Simón Bolívar Signed Order of the Liberators Appointment.

BOLIVAR, Simón.

$8,200.00

Item Number: 127430

Rare autograph letter signed by ‘El Libertador’, Simón Bolívar as President of Venezuela. One page, partially printed on Bolívar’s presidential letterhead bearing his title, ‘Supreme Head of the Republic, Captain-General of the Army of Venezuela and New Granada’, the letter is dated January 18 1819 and appoints Lt. Col. Laurencio Silva to the Order of the Liberators, the highest distinction of Venezuela, created by Bolívar in 1813 and awarded for outstanding merit and benefits made to the community under his exclusive authority. Signed by Bolívar in the lower right portion of the appointment. The recipient of the appointment, Jose Laurencio Silva was a Venezuelan soldier and politician who served as commander in chief of the Venezuelan army in the War of Independence. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel after the battle of Calabozo in February 1818 and acted in the Apure Campaign in 1819 where he stayed with Páez while Bolívar developed his offensive on New Granada. In 1821 he received the office of colonel and, after spending a year in Guayaquil and Quito, marched with Bolívar to Peru to take an active part in the liberation campaign. In very good condition. Matted and framed with a portrait of Bolívar. The entire piece measures 20.75 inches by 17.25 inches.

Venezuelan military and political leader Simón Bolívar, also known as 'El Libertador', led what are currently the countries of Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama to independence from the Spanish Empire in the campaign for the independence of New Granada, which began in 1808 and was consolidated with the victory at the Battle of Boyacá on 7 August 1819. Despite a number of hindrances, including the arrival of an unprecedentedly large Spanish expeditionary force, the revolutionaries eventually prevailed, culminating in the victory at the Battle of Carabobo in 1821, which effectively made Venezuela an independent country. Following this triumph over the Spanish monarchy, Bolívar participated in the foundation of the first union of independent nations in Latin America, Gran Colombia, of which he was president from 1819 to 1830. Through further military campaigns, he ousted Spanish rulers from Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, the last of which was named after him. He was simultaneously president of Gran Colombia (present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador), Peru, and Bolivia, but soon after, his second-in-command, Antonio José de Sucre, was appointed president of Bolivia. Bolívar aimed at a strong and united Spanish America able to cope not only with the threats emanating from Spain and the European Holy Alliance but also with the emerging power of the United States. At the peak of his power, Bolívar ruled over a vast territory from the Argentine border to the Caribbean Sea.