s order. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another part
was sent to Pedro Briceño Mendez, also a close collaborator of Bolivar, and
married to one of Bolivar’s nieces; and the third part remained with Juan
Francisco Martin.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">O’Leary, while
he continued with his occupations, he kept this important documentary legacy,
which he is responsible of enriching, extending and organizing until the day of
his death in 1854. O’Leary himself wrote to Bolivar’s allies and closest
collaborators so that they would send documents, relations, correspondence; he
even visited the Spanish General Pablo Morillo, who gave him documentation that
he had about the war. He also wrote an extensive description of the events of
the Independence and Bolivar’s involvement in the development of the war. When
he died, this important documentary collection remained in Bogota, in hands of
his eldest son Simon Bolivar O’Leary.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">During the
second mandate of Antonio Guzman Blanco, in the late nineteenth century, O’Leary’s
eldest son, named Simon Bolivar O’Leary, wrote a letter to President Guzman
Blanco, dated 16 August 1879, offering the Venezuelan State his father’s
archive. Then, he travelled to Venezuela with a bulky archive. He translated
the text of O’Leary’s narration, that was mainly written in English and he also
did the proof reading and controlled the edition that started to be printed in
the year 1879 and concluded the printing of the 32 volumes nine years later, in
1888 with the title <i>Memorias del general O’Leary</i>. They were erroneously
named as there are only two volumes of <i>memorias</i> (memories)
called <i>Narraciones</i>, and another volume that corresponds to the
Appendix, the rest of the collection concerns the documents of the Libertador.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 1883,
precisely, on the first centenary of Bolivar’s birth, an important impasse
happened. The President Guzman ordered the incineration of the printed sheets
of the third volume of the Appendix of the <i>Narración de O’Leary</i> because
it contained information that, according to him, affected the memory of the
Father of the nation. That volume didn’t see the light, at that time, due to
the intemperance and arbitrariness of the so-called <i>Ilustre Americano</i>. But, as this happened when the Libertador was
already dead, those who were responsible for burning the papers did not
complete the task adequately, and in 1914, they were found in Valencia,
concluding, at that time, the editing process of the censured volume by Guzman.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">However,
O’Leary’s originals, since 1883, because of an agreement between the
descendants and Guzman’s government, remained in the possession of the
Venezuelan State, starting the foundations of what, subsequently, would be the
Archivo del Libertador. The other sections, after different, long and eventful journeys,
finally, arrived in Venezuela in different times during the twentieth century
and they were put together with the documents that the Irish General had,
zealously, kept.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This group of
documents gathered the epistolary exchange sustained by Bolivar with allies and
enemies; with Pablo Morillo, Jose Antonio Paez, Francisco de Paula Santander,
Antonio Jose de Sucre, Fernando Peñalver, Juan German Roscio, Rafael Revenga;
and many other military and civilian figures of the Independence process, not
only from Venezuela and Nueva Granada, but also from the provinces of Rio de la
Plata, Peru, Charcas, Quito, Guayaquil and other parts of the world as England,
United States and France.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The collection
includes official documents of different kinds, manifestos, proclamations,
edicts, forms and manuscripts, as for example: El reglamento electoral para la
reunión del Congreso en Angostura (the electoral regulation for the meeting of
the Angostura’s Congress); el tratado de Armisticio firmado en 1820 (the
Armistice Treaty signed in 1820); los bandos de Morillo (Morillo’s edicts), la
ley de Secuestro de 1819 (the Kidnapping Law of 1819); notices of war, reports,
speeches, the succinct summary of his biography about Antonio José de Sucre, and
more.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All types of
official documents, then, but also personal, private letters, affectionate,
familiar, loving, from women… The letters sent to Manuela Saenz, and the ones
from Manuela to him; the letters from other women such as the ones from
Garaicoa de Guayaquil; or the letters that he and his sister Maria Antonia
Bolivar wrote to each other; about family matters, properties. Or, the
valuation files of some of his confiscated belongings by the authorities of the
monarchy in 1816…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINFNlBATDE0Y_0OG5BAzAn03Q9_EPvj8mCXBvXOfjkdbRW3437GDbpXN7h6KCC9FZOXjh2eSWwaj9cSHJLrcxMgtjxf1fSmTV5tSiDQn4LPZAf08dCuLg_B_IVO-xFrmpzdo4Mod-eW8/s1600/IMG_1414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjINFNlBATDE0Y_0OG5BAzAn03Q9_EPvj8mCXBvXOfjkdbRW3437GDbpXN7h6KCC9FZOXjh2eSWwaj9cSHJLrcxMgtjxf1fSmTV5tSiDQn4LPZAf08dCuLg_B_IVO-xFrmpzdo4Mod-eW8/s320/IMG_1414.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Countless
documents, in which had been registered, the political details, military,
administrative of the historical process which he was singular and fundamental
figure, and where the most dissimilar documentary and testimonial evidences of
the political atmosphere of that time, economic circumstances, social routines,
distressed circumstances, intrigues, disagreements, confrontations, passions,
hopes and affection were found.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All this
documentation, after going back to Venezuela, was held by the Academia Nacional
de la Historia (ANH), guarded by Vicente Lecuna, at first, then it was sent to
La Casa Natal del Libertador. In 1997 all this documentation was declared by
the UNESCO in the Registro de la Memoria del Mundo. Two years later, the
documents were relocated to the ANH, an institution that was in charge of its
restoration and conservation until, a controversial presidential decree ordered
its transfer to the Archivo General de la Nacion in 2010, in the framework of
the bicentenary commemorations (13 April 2010, Decree Number 7375) [1]</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
bicentenaries, were without any doubt, the right occasion, not only for
meetings like today’s to happen, in which we can discuss the presence of the
British legionnaires in our Independence; a topic that has different views,
encountered, and for sure, they will always exist, as many other aspects of our
stories that, in the framework of the commemorations permitted renewed views,
open debates, broadening of prospects, restorations of testimonies, exchange of
opinions. At the same time, the bicentenaries have been favorable occasions for
the patriotic reiterations, the repetition of commonplaces, eulogy of the
heroes and the disparagement of enemies, for the elaboration of political
speeches, ideological, as seen in the official rhetoric.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Regarding the
Archivo del Libertador, just reviewed, we have to point out that it was
precisely, an Irish General, one of the founders of such a great and
unavoidable documentary collection, and secondly, celebrate that precisely, in
the framework of the bicentenaries commemorations on the initiative of the
Academia Nacional de la Historia and of the Instituto de Investigaciones
Históricas of the University of Simon Bolivar, we digitalized and completely
automated this important documentary collection: more than 99,500 images, which
can be consulted, in the original, through a search system that facilitates its
localization and revision.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">For the first
time in history, the Archivo del Libertador, can be consulted, without charge,
in the websites of <a href="http://www.anhvenezuela.org/" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" target="_blank">la Academia Nacional de Historia de Venezuela</a>- and the
Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas <i>Bolivarium</i> of the
University Simon Bolivar – and on </span><a href="http://www.bolivarium.usb.ve/" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;" target="_blank">la página web de la Universidad Simón Bolívar</a><span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Although the
initiative of the ANH and the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bolivarium</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> coincided with the
commemoration of the first bicentenary, in the 5 July 1811, its relevance goes
beyond the commemorative milestone, with attention to the historical magnitude
of this huge effort that allowed to maintain forever, the richest and most
important originals of the documentary heritage about the life and trajectory
of Simon Bolivar and the processes of independence in Latin America
guaranteeing its protection and preservation of any mutilation, disappearance
or intervention. This is the best gift that we could give to mankind, from
Venezuela, in its 200 years of republican life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[Aplausos]</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040" name="_ftn1"></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="file:///F:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftnref1" title=""><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[1]</span></a></span><span style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> Considering:</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That the
universal thought of Simon Bolivar “El Libertador y de “Generalísimo” Francisco
de Miranda, precursors of our Independence, represent the ideological base of
the Bolivarian Revolution, and as a consequence, its archive contains the
fundamental documentation of its revolutionary legacy that liberates the
nations of America and the World. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="ES-VE" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">CONSIDERING</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That the
documents and the historical archives of the Nations, must be opened to the
government’s institutions that truly develop its functions with the aim of
rescuing the historical memory of the fights for the Venezuelan freedom, which
had been hidden by public factors against the revolutionary process.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">CONSIDERING</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">That is the
obligation of the Revolutionary Government to guarantee to protection, the
preservation, the enrichment and restoration of the cultural heritage, as well
as, the historical memory of the Nation, bearing in mind that it is of public
use to keep safe, to preserve and to study the documents and historical
archives of the Republic.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #335d6e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It has been
ordered to transfer it to the Archivo General de la Nacion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; text-indent: 35.45pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; text-indent: 35.45pt;">[MB]: Thank you Ines. [</span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; text-indent: 35.45pt;">Thanks also to my University of Bristol colleagues Aris da Silva and Ana Suarez Vidal, who provided the English translation]</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; text-indent: 35.45pt;">. </span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We now pass over to Ambassador
Rodriguez.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>[Mauricio Rodríguez]: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Good afternoon.
Dear Dr Brown, thank you very much for your kind invitation to this interesting
seminar at Canning House. The history of the role of Great Britain in the
independence wars in northern South America is fascinating. In recent years I
have been reading more and more about the participation of thousands of British
men in the battles for freedom which took place in Colombia and I am
particularly impressed in the key role played by Colonel James Rooke. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKuptyDaHwcfnYhKg7Rqk1ezQq0aPJ7j91sB2_nF8OZT5o1DP2vekOEeB_LWi90MaedaMYAgTYE9BdSIFQTZFatEDrnq6TvDJZ3Bfp2F7SIxJnca7a2wRn6nSIILNFp_j7nvhIz-CYsM/s1600/IMG_1400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKuptyDaHwcfnYhKg7Rqk1ezQq0aPJ7j91sB2_nF8OZT5o1DP2vekOEeB_LWi90MaedaMYAgTYE9BdSIFQTZFatEDrnq6TvDJZ3Bfp2F7SIxJnca7a2wRn6nSIILNFp_j7nvhIz-CYsM/s320/IMG_1400.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Two years
ago, as part of our commemoration of the bicentenary of Colombia’s independence
in the United Kingdom, the Colombian embassy requested five distinguished British
scholars, including Dr Brown, to write essays with their views in this role.
You have received or you will receive a copy of this document at the end of
today’s seminar <a href="http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/sites/default/files/Document%20Bicentenary%20UK.pdf" target="_blank">copy of this document, <i>Great Britain and the Independence of Colombia</i></a>.
But since I am not an expert in these historical matters, I agreed with Dr Brown
that I will not talk about the past of the relations between Great Britain and Colombia.
