Diario las Américas., 1958-08-06
Know thv
Neighbor
BY RUIZ

" Early IN 1871,
In various towns of the Province
OF Socorro, Department of Santan.
der, there were hostile demonstra-
tlon against the Spanish authorit.
les for economic reasons such as
the re-establishment of taxes. Fran
cisco Berbeo, Manuela Beltran. and
Jose Delgadillo were the first lead
ers OF these movements, which
were then organized and led by
Jose Galan, ISidro Molina. Loren
20 Alcantuz, and Manuel Ortiz, who
succeeded in advancing their troops
to the city of Zipaquira, 80 miles
from the capital. They were cap
tured by the Spanish authorities.
VINO prosecuted them, and they all
persisted at the gallows.
On November 11,18O9, the city
OF Cartagena, Spanish stronghold
IN the Americas, declared its in
dependence of the Spanish Crown.
On July 4,1810, there was an upris-
ing in Pamplona, Norte de San
lander, followed by another
on the goth, in Santa Fe de Bogo.
ia. Because of the intellectual
CALDER of its leaders and because
it happened in the capital city of
the Vlceroyalty, this last movement
was the originator of the separa.
tlst movement from Spain which
really succeeded. A declaration
OF independence was prepared the
same day and signed by the most
prominent citizens of the capital.
Later, several congresses met in
Bogota and Ibague to ratify the
declaration of independence.
The first Republic thus organic.
ed was, called Patria Boba. The
Spanish government sent fresh
troops to repress the movement,
and succeeded in taking the capital
on May 6, 1916, thus beginning a
period of reprisals known as the
Period of Terror, during which
the Spaniards Francisco Montalvo,
Pablo Morillo and Juan Samano en-.
forced cruel measures of reprisal
and shot the leading men of the
times, among them the learned
Francisco Jose de CaldaS, the dis.
tinguiShed attorney Joaquin Cana.
cho, Camilo Torres, and many
others in Santa Fe, as we'll as Jose
Maria Garcia de Toledo and a hun.
dred other in Cartagena and other
cities. Among them was a woman,
Policarpa Salavarrieta.
One of the most prominent and
most active persons in the indie.
pendence movement was Antonio
Narino, of Santa Fe de Bogota, who
was a brilliant writer and, in 1894,
translated, printed, and distribut-
ed 1.-THE Rights of Man" from the
French and was, for that reason,
prosecuted and jailed several times
by the Spaniards. He also took
active part, as a General, in i'm.
portant combats.
During the period following the
declaration of independence, sew.
eral armies were organized by the
patriots of Colombia, who most of
the time were working in coopera-
ton with similar movements in
Venezuela. The most outstanding
leaders then were the Liberator
Simon Bolivar, General Francisco
de Paula %Santander, and captains
Atanasio GirardOt, Antonio Soublet-
te, and Antonio Ricaurte, who he.
roically gave his life blowing up
an ammunition deposit of which he
was in charge after he ordered
all the soldiers to get away from
the place. He was a Colombian,
but his supreme sacrifice was made
in Venezuela, at San Mateo, the
country home and hacienda of the
Bolivar family. Finally, Bolivar led
his armies across the Andes, in
one of the most difficult and dan.
gerous marches in history, and
joined forces with General Santan-
der, on the Colombian side of the
mountain range. On August 7,
1873, at the Bridge of Boyaca, not
far from Tunja, today capital Of
the Department of Boyaca, the
combined patriot armies defeated
the Spaniards in the Battle of Bo.
yaca, which sealed Colombian in.
dependence.
Spanish version page s.,