On July 15th, the bicentennial of the closing of the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama was commemorated. This congress, convened by the Liberator Simón Bolívar, took place between June 22nd and July 15th, 1826. It is a historical event that demonstrates the integrationist spirit of the Bolivarian project.
Despite not having had the expected results due to the dark interests of the regional oligarchies, sufficiently fueled by the United States, Bolívar's dream has survived throughout these two centuries as an unfinished task, a strategic necessity, which the people have longed for and which some governments, faithful to the Bolivarian doctrine, have shared.
We could say that this project was already present in the political imagination from the very first actions in favor of independence. Just days after the events of April 19, 1810, the Venezuelan people sang a patriotic song that, 70 years later, would become our National Anthem. One of its original verses revealed the aspirations of those who, beyond recognizing or not recognizing Joseph Bonaparte and demanding the return of Ferdinand VII, were taking advantage of the fissure created at the heart of the Spanish monarchy to advance their independence aspirations. The song said: “United by bonds forged by heaven, all of America rises as a Nation.” Its authors already envisioned how an entire continent would rise as a nation.
At the end of the 19th century, the poet Eduardo Calcaño changed the verb "erige" to "existe," thinking, perhaps somewhat naively, that this unity had been achieved. And it wasn't wrong of him to do so, because all good Venezuelans carry that existential condition in their hearts when we sing, until we cry, our "Gloria al Bravo Pueblo" (Glory to the Brave People).