Instead I will briefly share with you my opinions about the nature of what I
believe should be the future of these relations. A future that we have been
building with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, other ministries in
parliament, the business and financial communities, scientific, academic and
cultural institutions through a wonderful teamwork that is already producing
very good results. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What does Colombia need? What do we want from
the UK? And what can Colombia offer to the UK? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In summary, these are the top
five concrete contributions that we expect from Great Britain:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First, political support to the
social prosperity agenda of Colombia with particular emphasis on the well being
of the most deprived communities in my country, which includes the very
important peace process that was officially <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19484693" target="_blank">launched by President Santos last night.</a> for which Prime Minister David Cameron gave great support in a statement
released this morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Second, the ratification of the
free trade agreement between the European Union and Colombia that we hope will
be approved by the European parliament late next month and then by the British
parliament. This treaty which I have studied extensively in the past few years will benefit the economies of both nations. They are excellent
opportunities for large, medium and small enterprises on both sides of the Atlantic
to increase substantially the trade and investment flows. We have the common
objective to double trade between our countries in the next three years and I
personally have no doubt that we will surpass this goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Third, that deepening and
diversification of the relations between British and Colombian academia. I am
convinced that British universities such as the University of Bristol are the
best in the world and I want to link more and more professors, researchers,
students and managers with their Colombian counterparts so that in my country
we can increase as soon and as much as possible the quality of our higher
education. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fourth, your technical know-how
and experience to strengthen our young and weak institutions in particular in
the areas of justice, health, infrastructure and innovation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And fifth, British investment. The
UK is already the second largest foreign investor in Colombia with a stock of
$20 billion but there is plenty of room in many sectors for further investments.
Investment as a percentage of GDP in Colombia has increased from 12% to almost
30% in the past decade, but to be able to have the really high sustained growth
rate which we need to eradicate extreme poverty, ideally this ratio should be
about 40%. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, what does Colombia have to
offer to the UK? There are in my opinion five top potential contributions that
we can make to the UK and to our bilateral relations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First, Colombia is the most bio-diverse
nation per square kilometre in the planet this gives the UK the opportunity to
work together with Colombia in the protection of this unique natural endowment
and the discovery of many wonders that scientists believe will be found in the
331 eco-systems of my country. Second, a very attractive emerging economy, one
of the global top performers in the coming years, according to the experts,
with 46 million potential consumers of many more British products and services.
We want and we can increase substantially our imports from the UK and welcome
very much investment from the UK in Colombia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Third, our fabulous culture,
which is now starting to be known in the rest of the world, a culture that has
many contributions to make to global happiness through our music and other
artistic manifestations and our traditions, our wisdom and creativity of our
indigenous communities, our food and our superb landscape which of course has
played a crucial role in creating our cultural expressions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fourth, Colombia can be and has
been a very good ally for the UK in international matters. In Latin America and
the rest of the world defending and promoting democracy, free markets, human
rights, the rule of law and that multi-lateral solution to complex problems for
mankind such as climate change, extreme poverty, violence and drugs. An example
of this alliance has been the very good team work that Colombia and the UK have
done in the United Nations Security Council in the past two years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Last, a voracious appetite for
learning. Colombians are very keen to learn, we love to study and there are
many fields in which we need and we want to expand our expertise and the UK has
an enormous wealth of knowledge that is your greatest asset. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you very much. [Applause]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[<b>MB</b>]: Thank you very much
ambassador. Listening to your talk, with the ambassador of Venezuela sat beside
you, I was reminded that in the recent London 2012 Olympic games, both Colombia
and Venezuela won fantastic gold medals, in BMX racing and in fencing respectively.
That was a close draw, and I am sure that Ambassador Moncada will now keep
exactly and precisely to time as his Colombian counterpart has done. Ambassador Moncada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>[Samuel Moncada]:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you
very much. I am going to be not quick, but I do intend to make the most of my ten
minutes. When Matthew invited me to this meeting, he asked me to talk exactly about
the subject of British influence on the independence of the Bolivarian
Republics in South America. That’s what I am going to talk about, because I am
a historian, and because I love this subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I came in I heard an expert,
sitting at the back [Professor Catherine Davies, University of Nottingham], she
was talking about Britain’s position on independence in South America. I am
sure she knows more than me about it, but anyway I am going to touch this
subject from my point of view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think there are two important
British influences in the South American Independences – for there are several
independences, not just one Independence. They can be divided, just for
convenience, into two main subjects. The first is the position of the United Kingdom’s
government regarding the independence of South America. The second is the
influence of the British people in South America, what they actually did on the
ground in the battles for Independence. They are connected subjects, but they
are not the same. They are related, but they are not subordinated one to the
other. I mean, of course the British people in Latin America were to some
degree a consequence of the British government’s position regarding Latin America,
but they were they were not directed by the British government. They were
absolutely independent from government control, and many of them even became
Venezuelans and Colombians, by serving in the army and coming to think of
themselves as Venezuelans and Colombians. So it is interesting to point out
these differences and see how they are remembered on each side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First: the British position. I
think it is fair to say that the British government position regarding the
independence of the South American colonies was the ruthless, ruthless,
following of national self interest. I mean, the British were as any nation
just trying to pursue their own benefits. They looked to expand their own power
over other inferior powers, and you can see that competition within the context
of the imperial wars and the whole world. Particularly in the Atlantic and Latin
America there were the Spaniards and Portuguese, of course, but also the French,
the Dutch (by the way the Dutch - nobody talks about them! but in regards to
Venzuela they were very important because of Curacao, which changed hands
several times during the war of independence, and was linked to the Venezuelan
port of Coro, which was very important for the war of independence in Venezuela).
Anyway, there was great imperial competition: the Spaniards, the French, the
Dutch and the British on the European side, and then the former British
colonies, the United States, on the American side of the Atlantic, and all of
them were expanding or fighting for expansion, or fighting (in the case of the
Spaniards) to preserve their power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You could say that, just for the
matter of understanding this process, the British position had three different
stages or phases. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDafTQza9LIc0iKnzzD4LhxCTzeYRb99dO4XoColllAkUX5k7BkCFrNHasmvJ1WPiicMwrWiR4QOqBeGYJqUAmjP30qo_MiEglFofHfNvJbrgao9RmTPeNy_QqZPG-AD3JZ3U570jAaRo/s1600/IMG_1382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDafTQza9LIc0iKnzzD4LhxCTzeYRb99dO4XoColllAkUX5k7BkCFrNHasmvJ1WPiicMwrWiR4QOqBeGYJqUAmjP30qo_MiEglFofHfNvJbrgao9RmTPeNy_QqZPG-AD3JZ3U570jAaRo/s320/IMG_1382.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The first stage consists of the
whole eighteenth century, up until 1808. During this time the British were just
acting like any other imperial power: land grabbing, fighting for territory and
markets. That’s what they did when they took Trinidad, and when they took
Jamaica in the seventeenth century, and even when they attempted to take Buenos
Aires in 1806. There are firsthand accounts of when the British thought they
had won in 1806, and where they thought they had taken Buenos Aires, and they
planned to move on to take Chile, Mexico, Peru etc, etc, etc. The British thought
that that was the right decision, to undermine the Spaniards by grabbing and
snatching the Spanish colonies. Nevertheless they weren’t able to do that
because more or less at that same time, in 1807 and 1808, Napoleon invaded
Spain and Spain was suddenly on the side of the British to fight against the
French. You could also say that the most important British contribution to the
South American Independences was in fact back at the victory of the naval
Battle of Trafalgar, when the Royal Navy destroyed entirely the French and
Spanish fleet, and left Spain without any means to counter attack the
revolutionary wars in the Americas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In General Simon Bolivar’s
letter, written in Jamaica in 1815, he asked ‘How are we going to obey a crown
or kingdom which has no means to subdue or wage war against us in South America,
they have no ships nor canons, no weapons, so it is ridiculous to accept the
power of a kingdom that has been destroyed’.<a href="file:///E:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second most important European
contribution to the independence of Latin America was the Napoleonic invasion of
Spain. When France overran Spain it created a headless empire for there was no recognised
king. Even though Francisco de Miranda and many others were asking the British
to organise an invasion of Spanish colonies in the Americas long before the
Napoleonic invasion, when Napoleon invaded Spain it became obvious that it was
the right time to do something about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The third most important
contribution to the Independence of the Spanish South American colonies was
precisely the implosion within the Spanish empire itself. By this I mean the
stubbornness – some people say the stupidity - of the Spanish monarchs Charles
IV and Ferdinand VII. They made gigantic errors in international policy and
then struggled with their own contradictions between liberals and absolutists,
and between pro-French and pro-Spanish factions. It is interesting that the
divisions within Spain were replicated in Hispanic America, there was a
symmetry to it. You couldn’t define the War of Independence in South America,
as it was so complex. It was in many ways a civil war. You could say that civil
war was occurring at exactly the same time in Spain in their War of
Independence. Later, the turbulence and turmoil of Latin America after the
independence wars lasted the rest of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, you could see
them replicated again in Spain during the rest of the 19<sup>th</sup> century: I
mean, the fractures, the conflicts that generated independence went on long
after the end of the wars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Early today I heard the phrase ‘sitting
on the fence’ used to describe British neutrality towards the cause of
independence. [Examining the history], I don’t see any fence-sitting, they were
actively working to undermine the Spaniards before 1808. Then they supported
the Spanish just to prevent the French taking over South America (when the
French took Spain). Then, after 1815, they were trying to wait just to see if the
South Americans could achieve independence, and then they would recognise that.
Why did Britain recognise the independence of South America in 1823? For two
reasons: one was the United States of America had done so in 1822, and the
Americans did that because they had just finished an agreement with Spain to take
over Florida, and also because they had their own ambitions in South America.
The Monroe Doctrine was issued in 1823 precisely to try to stop any Europeans from
intervening in the American hemisphere, it was the first manifest expression of
the ‘backyard’ policy of the United States.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is interesting to note that
it was an Imperial Republic that was formed there [in the North], because Bolivar
himself, at the time in South America, believed that Spain and the Americas
were divided by monarchy. He saw that there would be expansion [in the North].
