Union against the empire

1

It is almost impossible to complete a continental project. Ensuring its permanence is a Herculean task. From his famous 1810 address to the Patriotic Society, Bolívar called for the laying of “the first stone of American liberty.” Not that of Caracas, nor that of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, nor even that of the Viceroyalty of New Granada: liberty must be as vast as the boundless Americas.

2

Unlimited expansion, the raison d'être of empires, is also their downfall. Vastness hinders domination, while cultural diversity fragments it. The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence of April 19, 1810, was the first on the Latin American mainland; it would be followed by pronouncements from five viceroyalties and several captaincies. Ayacucho, in 1824, sealed the independence of the Americas. The liberators understood from the outset that all the liberated territories would unite. Francisco de Miranda had envisioned an Inca Empire stretching from North America to Patagonia.

3

Exiled in Jamaica, in September 1815 Simón Bolívar wrote a long letter in which he visionarily analyzed the future of America. He aspired to its unity, but found it difficult: “It is a grand idea to attempt to form a single nation from the entire New World, with a single bond uniting its parts to each other and to the whole. Since it has a common origin, language, customs, and religion, it should consequently have a single government to confederate the different states that may be formed; but this is not possible because distant climates, diverse situations, opposing interests, and dissimilar characters divide America. How wonderful it would be if the Isthmus of Panama were for us what the Isthmus of Corinth was for the Greeks! I hope that one day we will have the good fortune to establish there an august congress of representatives from republics, kingdoms, and empires, to discuss and debate the high interests of peace and war with the nations of other parts of the world.”

3

Why Panama as the site of this august congress? In his early youth, Bolívar had sailed the Caribbean and the Atlantic. He understood the mechanics of naval power; he admired England's, and he grasped the strategic importance of the isthmus: “This magnificent position between the two great seas may one day become the emporium of the world. Its canals will shorten the world's distances: they will strengthen the commercial ties of Europe, America, and Asia; they will bring to this fortunate region the tributes of the four corners of the globe. Perhaps only there will the capital of the world one day be established!”

4

With the support of the Haitian Pétion, Bolívar landed in Venezuela and, upon gaining control of Guayana, appointed a technical commission to study the feasibility of digging an interoceanic canal in Panama. The “august congress of representatives of the republics,” prophesied in 1816, was convened in 1824 and finally met in Panama in July 1826. For the Spanish, Panama was a Pacific port used to transport silver from Potosí by mule train to the Caribbean fortresses of Nombre de Dios and later Portobelo. For Bolívar, it was to be a barrier against new conquerors. Perhaps the consolidation of Colombia as a union of Quito, the Viceroyalty of New Granada, and the Captaincy General of Venezuela was intended to safeguard, with a powerful geopolitical bloc, the future site of the interoceanic canal and perhaps even “the capital of the world.” “The ambition of the nations of Europe carries the yoke of slavery to the other parts of the world, and all these parts of the world should try to establish a balance between themselves and Europe in order to destroy the preponderance of the latter. I call this the balance of the universe and it must enter into the calculations of American policy.”

5

The event began its sessions at the San Francisco Convent in Panama City on June 22, 1826, with an ambitious agenda: 1. Renewal of treaties of union, league, and confederation; 2. Manifesto denouncing Spain's conduct and the damage caused to the New World; 3. Pronouncement of support for the independence of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Canary Islands, and the Philippines; 4. Signing of trade and navigation treaties among the confederated states; 5. Application of the United States' Monroe Doctrine against Spanish attempts at reconquest; 6. Structuring of a body of international law; 7. Abolition of slavery in the confederated states; 8. Contributions from the member countries to the maintenance of common military contingents; 9. Pressure on Spain for the recognition of the newly independent republics; and 10. Establishment of national borders according to the principle of uti possidetis, starting in 1810.

6

Argentina and Brazil did not attend because they were involved in a conflict over the Banda Oriental; Brazil was a slave-owning monarchy antagonistic to republican ideals. Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia of Paraguay declined the invitation due to his extreme isolationism. The Chileans did the same because of their trade ties with the United States and England. The Bolivian delegate arrived after the event had concluded; the Peruvians withdrew beforehand. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands each sent ambassadors. Francisco de Paula Santander, on his own initiative, invited the United States, which opposed the emancipation of slaves and the formation of a competing bloc. Inexplicably, Haiti, whose providential contribution had been so instrumental in Venezuela's independence, was not invited.

7

There were disagreements about a possible reduction in tariffs, at that time an important source of income for the newly independent republics. There were also disagreements about who would support the independence of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola. The greatest consensus was found around the idea of ​​a common military force to defend the independence movements. At the close of the event, on July 15 of the same year, it was agreed to continue the sessions in the Mexican city of Tacubaya, where they languished until they ceased.

How many setbacks, disasters, and invasions Our America would have saved itself by continuing, expanding, and applying its resolutions with sovereign and unwavering firmness.