One of the most important projects envisioned by the Liberator Simón Bolívar to replace Spanish colonialism was, without a doubt, Gran Colombia, which he structured and witnessed its collapse before his death in December 1830. This grand idea, inspired by the ideas of the precursor Sebastián Francisco de Miranda, was destroyed by two Venezuelans and one from New Granada: José Antonio Páez, Juan José Flores, and Francisco de Paula Santander. These three were the first presidents of the countries that comprised Gran Colombia, which consisted of Cundinamarca (named to replace New Granada, and is now Colombia), Ecuador (which adopted this name in 1830, with Quito as its capital), and Venezuela, which retained that name forever.
We bring this up because last Sunday, the 19th, marked the 226th anniversary of the birth in Puerto Cabello of Juan José Flores Aramburo, whose life was quite remarkable. From the age of 14, he was trained in the Spanish army, which he soon left to enlist with the patriots under the command of the Liberator. There, he demonstrated that he would rise to the rank of leader through his own will and determination. By the age of 23, he held the rank of colonel and was also governor of the province of San Juan de Pasto. In 1823, he arrived in Ecuador as commander-in-chief of the army, and in 1828 and 1829 he participated in the defense of the Southern District of Gran Colombia and in the Battle of Portete de Tarqui, where he served under Antonio José de Sucre, who by then held the title of Grand Marshal of Ayacucho, bestowed upon him by Bolívar on August 6, 1825, the first anniversary of the Battle of Junín, won by the renowned Venezuelan himself. Juan José Flores became President of Ecuador in 1830 and served until 1834 in this first term, followed by the periods 1839-1843 and 1843-1845.
From the heights of power, he married Mercedes Jijón de Vivanco, a woman from Otavalo, which led to his association with the landowners of Guayaquil. This connection resulted in his serving as president on three occasions. In his early years, he undertook numerous initiatives to consolidate Gran Colombia, which, as mentioned at the beginning, was one of Bolívar's most prominent projects. During his presidency, he implemented measures to overcome more than 300 years of Spanish colonial rule. Simultaneously, the Colonizing Society of the Archipelago of Columbus, as the Galápagos Islands were then known, was established under the leadership of General José de Villamil.