He thought that the republic was a system that intrinsically couldn’t propose
or support imperial land grabbing, [and he observed] imperialists, republicans
and expansionists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Changing to the other side of
the story for just a final minute, [it is important to note that the British
expeditions to Colombia and Venezuela] were comprised by representatives of the
whole range of humanity. It would be ridiculous to generalise about them, when we
don’t even agree on what to call them! We call them adventurers, volunteers,
mercenaries, patriots etc. In the same way that we don’t agree in the name to
give them, we disagree on the sides who fought: on one side we have loyalists,
royalists or monarchists. On the other side people say republicans, patriots,
insurgents, independents, rebels, revolutionaries and so on. Whichever we
choose signals one angle as to how we see the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But my point is that the British
contribution to the independence on the ground – not British policy, but the British
themselves – around seven thousand individuals that <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventuring-Through-Spanish-Colonies-Mercenaries/dp/184631044X" target="_blank">Matthew Brown studied thoroughly</a>,
their contribution was different. There were soldiers and also many merchants, journalists,
politicians, doctors and sailors, [their contribution to independence] was
immense, and particularly so in the Bolivarian republics, where they fought
alongside the Venezuelans and the Colombians and the Ecuadorians all the way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These British people sacrificed
a lot – Matthew, in his book, sounds a little bit cold in his analysis of their
rhetoric of sacrifice - there was actual sacrifice of thousands of lives. There
are what people call nameless graves in the plains of Peru and in the mountains
of Venezuela. Thousands of British people sacrificed their lives there, and many
others [were not soldiers, but] they were cleaning the houses, there were
drunks, corpses, there were scammers, there were all sorts of people but there
were also idealists, loyalists and romantic British fighters for freedom. Many
of them gave their lives, for example William Ferguson was killed in 1828
saving Bolivar from a failed attempted assassination. The Battles of Carabobo
was the most important battle of independence in Venezuela [in 1821] and there
was a British Legion there which was essential for the victory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I could talk about that, and
those people, a lot more, but just to finish: it would be mean-spirited,
ungenerous and ungrateful not to recognise the sacrifice of the British in our
wars of independence, and we are happy to do so two hundred years afterwards. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you very much. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Applause]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="file:///E:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="ES"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="ES" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="ES"> </span><i>MB’s
note: my translation of the full text of the letter can be found in Simón Bolívar: The Bolivarian Revolution,
introduced by Hugo Chavez (Verso: 2009), <span lang="ES"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugo-Ch%C3%A1vez-presents-Simon-Bolivar/dp/1844673812"><span lang="EN-GB">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hugo-Ch%C3%A1vez-presents-Simon-Bolivar/dp/1844673812</span></a></span>. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[MB]: Thank you very much. I
hand over now to Natalia Sobrevilla Perea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">[Natalia Sobrevilla Perea]</span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you very much. Thank you Matthew for inviting me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Listening to our panel, I
actually have to make my apologies because I am in fact not a specialist in the
Bolivarian republics but much more on the impact that Bolivar had further south.
I am an expert more in the Andes, Peru, Bolivia, and I noticed the absence of
the representatives from the Ecuadorian Embassy today. I imagine that they are
all very busy taken up with other matters that are quite urgent.<a href="file:///E:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCvDt450oBhjsW8OTpZMJLBdQ5hOJDvbkFK7uSdU2vl80IieOxW0G2pC4PbT-3eg7EoLLI8RKh44gGKbgn3m_Uq_Qau0INMFMs4jNLQFjsgoNi7r7htX43rqq9vvM5IahG2nl6orZp9w/s1600/IMG_1389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCvDt450oBhjsW8OTpZMJLBdQ5hOJDvbkFK7uSdU2vl80IieOxW0G2pC4PbT-3eg7EoLLI8RKh44gGKbgn3m_Uq_Qau0INMFMs4jNLQFjsgoNi7r7htX43rqq9vvM5IahG2nl6orZp9w/s320/IMG_1389.JPG" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I do think that Inés Quintero’s
discussion of the Bolivarian archive is very important. Someone mentioned at the
beginning of the comments in the last session, what would be the best way to
commemorate and celebrate. Of course, documentation! Making documentation
available, I think as a historian, is one of the best possible contributions
that can be made. In fact I want to thank the ambassador and the whole Venezuelan
people for their generosity not just now by making the archive available to
everyone in the world to be able to look at these documents, but also for their
efforts with a major cultural project, the <a href="http://www.bibliotecayacucho.gob.ve/fba/" target="_blank">Biblioteca Ayacucho</a>, which I think is the one of the most impressive collections, which is also
online which can be consulted by everybody, everywhere. You can find all the
canon of literature, travel, history, and I would invite everybody here to
truly take advantage of these resources. They really are very much the history
not just of Venezuela but of the whole continent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now onto the task of the day
which is the British role in the independence of the Bolivarian republics. As I
mentioned before, I am more of an expert in the British participation further
south, and I would like to invite my colleagues such as Matthew and Daniel
[Gutierrez] to think about how Bolivar doesn’t stop in Ecuador in 1822. He does
not! He goes further south and the impact that he has in Peru is considerable.
He then creates a nation called Bolivia that is not really represented today, as
it is not felt [by historians] to be a traditional Bolivarian republic. Or is
it? In a sense I think we need to query that term. If you look at the monument
just down the road to <a href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/spanishamericanind/images/bbsquare1lg.jpg" target="_blank">Simon Bolivar in Belgrave Square</a> in London, it says 'Liberator of many countries', including Peru and Bolivia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a great Irish and
British participation that came with Bolivar, the legions that Matthew studied,
but also if we look to Peru, they encountered other British participants in
these wars that had come from the other side of the Andes. The Chilean navy was
very much a British navy at the time, it was men like Lord Thomas Cochrane who
put it together and like Martin Guise who were the ones who were actually moving
forward the whole campaign, and making it possible for them to traverse from Chile
into Peru and to begin all the process there from 1819 into 1821.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There were people like William
Miller, for instance, who is incredibly important in this process. He did not
come with Bolivar, he came to Peru the other way. In fact, he tells in his
memoirs that he was in Buenos Aries and thinking of becoming a merchant after
having fought in the Peninsula wars in Spain. He had been part of the men who
had fought next to Wellington. He had known many Spanish officers at the time
and then he was kind of out of a job, he was in the 1812 war against the United
States and he was looking for a commission, thinking of becoming a merchant in
Buenos Aires. Then he ended up having an encounter with a woman who convinced
him that his life was for glory. He decided to travel to Chile, and he
eventually joined San Martin, and went to Peru. Miller was the creator of much
of the Peruvian army and a very influential person in this whole process. He
also linked up with the other Irish and British men who were coming with Bolivar.
Francisco Burdett O’Connor was one of those. O’Connor was one of the ones who
came with Bolivar, and in his diaries he remembered their celebrating St.
Patrick’s Day in Peru, how they would put together some cases of rum because
they didn’t have whiskey and they just celebrated together because of their shared
identity. They had this commonness, there was something about them, they were British
and Irish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was also a mention earlier
of the other Irish who had been fighting on the side of the Spanish king. In
the case of Peru there is a very famous general General O’Reilly who was
defeated in 1820 in a battle at Cerro Uliachin. He was so distraught on his way
back to Spain that he jumped off the boat, he thought that his life was not
worth living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These were very interesting
lives to learn about. When you think of the Irish involvement, you think of
Bernardo O’Higgins, <a href="http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/spanishamericanind/ohiggins.html" target="_blank">someone who we have also memorialised around here</a>, who
was mentioned by Karen Racine earlier today. Bernardo O’Higgins was part of that
Irish connection that was always lingering in the Spanish crowd. As was said
before, it wasn’t just that they were on one side but they were on both. It wasn’t
just the Irish or the British, but also the French and the Germans. There are all
kinds of connections here at the time that are very interesting and important.
I think that we need to remember and I would very much echo the ambassador’s
point and the fact that [British people] actually fought and gave a big part of
their lives. Miller lost the use of one of his arms in one of the bombing
attacks he received and he was a very damaged man by the end of the wars. This
is just one example of many, many others of these lives that were very blighted
by their participation in the wars and that’s something that we need to
remember now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">How should we remember? Should
we go to the battle places and re-enact the battles? Should we go and celebrate
them? Should we go and think of all these people? Should we think about
knowledge transfer, or something more similar to what Ines Quintero was
mentioning. I think that this is an interesting thing to think about. What are the
different ways in which we can remember and memorialise? Of course the
ambassador of Colombia in his talk mentioned this idea of what happens in the
future. One of the things that he highlighted was this idea of knowledge
transfer, of communication of ideas, of information. Karen Racine mentioned
earlier how these miners were being taken from Cornwall down to Peru to work on
mines, and they used steam and new technologies, and how investment was the
byword of the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of the things that we are
not remembering here too much is all the financial aspects of how these wars
were fought. When we think of the independence war in North America we have to
think of the fact that they were pretty much given a free cheque, they were not
charged for what everything cost. That is not what happened in the Latin
American, Hispanic republics. They all came to London, they all asked for money
and they all got money, lots of it, lots of cash but very soon they realised
that they didn’t really have much in order to pay it back. And then they had
these merchants turning up, with ice skates to Rio de Janeiro, and bowler hats
to Peru, thousands of hats that no one knew what to do with. Today of course
you see peasants in Bolivia wearing bowler hats and it seems a bit strange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Commercial relations were very
important, [they were the background to] British participation in independence.
I think the ambassador made a very important point, which is to distinguish
between the British government and what the government wants [on the one hand],
and of course [on the other] what individuals will do and of course the
commercial issue people who are trying to find some benefit in all of this. Of
course a lot of the people that ended up investing in these new republics ended
up losing a lot money - the bond holders were holding bad debt, something which
is very very close to us now, they were holding debt that couldn’t be sustained.
Matthew in fact has studied someone who was managing to raise funds for a
country that didn’t even exist - he was a British adventurer [Gregor MacGregor]
who convinced people in the city of London to give him money to go to a country
that he made up. It is a great story. (</span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0261-3050.2005.00124.x/abstract" style="line-height: 115%;" target="_blank">‘Inca, Sailor, Soldier, King’, Bulletinof Latin American Research, 2005)</a>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In conclusion, we need to
consider all these different connections. On that note, just to put the strands
together, I do think that we need to think about the past and where this long-term
relationship comes. It is not just from the wars of independence, but even before
in the colonial period, with the Irish-Spanish connection we shouldn’t really
forget. We have these men who gave a lot in battle, we have the commercial
considerations, the mining issues and we have the knowledge aspect as well. We
have a lot of things that we can think about and we can now talk about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Applause]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="file:///E:/Impact/Britain%20and%20the%20Independence%20of%20the%20Bolivian%20Republics%20Transcript%20Part%201%20MB%20Update.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="ES"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="ES" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="ES"> </span>A
reference to the continued presence of Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian
Embassy while we were talking on 5 September 2012, where he had been granted asylum.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Questions and Discussion after the round-table</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfU5DRNq7zcq44AfNX2ectM3jn7bgEqRUoIDWpgBPOBmWabo9bNR4S8EkgLalLuVtar0qfTVBGPby-Az8vFvLEgmVpoJTqNwhS3yTlL2SVtZJJS4E-0sHb-MjwyTwPx06GvU_cbzFJWYY/s1600/IMG_1390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfU5DRNq7zcq44AfNX2ectM3jn7bgEqRUoIDWpgBPOBmWabo9bNR4S8EkgLalLuVtar0qfTVBGPby-Az8vFvLEgmVpoJTqNwhS3yTlL2SVtZJJS4E-0sHb-MjwyTwPx06GvU_cbzFJWYY/s320/IMG_1390.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Contribution 1 [Isaac Bigio]: remarked that today’s
discussions have demonstrated the enduring excellent relations between Britain
and Latin America, and noted that the most important manifestation of that
relationship, and channel for it, is the Latin American community in the UK.
One important stage-post towards the recognition of the UK’s Latin American
community has been the decision by Southwark council to recognise Latin
American as an ethnic category. He stated that we must all work to end the
invisibility of Latin Americans in the UK. To this end, he directed everyone’s
attention to the newly-instituted </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/notes/amigo-month-london/amigo-month-7-sept-12-october-2012/351108431588982" style="line-height: 115%;" target="_blank">AMIGOS month</a><span style="line-height: 115%;">, to be held from 7 September –
15 October every year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This aims to be a Latin American History month, in the
same way as Black History month is so successful in promoting culture and
identity and memory in the UK. He said that today’s event was a great way to
get the month started, and hoped that soon, if everyone joins in, it won’t just
be the Mayor of London who is interested, but also the Prime Minister, and the
Queen. [see </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">].</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">[Contribution 2]: noted that the speakers who focused on
looking forward were the most convincing, and that those who dwelled on the
past, and sought to complicated things, were less useful. She argued that the
digitisation projects as discussed by Professor Quintero were most exciting,
and hoped that other projects could be found to continue such an initiative.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIe6oMXVPSjFTAXSIf3lHH0N1w_xfJj0ugeqefBsN_QI3b4NQRYuJF0sIJfVGrckyUbDwaq6TrpdSNYNMXMD7XVeaLpgSEQ60r1MlQOBBGb20RTTa6Q2o9ZJhgmbiVRRU4cDqnyiVUPM/s1600/IMG_1394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIe6oMXVPSjFTAXSIf3lHH0N1w_xfJj0ugeqefBsN_QI3b4NQRYuJF0sIJfVGrckyUbDwaq6TrpdSNYNMXMD7XVeaLpgSEQ60r1MlQOBBGb20RTTa6Q2o9ZJhgmbiVRRU4cDqnyiVUPM/s200/IMG_1394.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">[MB]: remarked that the papers of Mary English, who travelled
and lived in Venezuela and Colombia during the Independence-era, are held in
the British Library. He is seeking funding to digitise these manuscripts and
make them available to scholars across the world. Anyone interested in funding
such a project should get in touch ...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">[Contribution 3]: lamented that the best way to mark the
bicentenaries of Britain’s involvement in independence would be to reverse the
losses of the last decade. He made particular reference to the loss of the
Chevening Scholarships, and to reductions enforced across the British Council
operations in Latin America. He noted that it has become much more difficult
for Peruvians to get visas to visit, for example. He concluded by remarking that
two hundred years ago Spain was unable to operate in Latin America because of
economic and political crisis, which opened the door to Great Britain, and
suggested that contemporary resonances might suggest opportunities to Great
Britain in the region if it were to better focus its energies and resources. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAr-cXI8FUHUWULix8xLgn133vpMsvz4lnlFtC5iqLTYQqek96Z8TBdhIGEVSHjCnN91UvFZt29A5cwwDbZGQYd0R0hmXKwBVrRl5RnNLd1sSCIKxlCJGnvlz3nzgeJIwk21KeIYqHpw/s1600/IMG_1391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGAr-cXI8FUHUWULix8xLgn133vpMsvz4lnlFtC5iqLTYQqek96Z8TBdhIGEVSHjCnN91UvFZt29A5cwwDbZGQYd0R0hmXKwBVrRl5RnNLd1sSCIKxlCJGnvlz3nzgeJIwk21KeIYqHpw/s200/IMG_1391.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">[Contribution 4]: thanked the speakers and noted that education
was a key area for shared expertise. In particular, she noted the need for new
educational tools and improvement on both sides of the equation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 5]: remarked upon the decline of the British
Council, and upon the rise in United States language schools across Latin
America at the expense of British language schools. This, he remarked, is a
symptom of declining British influence and the hegemony of the United States in
much of the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CwDuKEcr1fFoIpHvNZIZ8_QGzVlP_GrxHqHBDOLaZQcGsiUDSwE-IariZr0K8wBNkHrdFW-ZAC4EWGsONJf6d89laEdhlDZR0a-yaaW6ipUkT2C5hBL9o_8-Ee2X_B7gI2TkO2G5Md8/s1600/IMG_1393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5CwDuKEcr1fFoIpHvNZIZ8_QGzVlP_GrxHqHBDOLaZQcGsiUDSwE-IariZr0K8wBNkHrdFW-ZAC4EWGsONJf6d89laEdhlDZR0a-yaaW6ipUkT2C5hBL9o_8-Ee2X_B7gI2TkO2G5Md8/s320/IMG_1393.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 6]: [Baroness Hooper] noted that one of the
principal challenges which must be overcome is that British people simply do
not know enough about Latin America. She drew people’s attention to the labours
of Canning House in this respect, organising events and in particular its
<a href="http://www.canninghouse.org/education/essay-competition" target="_blank">Annual Essay Prize Competition</a> for schools</span><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. However, she thought that more
energy could be put into teaching more Spanish, in schools, institutes and
universities. This is essential to maintaining good relations in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_SmiMRZ8TkB22r4XeTJw6gHHZ8Levm_0fd9OEW7ddDQaF9HtlIbVQg7bce6iLz3Of9IHR-InREFx3w0rrU4auPopeiISD9MPac8hVMGkPk-c6vvNAtP5RvxXdbAixzMy-NQni-X3Dpw/s1600/IMG_1395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_SmiMRZ8TkB22r4XeTJw6gHHZ8Levm_0fd9OEW7ddDQaF9HtlIbVQg7bce6iLz3Of9IHR-InREFx3w0rrU4auPopeiISD9MPac8hVMGkPk-c6vvNAtP5RvxXdbAixzMy-NQni-X3Dpw/s320/IMG_1395.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Contribution 7: [Catherine Davies] continued on the theme of
language teaching. She noted that the present government had inflicted severe
cuts on Modern Languages in universities. She observed that the key place to
start is with teaching Spanish in schools, but government policy had also
undermined this. She argued that there is a vicious circle, in which there are
not enough teachers of Modern Languages, and not enough students learning,
despite the great demand amongst pupils to learn Spanish! This circle must be
broken! She pointed to several ways forward. Colombians and Venezuelans must
emulate the Brazilian universities who have made direct contact with
International Offices at UK universities. We should be grateful to Santander
for the great amounts they have invested in Spanish and Latin American Studies
in the UK universities, and encourage other financial institutions and
corporations to follow suit. Finally, there should be a greater drive to
involve normal members of the Latin American community in the UK into the lives
of consulates and embassies, to reach out and widen the base of the relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 8]: remarked that Colombians speak the best
Spanish of anywhere in the world, and so British people should go there to
study Spanish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWr9rzVKRtz82iAmuPmMB_6tvvFU_tq1aru4nFvWdUpuWfl1-teCcrtnCBGIaD0ldN8ckYNbsKwK9bd01zk1SXdl58ArGNVkbunNMZzFGKkhWth8EDocIIcQmEbz_ZTaQwZ1oMf51jrPI/s1600/IMG_1399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWr9rzVKRtz82iAmuPmMB_6tvvFU_tq1aru4nFvWdUpuWfl1-teCcrtnCBGIaD0ldN8ckYNbsKwK9bd01zk1SXdl58ArGNVkbunNMZzFGKkhWth8EDocIIcQmEbz_ZTaQwZ1oMf51jrPI/s320/IMG_1399.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 9]: commented that the British media must begin
to remedy its regular and unforgivable errors regarding Latin America. He noted
that yesterday (4 September 2012) the <i>Independent
</i>mis-spelt ‘Columbia’ twice. He continued however that Latin Americans often
make the mistake of conflating ‘English’ and ‘British’, let along Scottish and
Welsh, and argued for better education and much watchfulness – and published
corrections – on the part of ambassadors and academics. He concluded by
suggested that a TV series on the subject of Britain’s interventions in the
wars of independence in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador would be a an excellent
step towards furthering our subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEL6voTx_gk6SuvH5Ov-DHIFxbDOi2HGXVJiCJaax2FXWJ1aBExOaULGqxpVheX2H4pctW4Tz9lAan3dqBabUAce3Cm47k46KpQqXXnJVwJJ3tlZ6tK437plOKa12JgD0_7AEJZZ-dR1c/s1600/IMG_1392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEL6voTx_gk6SuvH5Ov-DHIFxbDOi2HGXVJiCJaax2FXWJ1aBExOaULGqxpVheX2H4pctW4Tz9lAan3dqBabUAce3Cm47k46KpQqXXnJVwJJ3tlZ6tK437plOKa12JgD0_7AEJZZ-dR1c/s200/IMG_1392.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 10]: took up the theme of television series.
She noted that this is extremely important, and referred to a project to make a
film about Policarpa Salvarietta in Colombia. She suggested that Latin American
contemporary artists were another window waiting to be activated as a channel
for communicating between Britain and Latin America. She concluded by noting
that Latin America now suffers from not having been formally part of the
empire, and so is not courted by UK cultural agencies who are anxious to work
with postcolonial countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUlOOZcbpi5u9H5X2_bLDMUIwhh-LQ9jUxeyBXY1CDXOA4eAabm4Qk1Rf-0LafqdaA0c6l8TjFDNcon_R5VBPhHk7aiA7wKuxy7PL0LvkqeqCepAb36KOjq0l7CwgvNJQz1jtGe41X6I/s1600/IMG_1403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUlOOZcbpi5u9H5X2_bLDMUIwhh-LQ9jUxeyBXY1CDXOA4eAabm4Qk1Rf-0LafqdaA0c6l8TjFDNcon_R5VBPhHk7aiA7wKuxy7PL0LvkqeqCepAb36KOjq0l7CwgvNJQz1jtGe41X6I/s200/IMG_1403.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 11]: remarked on the poor quality of journalism
in the UK about Latin America. He referred to the numerous historical and
geographical errors being made daily in reference to Julian Assange and
Ecuador, even, he said, on the BBC. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">He continued by remarking the lack of
access to quality TV and film across much of Latin America, and suggested that
a joint film production project on the subject of Thomas Cochrane, William
Miller, et al, would be an excellent idea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 12]: a film-maker, observed that he was
half-British, half-Mexican, and had spent much time wondering which was his
strongest identity. He drew people’s attention to the long campaign for
recognition by Southwark Council, and the major Latin </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">American cultural events
which can be found in the borough, not just in shops and shopping as in around
Elephant & Castle, but also the summer carnival and ongoing portrait
projects. He concluded by noting that funding was particularly tight at the
moment for cultural projects wanting to work at the bridge between British and
Latin American cultures.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 13]: suggested that much more Latin American
history and culture should be being taught at school, </span><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">and recommended that
people engage with Exam Boards to get curricula to involve more Latin American
subjects.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijncwKv_FSxXaCSAsKN40YFrgK5QFoJRwhNt3WZ8E-KgiFpF5B1-1UYCGMs4AOFo1Zrlqp9IVfZu1IqNFuNbox914VqXosl6dvaAhNyHtTDgOkSVNcDNX5NhSNGW_CotNRNcSdlE8bHEw/s1600/IMG_1408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijncwKv_FSxXaCSAsKN40YFrgK5QFoJRwhNt3WZ8E-KgiFpF5B1-1UYCGMs4AOFo1Zrlqp9IVfZu1IqNFuNbox914VqXosl6dvaAhNyHtTDgOkSVNcDNX5NhSNGW_CotNRNcSdlE8bHEw/s200/IMG_1408.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Contribution 14]: [Enrique Rodriguez] followed up the points
made earlier about TV series. He thought that something like <i>Sharpe, </i>or like Michael Wood’s <i>Conquistadores, </i>needed to be made. He
had approached various individuals, but nothing had come of it. These are great
stories, he said, and they need to be filmed, and to be told!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Contribution 15: [Charles Goodson-Wickes, director-general of
Canning House] reminded people of the Canning House annual prize essay
competition. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry0JTEICnycjbLVvRG6HUJQaGcog1txYSSKPswhQ235mE_Q1Gjf7SsE6nBADsb28rhKEA_H53ag_aSsDWjsOHSctjA4KpqmyYFr0rcz8Ib6BK5S7qhJFOsouyqJFaM6Wlk7j0o2hRRGM/s1600/IMG_1410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry0JTEICnycjbLVvRG6HUJQaGcog1txYSSKPswhQ235mE_Q1Gjf7SsE6nBADsb28rhKEA_H53ag_aSsDWjsOHSctjA4KpqmyYFr0rcz8Ib6BK5S7qhJFOsouyqJFaM6Wlk7j0o2hRRGM/s200/IMG_1410.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He accepted that British Council representation had become limited, and urged people to make good use of Canning House in its efforts to act
as a bridge between Britain and Latin America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sZJp6Fu5YrJ758Gs2kdbpKBAJUKuz2OmMWpwsveBMyDmEX4lzoMrlmtk3gl93chCUjJMaWDIaKbScKx5_V8jG6sE8lF0xEoUmYlbEzdcLxhccS_Ytcp3BIzPdqdIYI4nncAZv6IZkYQ/s1600/IMG_1397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sZJp6Fu5YrJ758Gs2kdbpKBAJUKuz2OmMWpwsveBMyDmEX4lzoMrlmtk3gl93chCUjJMaWDIaKbScKx5_V8jG6sE8lF0xEoUmYlbEzdcLxhccS_Ytcp3BIzPdqdIYI4nncAZv6IZkYQ/s200/IMG_1397.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaZZjCMdQt01LliLViyxg262r7cuJMp4m3PdzgkNfR3EydcU9uXV14Brxcl9Bhsz6tERbl-O1CJtRaXcXSaKQu93p2-Pet50d0Hv092ogoPc0Of_eAVVaWVZ2OHM_fzNMKnnQA72y_2I/s1600/IMG_1412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRaZZjCMdQt01LliLViyxg262r7cuJMp4m3PdzgkNfR3EydcU9uXV14Brxcl9Bhsz6tERbl-O1CJtRaXcXSaKQu93p2-Pet50d0Hv092ogoPc0Of_eAVVaWVZ2OHM_fzNMKnnQA72y_2I/s200/IMG_1412.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Contribution 16: noted that from the perspective of staff in
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, this debate had been energising and
stimulating. She recognised the many different ideas which had been exchanged,
and thanked the organisers of the event for their efforts. She asked, how can
we capture the ideas raised today so that we can take them forward?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgLVRV5qk2E_dO0p3orTLsgW6CByzFIRH1u-Gk9iSHWjrQXlQ_Muk_qN4Cuq1efHhLRH57v_g3Z9iMKm_JMpdGhiBYwaKW6b20eyvD-VPjIVddefayrgpAvWqA9zXviB_190gJo7TUbU/s1600/IMG_1411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbgLVRV5qk2E_dO0p3orTLsgW6CByzFIRH1u-Gk9iSHWjrQXlQ_Muk_qN4Cuq1efHhLRH57v_g3Z9iMKm_JMpdGhiBYwaKW6b20eyvD-VPjIVddefayrgpAvWqA9zXviB_190gJo7TUbU/s320/IMG_1411.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Contribution 17: [Estefania Tello, from the Ecuadorian
Embassy] apologied that the Ecuadorian ambassador had not been able to attend.
She stated that Ecuador was pleased to see such an excellent event, and that
she was pleased to hear such an informed discussion. She noted that Ecuador is
looking for cooperation in Scientific matters with the UK, and has found the
Foreign Office informative partners. </span><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">She concluded by saying that education at
all levels is key, that the event showed that we can all learn from history,
and we should all learn more of the common histories that unite us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Matthew Brown] pledged to write up the transcripts of all of
these contributions, to put them onto his blog so that everyone could read
them, whether they were able to be present or not. Then, he suggested that he
would draw them up into an Open Letter to the new minister of state for Latin
America (Hugo Swire MP), which would also go on his blog, which people could
add their names to if they wished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He then thanked everyone for their contributions, and asked
the four round-table speakers to respond and /or sum up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Ines Quintero]</b>: <i>(spoke
in Spanish). </i>One of the motivations for any historian of Latin America, any
historian in Latin America, is to see what magic we can employ, what resources
we can find, to connect our histories with today’s societies. Education,
therefore, is crucial to the tasks set before us today. It is crucial to
improve education in Latin America, so that we know our own history. I welcome
this opportunity to see that we are preoccupied by the same things. Would a new
film fill these gaps? I don’t know – but I think that we should not neglect any
strategy. All actions to improve education and knowledge transfer should be
welcomed. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Mauricio Rodriguez]</b>: Yes two points here. I think the
British government has done a very good job in recent years in strengthening,
deepening and diversifying relations between the UK and Latin America. Most of
my colleagues here tonight, indeed all of the Latin American ambassadors, would
agree with me to a higher or lesser degree that the Foreign Office has done an
excellent job, and Secretary of State Mr William Hague and Minister for Latin
America Mr Jeremy Browne have done very special efforts. Let me give you some
good examples: the UK will reopen or open embassies in El Salvador and Paraguay;
and they have increased personnel in Colombia. In the midst of a very tight
financial situation the Foreign Office is making a very special effort and the
British Council has done an excellent outstanding job in Latin America. I agree
that it should have a British Council presence in many other countries because
it is the best ambassador for Great Britain. The British Council is a wonderful
institution. I think that there are three wonderful institutions that do a
great job of promoting the UK abroad. These are the British Council, the BBC
and the British universities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What these three institutions do for Great Britain is immense
and you should try to defend them and promote them as much as possible. These
institutions are your best Foreign Office. Credit also to Foreign Office, in
the particular case of Colombia the Foreign Office has done excellent job in
the prosperity agenda I shared with you earlier. Just one example: Minister Jeremy
Browne unfortunately he is leaving now, he has a new job at the Home Office [this
news was announced in between our sessions on 5 September 2012] but he visited Colombia
three times in eighteen months. [Today’s discussions show that] we been at a very
high level, and have really diversified the agenda. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My second point, [I agree that] in relation to our media [we
should discuss] how to raise the attention of media and film producers and TV
producers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think that supposedly we Latin Americans are the most
creative, imaginative, people in the world. We are very good at inspiring,
persuading, convincing, seducing people with our stories, with our beautiful
landscapes with our wonderful music and culture and food etc etc. Well, we have
here a challenge, an opportunity. We need to go to talk to the BBC, talk to
independent producers and film directors, and convince them precisely of those
wonderful characters/stories to be told in the British media. I think we have
to improve our selling skills because I agree that we have wonderful, wonderful
stories to share with Great Britain, and those will be an important way to
connect our societies, our people. We have excellent connections with top
government, academia, business but we need to connect the British and Latin
American citizens. And the media, like it or not, is the best route to
strengthen those ties. So this is a message to us, Latin American friends, lets
really be more creative in selling our stories to earn the larger space in
British media that we deserve, but we will only earn that space if we are
better at telling our stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the last point and I think Baroness Hooper is absolutely
right one here, one very good way of strengthening those ties with Latin
America, British ties with Latin America, is through the teaching of Spanish. I
think that we have also there a challenge to develop that point. How can we do
that? What else can we do? We have to be creative and think together how to
increase the number of British citizens that speak Spanish because that makes
things <u>much</u> easier. When people have a basic knowledge of a language
they will visit, and once they go to Latin America they will fall in love with
Latin America. You have - all of you - probably been to Latin America or want
to go to Latin America, and if you have the language skills that makes things much
easier so I think that we also have to improve our ideas on how to extend the
interest and attract more British citizens to learn Spanish. Thank you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Samuel Moncada]</b>: Okay, well very many things have been said
here about the how to increase knowledge, relationships, connections between Latin
America and Britain. I have just written some notes on the debate, in
particular I have written the headings language, history, universities and communities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Latin American community here which is growing is one of
the most important ones in the sense that it is a very human, concrete, alive
connection within this country and so far has not got the recognition that I think
it needs. The EU is working on it but I think it there are many thousands, I
don’t know how many there are =<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Interjection from audience, Isaac Bigio]: One million, including
Brazilians we have one million Latin American people living in the UK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel Moncada]: Okay, that is a really good base to work
on. I don’t know how many British people are living in Latin America but I know
there are tens of thousands at least. The last figure I have is that more than
200,000 British go every year to Cuba and more than that go to the Dominican Republic
every single year, so at least 400,000 British travellers, tourists, are going
to Latin America every year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The media, the universities, communication and language are
all important but I would also like to continue with some areas I not heard of in
kind of discussions that for me are very important. He [Ambassador Rodriguez]
said the BBC, British Council and British Universities which I agree totally
with. But there are many other institutions, British institutions that for me
at least that they deserve admiration. One of those is the NHS and the NHS is
an example of a universal health service that we at least are admiring =<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Mauricio Rodriguez]</b>: we want it too!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Samuel Moncada]</b>: = we
want something like that you admire, although you [British] complain about the
NHS all the time but we would like something like that in Venezuela =<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE" style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE;"><b>[Mauricio Rodriguez]</b>: = and in
Colombia!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Samuel Moncada]: The way I see to improve Venezuela’s
connection with the British, apart from the diplomacy, the government,
investment, the corporations, the media, the rest of it you have to find common
ground, issues where we connect now, not necessarily because we connected two
hundred years ago. Because as Matthew knows after the 1830s the English, the British
interest in Latin America faded and [in retrospect] the most intense period of
relations between Britain and Latin America was exactly this time we’re talking
about, the independence wars. After that failure there was a pick up at the end
of the nineteenth century with some mining and railroads and some other oil
investments in the twentieth century but there was nothing as intense as the
human connection these several thousand British going [created in the 1820s]. I
don’t think there has been so many British going to participate in another war apart
from Latin America ever, apart from maybe the Spanish Civil War [in the 1930s] it
is the only example I know of, of British people going abroad to fight for the
liberation of another country. There may be another one but that is my
ignorance, but it is common ground. Like, for example, the Paralympics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Mauricio Rodriguez]</b>: Sports. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Samuel Moncada]</b>: No not sports, Paralympics. People with
special needs, the way that people are treated in Latin America, the policies
we are developing for people with special needs and how to compare that with the
policies here in Britain [that is a common ground]. The treatment of children,
the treatment of the elderly, I am talking about social policy, how we deal
with poverty, how we deal with social housing. There are many, many issues that
we can learn from each other that we could learn from the British but we can also
teach the British. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4IY6ZA3BsA-wOtF3bIVAO3toh9oPG8q53F_-XHhfSqg_JjaQ_nKeeTJp2eK_7oVLwnhbJYCJwZ6rpkJcOr-oIfRk4zRfF9QdpYtqznVckqWGIpI8-yI1dkRB-fxP9qdMxuYC9yfUpLks/s1600/IMG_1418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4IY6ZA3BsA-wOtF3bIVAO3toh9oPG8q53F_-XHhfSqg_JjaQ_nKeeTJp2eK_7oVLwnhbJYCJwZ6rpkJcOr-oIfRk4zRfF9QdpYtqznVckqWGIpI8-yI1dkRB-fxP9qdMxuYC9yfUpLks/s320/IMG_1418.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We can learn from each other in the process I am aspiring to.
But, perhaps, let’s also add a grain of disagreement, it’s something in Britain
you need to correct. There are very many things that can be done [to improve
British-Latin American relations], one of those things is scholarships. Many Latin
Americans came to the UK to study with scholarships here, but now the
scholarships are fading away. But more, there are some things that don’t need
money to be improved. One of those has been touched already: the visa issue. You
really want people from other countries to <u>spend their money here?</u> Well,
you have to first take them to come and study! It is a nightmare to get visas for
foreign students to study, it is a nightmare. I have to say that if I am asked
by any student at this moment in time if it is good advice to come to Britain,
well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me give you an example: we have
tried for more than three years to reach agreement with the London Metropolitan
University to bring hundreds of students to study oil and chemicals, polymers,
many things related to oil matters. And then we suddenly found last week that
this University had had withdrawn the licence to get visas for foreign students.
And now there are two thousand foreign students stranded, and they have paid! We
have several Venezuelans in there by the way, they paid a few years of fees,
they spend thousands of pounds just in maintenance, or just in fees, they are
about to finish their degrees and now they have found this situation, that they
have lost all their money! And the only thing they have been told is that they
must pay everything and spend their time again or you are going to be deported!
I mean that is ridiculous, if you carry on with that policy no one is going to
come here to study, that is a mistake that has to be corrected and that doesn’t
cost any money! That is good advice for you, please don’t spoil your own good
industry of education which is a good one, very prestigious around the world
but you will spoil it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Much applause]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMUXSL-ArjdItdbv_KH2TL8K-ThY8bvu9tgzU-Csu6nMKuKyhyphenhyphenNduepwyqLG_PgHqnLZUj_rN_j6heo0zpZeJ17TfgjPnP39ojPPuw-2FGM2ya2jB16DWRFa_ZzgC95z7VfU4UDTcY4I/s1600/IMG_1419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMUXSL-ArjdItdbv_KH2TL8K-ThY8bvu9tgzU-Csu6nMKuKyhyphenhyphenNduepwyqLG_PgHqnLZUj_rN_j6heo0zpZeJ17TfgjPnP39ojPPuw-2FGM2ya2jB16DWRFa_ZzgC95z7VfU4UDTcY4I/s200/IMG_1419.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>[Natalia Sobrevilla Perea]</b>: I cannot but agree with all those
who [have just spoken]. Especially on this visa issue, indeed one of our
speakers was just mentioning how difficult it is to get a visa. I myself still
suffer from that fate so I think it is something that I endorse fully. I have
spoken already on the audio-visual matters [so I won’t say any more now]. I
think we are all ready for a glass of wine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Applause]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Matthew Brown]: Thank you to our four speakers on this very
stimulating round-table discussion, Ines Quintero, Mauricio Rodriguez, Samuel
Moncada and Natalia Sobrevilla. We can continue the discussion now over a glass
of something, and then online soon when the transcripts are completed. Thank
you very much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[Applause]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Here are some pictures of the heated though good-natured debate that followed <i>(no transcript!)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">MB: A final note. Many thanks to Sean O'Connor of Canning House, and Dr. Claire Hyland of the University of Bristol (pictured together on the left here), for making the event run so smoothly. There were lots of excellent ideas raised and discussed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If after reading these discussions you would now like to use the Comments section below to reflect or add further observations and suggestions, please do!</span>Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-42506461855773182812012-09-14T06:50:00.001-07:002012-09-14T06:50:31.164-07:00The Wreck of the 'Indian' (December 1817)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In early December 1817, a vessel sailing from Britain to Venezuela was shipwrecked on the northern coast of France. The 'Indian', which had previously carried convicts from Britain to Botany Bay in Australia, was now being used to take officers and recruits to fight for the independence of Venezuela from Spanish colonial rule. Led by Colonel Robert Skeene, around two hundred men and women were packed onto the 'Indian' when it left Falmouth. Nearly all of them lost their lives on the night of 9/10 December, with 143 corpses being washed onto the coast near Kerlouan the next morning, the only survivors apparently a few Irishmen and some pigs.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shipwreck of the 'Indian', by René Ogor, 2012</td></tr>
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At the time the owners of the 'Indian' were told that any materials salvaged from the wreckage had been sold off by the local council. But in the last few years, French marine archaeologists have identified a long-known wreck as the 'Indian', as the result of careful correlation of preliminary archaeological excavations with archival research in France and the U.K. Key to the identification process was a bronze button.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We know from the numerous memoirs written by adventurers who served under Bolivar in Venezuela, that great importance had been placed back in London on fitting out the mercenary expeditions (or at least the officers who led them) in the most impressive garments and uniforms possible. The 1st Venezuelan Hussares, to be led by Skeene, were no exception. When divers near Kerlouan found the button pictured above, with 'GR' on the reverse (referring to King George III) and 'VENEZUELA 1o. HUSSs.' on the front around an image of the setting sun, the link between the wreck and the archival references to the loss of the 'Indian' was confirmed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Preliminary research at the wreck site near Kerlouan is ongoing in September 2012 under the charge of the </span><span style="text-indent: -36.47999954223633px;">DRASSM (French Department of Archaeological Maritime Research)</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and I eagerly await news of what they have found</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -0.38in;">. Can surviving uniforms or weapons tell us about the state of preparation of these armed forces? Will bone remains allow us to analyse the health or physical-readiness of the recruits? Will we get a better picture of the number of women and children who accompanied the expeditions?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -0.38in;">The discovery of the 'Indian' forms part of a wider picture of research on the historical period I've called the 'Bolivarian times', roughly 1810-1830. In the past, as I've noted in my book <i>Adventuring through Spanish Colonies, </i>most work on the British involvement in independence was either completely diplomatic in focus, or overwhelmingly military. Hence most historians of the subject (including myself) spent most of their time in either diplomatic or military archives. Now, just as historians have opened up public and private correspondence, business collections, newspaper archives and all other manner of printe<span style="font-family: inherit;">d records, archaeologists are taking their turn to shed new light on the matter. An excellent example is a new article by </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.38in;">Alasdair
Brooks and Ana Cristina Rodriguez called </span><span style="font-style: italic; text-indent: -0.38in;">A Venezuelan household clearance
assemblage of 19th-century British ceramics in international perspective, </span><span style="text-indent: -0.38in;">which you can find in the journal</span><span style="text-indent: -0.38in;"><i> </i><a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/pma/2012/00000046/00000001/art00004" target="_blank"><i>Post-Medieval Archaeology </i>(46) 2012<i>.</i></a></span></span></div>
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The authors dug up a lot at the back of a house in Barcelona, eastern Venezuela, that had belonged to the influential Monagas family during the nineteenth century. They found a remarkable collection of ceramics, many of them British, such as those pictured above, which they were able to date to the late 1830s. These findings demonstrate what historians had previously only been able to imply or hint at - the extent to which British commerce was able to enter the South American mainland in the decade after independence, and the way in which elite cultural preferences shifted towards British models and designs. More research is needed, of course, to see if the Monagas household was atypical or not in its ceramics collections - and with three nineteenth-century presidents in the family, it might be hard to call them representative - but the findings, discussed at length in the article, are wonderfully suggestive.</div>
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Taken together, archaeological research into the 'Indian' and the 'Casa Monagas' show just how much new material is emerging around the subject of Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics. This material will lead to exciting new interpretations to add to those developed by economic, political and military historians.</div>
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<b>Notes:</b></div>
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These words were the basis of my presentation at Canning House on 5 September 2012, entitled 'New Research on Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics'. I am extremely grateful to René Ogor for sharing his ongoing research into the 'Indian' with me, and his permission to share it with readers of this blog. Information on the shipwreck of the 'Indian' comes from Eric Lambert's book <i>Voluntarios británicos e irlandeses en la gesta bolivariana </i>(1990) and from <i>The Times, </i>January 1818<i>. </i></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-48151791380046493922012-09-10T13:29:00.001-07:002012-09-10T13:29:07.070-07:00First Reflections: Britain and Latin America two hundred years on from independence<br />
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">On Wednesday, Canning House was packed with a really-diverse selection of people to discuss Britain's historic relationships with Colombia and Venezuela (and to a lesser extent, Ecuador). Students, lawyers, diplomats, teachers, filmmakers, politicians, pharmacognocists, economists, paper-makers, archaeologists, media people, engineers, builders and historians all came together to discuss this subject that remains so captivating in a historical sense, and so compellingly contemporary when he think about how it might be remembered and commemorated today.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">Thank you to everyone who came and contributed to the debate. We are currently editing the video-footage and transcribing the audio-recordings. I will post those here as soon as they are ready. At the end of our session I declared that I would write up the many suggestions into an Open Letter to the newly-appointed Minister of State responsible for Britain's relations with Latin America, Hugo Swire MP. I'm working on a draft, and will post that here, too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">The first session had four papers. I spoke a little about new directions in research on the subject: I'll upload my paper as a separate blog post soon. There were three other, excellent papers. The abstracts are posted below as an appetite-whetter before I post the discussions later.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">In sum: this event has reinforced my belief in the value of Universities engaging with the general public and civil society. As ever at these kind of events, new questions were asked, and new ideas put forward, which simply wouldn't have happened stuck away in my ivory tower. It wouldn't have happened without the hard work of everyone at Canning House and the University of Bristol who worked on the project. I look forward to pulling those ideas together over the next week or so, and getting stuck into the next phase of this project: turning some of the ideas into reality!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">[Dr. John Hughes, former British Ambassador to Venezuela, welcoming everyone to Canning House]</span></span></div>
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[Speakers in the first session, 5/9/2012: Gutierrez Ardila, Mondolfi Gudat, Racine, Brown]</div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">The three main papers in the first session</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;"> were:</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Spanish Americans in London in the Independence-Era</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Karen Racine (University of Guelph)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Abstract: Although the French and American Revolutions are reflexively
assumed to be the inspiration for Spanish American independence movements, a
stronger case can be made for the argument that the region’s patriot leaders
derived their most important cultural model, their animating energy, and their
major material support from Great Britain. Between the years 1808-1830, over
seventy independence-era leaders of the first rank lived and worked together in
London, including: Francisco de Miranda, Bernardo O’Higgins, Simón Bolívar,
Andrés Bello, José de San Martín, Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, Lucas Alamán,
Agustín de Iturbide, Bernardino Rivadavia, Manuel Belgrano, Vicente Rocafuerte,
Juan Germán Roscio, Mariano Montilla, Francisco de Paula Santander, Antonio
José de Irisarri, youthful members of the Aycinena and García Granados families
of Guatemala, José de la Riva Agüero, Bernardo Monteagudo, José Joaquín de
Olmedo, and Mariano Egaña.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Other
important patriot leaders, including José Cecilio del Valle, Juan Egaña and
Carlos María Bustamante remained in America but sent their works to be
published in London and carried on a purposeful correspondence with famous
British figures such as abolitionist William Wilberforce, prison reformer
Elizabeth Fry, utilitarian philosophers Jeremy Bentham and James Mill,
scientist Humphrey Davy and vaccination proponent Edward Jenner.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">These conscious, practical, personal choices
tell us much about the kind of cultural model the Spanish American independence
leaders admired, and the sorts of future countries they wanted to cultivate for
themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Leandro Miranda: publicista y diplomático
(1824-1832)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Daniel Gutierrez Ardila (Universidad Externado de Colombia)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Abstract:</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Uno de los
hijos del revolucionario Francisco de Miranda sirvió a la República de Colombia
como periodista y diplomático. En tanto que publicista, fundó y aseguró durante
tres años (1824-1827) la edición de </span><i style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">El
Constitucional</i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, uno de los mejores semanarios de su tiempo. Posteriormente,
entre el mes de septiembre de 1830 y los primeros días de 1832, Leandro Miranda
se desempeñó como representante del gobierno colombiano en Londres. Su misión
coincidió con los estertores y la desagregación de la república, por lo que
puede decirse que le cupo en suerte encarnar una entidad política moribunda.
Como la misión se desarrolló también en medio de la coyuntura revolucionaria
que sacudió entonces a Europa y puso fin al período de las Restauraciones,
Miranda se encontró en la paradójica posición de un diplomático republicano que
presenciaba al mismo tiempo el fin de la Santa Alianza y el de su propio país.
Las páginas siguientes se ocupan de analizar estas dos facetas de la vida
pública de Leandro Miranda con relación a la República de Colombia,
esforzándose por establecer vínculos que permitan comprender mejor la agonía y
la muerte de dicho Estado.</span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NE EXEUNT REGNO (“No one is entitled
to leave the realm”</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">): Some observations regarding the “Enlistment Act” of
1819 passed by Parliament in order to avoid the recruitment of British
volunteers to the Spanish Main<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b>Edgardo Mondolfi Gudat (Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">Abstract: </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What did the “Enlistment Act” of 1819 mean in order to restrain the flow
of British volunteers to Spanish America? In view of the number of recruits
that were able to cross the Atlantic since late 1817, would such provision have
any effect at all? Would it be truly binding or on the contrary, as some
Historians argue, it consisted on a “vague”, “late” and “toothless” piece of
legislation promoted by the British Government? In practical terms, was such
Law able to impose effective restrains on British subjects willing to join
forces with the Spanish American Insurgents?</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">These are the kind of questions posed by this Paper which aims to
explore what the clandestine passage overseas meant in view of the existing
writ known traditionally as <i>“Ne exeunt regno”.</i> According to such
writ, no man was in liberty to put to sea at his pleasure against the King´s
Charters, much less if the aim was to participate in an irregular warfare which
was taking place in the dominions of an allied nation as Spain was still meant
to be well beyond the downfall of Napoleon in 1815. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So far as such recruitment was being implemented in British soil, the
Enlistment Act must be seen, without doubt, as an additional effort by the
British Government to avoid further breaches of its alliance with Ferdinand
VII’s regime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">However, the stretch imposed by the ancient Laws of the Realm was the
occasion for repeated demands by some members of the House of Commons to repeal
Lord Liverpool’s intention to reinforce such a writ by passing a Bill known as
the “Enlistment Act” aimed at putting an end to the clandestine recruitment of
British subjects bound for South America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The second session was a round-table: I'll publish transcripts of the great ideas advanced there soon, plus more pictures.</span></b></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-59680385700170370332012-08-30T11:34:00.002-07:002012-08-30T11:34:49.229-07:00(Nearly) Final Programme for Canning House EventHere is the Final Programme for Wednesday's event at Canning House to discuss Britain's role in the independence of the Bolivarian Republics, primarily Colombia and Venezuela. I'm hoping that one or two extra names will go into the properly final version when we go to press on Wednesday morning. Everyone who attends the event will get a printed version of the Programme when they arrive: so you don't need to print it out in advance. We are expecting a full house so I am very excited!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Britain
and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Canning House, 5 September 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How did Britain assist the Independence of Spain’s colonies in South
America at the beginning of the nineteenth-century? How should this encounter
be remembered today, during the bicentennaries of independence?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">14.00hrs: Introductory Comments and Welcome<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Matthew Brown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">14.15hrs: Session 1: New Research on Britain and Independence<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Matthew Brown: </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">New Directions in Research on
Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Karen Racine: </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spanish Americans in London in
the Independence-Era<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Edgardo Mondolfi Gudat: </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">NE EXEUNT REGNO (“No one is entitled
to leave the realm”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">): Some
observations regarding the “Enlistment Act” of 1819 passed by Parliament in
order to avoid the recruitment of British volunteers to the Spanish Main<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila: </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Leandro
Miranda, Publicist and Diplomat between Britain and Colombia (1824-1832)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">16.00hrs: Coffee/Tea<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">16.15hrs: Session 2: Round-table Discussion: ‘Reflections on Legacies,
Descendents, Future Research and Commemorations’.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Introduced by Professor Eric Thomas,
vice-chancellor of the University of Bristol. </span><span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Discussants include: Professor </span><span lang="ES-VE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-VE;">Inés Quintero, Dr. Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, H.E. Dr.
Samuel Moncada and H.E. Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">18.00hrs: Reception</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">, including book launch of Matthew
Brown, <i>The Struggle for Power in
Post-Independence Colombia and Venezuela </i>(Palgrave/Macmillan, 2012). All
welcome.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-52840504938578058562012-08-17T13:46:00.001-07:002012-08-21T13:23:24.293-07:00What next? / Y ahora qué?<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ecuador's decision yesterday (16 August 2012) to grant political asylum to the Australian national Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder wanted in Sweden to answer allegations of sexual assault, has caused all manner of comment and outrage. As I write, Assange remains in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, his next move uncertain. There is much talk of sovereignty and international law, of Britain's relations with Ecuador and Latin America more generally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On 5 September, just around the corner at London's Canning House, we will be meeting to discuss many of of these same issues, though our focus will be the events of two hundred years ago which present many similarities to the present affair. Academics Karen Racine, Daniel Gutierrez Ardila and Edgardo Mondolfi Gudat will present new research on the 7,000 British and Irish expeditionaries (or volunteers, mercenaries, or adventurers, call them what we will) who travelled between 1810 and 1822 to South America, and who contributed (some in direct contravention of the 1819 Foreign Enlistment Act) to the independence of the republics we now know as Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Panama: the Bolivarian republics. Their research shows how central Britain was to the establishment of Ecuadorian, Colombian and Venezuelan sovereignty as the former colonies were encouraged to free themselves of Spanish imperial rule.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The second-part of our meeting (which is free and open to all - just <a href="http://www.canninghouse.org/" target="_blank">register at the Canning House website</a>) will be a round-table discussion of what those relations two centuries ago might mean today, and how they should be commemorated (if at all). Contributors to the round-table will include the Colombian ambassador to the UK, <span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.colombianembassy.co.uk/en/embassy/the-ambassador" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera</span></a> and the Venezuelan ambassador to the UK, <a href="http://www.embavenez-uk.org/ambassador.html" target="_blank">Samuel Moncada</a> as well as two eminent public historians Inés Quintero and Natalia Sobrevilla Perea </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">(The Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK, Ana Albán Mora, is understandably very busy at the moment)</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Our round-table should provide an opportunity for ideas to surface that might take flight over the next few years, as we move towards the bicentenaries of the 1819 Battle of Boyacá (in Colombia), the 1821 Battle of Carabobo (in Venezuela), and the 1822 Battle of Pichincha (in Ecuador). All those battles featured the participation of important British and Irish figures on the winning sides. Do we/they need more statues, roads named after them or commemorative plaques? Or should we be thinking in terms of continuing the impressive waves of historical studies that have recently emerged, of investigating this historical encounter in greater depth, curating new exhibitions and commissioning public lectures? Or perhaps great cultural events, popular celebrations, or military march-pasts? Is there a role for battlefield tourism, or a space for shared research or cultural projects? Or would contemporary political or economic gestures be a more fitting commemoration of the efforts and sacrifices of volunteers/mercenaries/adventurers two centuries ago?<br /><br />I am looking forward to hearing our panelists on this topic, and we will welcome contributions from the floor. A podcast of the round-table, with transcription, will appear on this blog after the event. But in the meantime I wonder what comments or suggestions readers of this blog have? Any ideas to get us started?<br /> </span></span></div>
Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-47322151017893839782012-06-21T04:13:00.004-07:002012-06-21T04:13:55.713-07:00Conference Registration Open<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dRTI6MmKpZatsiglvYOhWs2CTUH7cbi96-aXgJvZdqbsd2ugTtiv59RgyH_DCV3KaZYLC-N4jWQceiMqKBFSoTcwSgMnLOA-0TBf2ol6y1fhNccVA356Aymh3g5xuguB045P0NaScB8/s1600/447px-George_Canning_by_Richard_Evans_-_detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dRTI6MmKpZatsiglvYOhWs2CTUH7cbi96-aXgJvZdqbsd2ugTtiv59RgyH_DCV3KaZYLC-N4jWQceiMqKBFSoTcwSgMnLOA-0TBf2ol6y1fhNccVA356Aymh3g5xuguB045P0NaScB8/s200/447px-George_Canning_by_Richard_Evans_-_detail.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>
You can now register for the 'Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics' conference, to be held at Canning House in London on 5 September 2012: <a href="http://www.canninghouse.org/events/271" target="_blank">just click here</a> and you will be taken to the Canning House page from where you can register. It is a free event, and open to everyone.<br />
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The venue is a particularly appropriate place for our discussions. Canning House is named, of course, after George Canning, the British Foreign Secretary in the 1820s when Britain recognised the independence of Gran Colombia, the super-republic led by Simón Bolívar and which claimed sovereignty over the countries we know today as Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-29306716297924689262012-04-30T06:21:00.003-07:002012-04-30T06:21:55.551-07:00Conference: Britain and the Independence of the Bolivarian Republics<br />
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">I'm delighted to announce that on 5
September 2012, <a href="http://www.canninghouse.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Canning House</span></a> in London will be hosting an
afternoon and evening conference on the subject of 'Britain and the
Independence of the Bolivarian Republics'. Confirmed speakers include the
ambassadors of Colombia and Venezuela, respectively <a href="http://www.colombianembassy.co.uk/en/embassy/the-ambassador" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Mauricio Rodríguez Múnera</span></a>, and <a href="http://www.embavenez-uk.org/ambassador.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Samuel Moncada</span></a>, Academic participants will
include Daniel Gútierrez Ardila of the Universidad Externado de Colombia, and
Edgardo Mondolfi Gudat of the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">As some of my previous posts have
suggested, the last five years have seen a glut of new research on the British
contribution to the independence of the Bolivarian Republics (Colombia,
Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama). The bicentennary of Simón Bolívar’s visit to
London (1810-2010) brought this subject to public attention, with a major event
hosted by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London as well as numerous
talks, lectures and discussions in the UK, Venezuela and Colombia. As we move
towards the bicentennial commemorations of the principal military contributions
of British subjects to the independence movements (1815/1824-2015/2024) this
conference will bring academic, policy, descendent and diplomatic communities
together to reflect and discuss future directions for both research and
commemoration. Watch this space for more details on how to sign up to attend, a
programme and any other information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-4964514930413389312012-04-30T05:49:00.003-07:002012-04-30T05:49:56.600-07:00Volunteering in foreign armies: the view from France<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In mid-April the Ecole Normal Superieure, the Institut Remarque (New York University) and the Musée de l'Armée organised a three-day conference in Paris entitled 'Se Battre a L'étranger pour des idées: Volontariat Armé International et Politique XVIIIe-XXIe siecles'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ens.fr/spip.php?article1365&lang=fr" target="_blank">[Conference programme]</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Discussions during the conference ranged from the eighteenth century right up to the present-day, where there was a particular interest in the role of war reporters and reportage a key role in the subject. I spoke about the seven thousand British, Irish, Polish and German men
and women (plus some small numbers of other nationalities) who volunteered to serve
in Simón Bolívar’s armies in the 1810s and 1820s. I argued that the volunteers who signed up in
London, Edinburgh and Dublin were inspired by a mixture of motives, in which ideas of liberty and freedom from oppression mingled alongside hopes of economic advancement, and desire for adventure. As the question of armed volunteering attracts more scholarly attention, of course, we become ever more aware of the contemporary political dimensions of the decision to label one group of soldiers 'volunteers' or 'freedom fighters', and another group as 'mercenaries'. Does receipt of payment, when taken by someone born in a foreign land, automatically produce a 'mercenary'? But in that case, how is a 'volunteer' to eat unless they have considerable personal funds? Does this mean that only wealthy, aristocratic soldiers - Lord Byron, Lord Cochrane, et al - get to be classified as volunteers? That would seem to be rather limiting the scope of a fascinating question. There are plans to publish the papers of the conference, which no doubt will help to answer these and other questions.</span>Matthew Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364954055228010075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543434050606831040.post-87429234655699282232012-02-24T02:15:00.001-08:002012-02-24T02:15:41.028-08:00The funeral of Daniel O'Leary (Bogotá, 1854)<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Daniel O’Leary died 156 years ago today, on 24 February 1854, in Bogotá, then the capital of the Republic of New Granada. At the time O’Leary occupied the diplomatic post of British Minister in Bogotá. When he died he had recently returned from a trip to Europe where he had briefly recovered his health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Daniel Florence O'Leary is perhaps the most famous of the British and Irish volunteers who served under Simón Bolívar in the wars of independence in South America. O’Leary was the subject of several biographical studies in the mid-twentieth-century, and his remains lie in the National Pantheon in Caracas.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20px;">[1]</span></span></span></a> He has been described as ‘an Irish colossus in American history’<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040" name="_ftnref2">.</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20px;">[2]</span></span></span></a> More recently historians have again turned to O'Leary as a lens through which to view Bolívar's ambiguous relationship with Britain and its subjects.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20px;">[3]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">O’Leary has primarily been remembered because of his achievements as a young man at Bolívar’s side. His participation in some of the major battles of independence, and the trust which Bolívar showed in him by choosing O’Leary as his personal representative on various occasions, are all recounted in the available biographies. Non-specialist historians probably know his name more because of his curation and edition of Bolívar’s archive (eventually published in 32 volumes).<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20px;">[4]</span></span></span></a> As an Irish Catholic who married into the new republican elite (his wife, Soledad, was the sister of the Venezuelan General and President Carlos Soublette) O’Leary occupied many important roles, including as a Venezuelan emissary to the Vatican in the 1830s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">O’Leary’s death is relatively unknown outside of the final pages of the biographies. To remedy this, here I provide an extract (my translation) from the report in the Bogotá newspaper <i>El neogranadino </i>of O’Leary’s funeral, which gives a sense of the way in which he had become intimately entwined with local, elite society. The document also gives a wonderful insight into the Romantic discourse that surrounded the deaths of the veterans of the wars of independence:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">At one side of [O’Leary’s] coffin one could see the jacket, shoulder markings, stripes, sword and other insignias of a Colombian General. This was the wish of the British subjects, the General’s compatriots, who wanted to recognise the posthumous honours which the New Granadan government had paid O’Leary … Outside the British Legation, the English flag hung at half mast from a black chord to announce to the public the deplorable calamity which had occurred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;">The sumptuous coffin, covered with the British flag, was carried by subjects of that powerful nation, and placed upon a new stand <i>(catafalco) </i>prepared by the Church. Then the ceremony began, with all the solemn, pompous and majestic rites of the Catholic creed. The imposing noise of the organs, the mellifluous and tuneful harmonies of instruments and songs, the melancholic echo of soft and melodious voices, the fragrant perfume of sacred resins, all lost in the heights of the vaults of the magnificent temple, whilst beneath, one could make out a vague and disturbing rumour of the funeral laments, which brought to the imagination illusions of fantastic visions. It brought tears to the eyes of all those present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">[The funeral procession was led by] three military chiefs, on horseback, with their swords unsheathed, the General’s horses, the car, the funeral carriage and the coffin, carried by six English gentlemen, and flanked by the President and Vice-President of the Republic, the President of the Chamber of Representatives, the U.S. Consul, the Commander of the Department, and Monseñor Barili Prelado, the Pope’s representative.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">[</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><i>El Neo-Granadino, </i>23 March, 1854]</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 18px;">Hoy hace 156 años se murió Daniel Florencio O'Leary, edecán de Bolívar, diplomático venezolano y británico, historiador. Aquí reproduzco extractos de la descripción de la ceremonia que acompaño su funeral, en Bogotá en 1854. El original salió en el periódico <i>El Neo-Granadino </i>con fecha el 23 de marzo, 1854. </span><br />
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<span lang="ES-VE"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A un lado del catafalco se veían la casaca, charreteras, bandas, espada i demás insignias del general colombiano. Este era un cumplimiento que los súbditos británicos, compatriotas del jeneral, hacían al gobierno granadino, en reconocimiento a los honores póstumos que le tributaba.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">La bandera inglesa arriada a media asta i recogida por un lazo de crespón negro, anunciaba al público la deplorable calamidad ocurrida en la legación británica.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">[…]<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">El suntuoso ataúd, cubierto con la bandera británica, fue conducido a mano por los súbditos de aquella poderosa nación, i colocado sobre un nuevo catafalco preparado en la iglesia. Entonces comenzaron los oficios con toda la solemne i pomposa majestad que ofrecen los ritos del culto católico. El imponente ruido de los órganos, la armonía meliflua i sonora de los instrumentos i del canto lírico, el eco melancólico de las voces suaves i melodiosos, el fragante perfume de las resinas sagradas, todo se perdía en la cavidad de las altas bóvedas del magnífico templo; mientras que venía al oído un vago i confuso rumor de las lamentaciones funerales, llevando a la imaginación las ilusiones tétricas de fantásticas visiones, i arrancando más de una lágrima a los ojos de los circunstantes, que contemplaban el espectáculo con el mas religioso recojimiento.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">El ataúd, conducido a mano por 6 caballeros ingleses i asidos sus cordones por los ciudadanos Presidente i Vicepresidente de la Republica, Presidente de la Cámara de Representantes, el Sr Encargado de Negocios de los EE.UU, Ciudadano Comandante Jeneral de Departamento, i Monseñor Barili Prelado domestico de su Santidad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-VE"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sirva a su ilustre i desolada familia de consuelo, si es que puede haber consuelo para la horfandad, la consideración del simpático dolor con que todos los habitantes de esta capital la han acompañado en tan amarga i angustiosa emergencia, i que las lágrimas derramadas por la digna esposa i los tiernos y amantes hijos, se recojieron i mezclaron con las de muchos fieles amigos en el mismo luctuoso sudario.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> The best biography of O’Leary remains Manuel Pérez Vila,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Vida de Daniel Florencio O’Leary: Primer edecán del Libertador<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(Caracas, 1952), synthesised in English by Robert F. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>McNerney, ‘Daniel Florencio O'Leary: Soldier Diplomat and Historian’,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>The Americas<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(1966). Also useful are Diego Carbonnell,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>El General O’Leary, íntimo<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(Caracas, 1937), pp. 1-113; Israel Peña,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Daniel Florencio O'Leary 1800-1854</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> (Caracas, 1960); R.A. Humphreys, ‘Introduction’, in Humphreys, ed.,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i>The 'Detached Recollections' of General D.F. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>O'Leary</i>, (London, 1969); and Jo Ann Rayfield, ‘Daniel Florencio O’Leary: From Bolivarian General to British Diplomat, 1830-1854’, Unpublished Ph.D thesis, Vanderbilt University (1969).</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> <span lang="ES-VE">Rafael Ramón Castellanos,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i>Las Memorias de O’Leary: Un coloso de Irlanda permanece en la historia de America</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> (Caracas, 1978). </span></span><span lang="ES-VE"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> <span lang="ES-VE">Edgardo Mondolfi Gudat,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i>Daniel F. O’Leary<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(Caracas: Biblioteca Biográfica Venezolana, 2006).</span><span lang="ES-VE"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=543434050606831040#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> The <i>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography </i>(<a href="http://www.odnb/">www.odnb</a>) includes O’Leary; and there is a short summary of O’Leary’s life and work by Claire Healy at <a href="http://www.irlandeses.org/dilab_olearydf.htm">http://www.irlandeses.org/dilab_olearydf.htm</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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