Francisco de Paula Santander
From Freepedia
Francisco de Paula Santander (1792-1840), was one of the military and political leaders during Colombia's (then known as New Granada) independence struggle (1810-1819).
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Military Career
A law student, he began his militar career at the young age of 18 after the events of 1810, as a soldier in the federalist faction of New Granada's independence movement, later joining the centralists.
Santander received the rank of colonel in 1812. After the Spanish Invasion of New Granada, as a series of defeats led to the exile or retreat of many of New Granada's officers, Santander himself retreated to the eastern plains, near the modern Venezuelan border. Operating from there, Santander was promoted to Brigadier General in 1817 under Simon Bolivar.
By 1819, he was given command of the republican army's vanguard by Simon Bolivar, as the invasion of New Granada was initiated from the New Grenadine-Venezuelan border. Santander was one of the battlefield commanders during the republican victory at the Battle of Boyacá in August 7 of that same year. After the battle, he was promoted to Division General, the equivalent of Major General.
In October of 1821, after the constitution of Cúcuta was proclaimed, Santander was elected by the newly gathered Congress as vice president of Gran Colombia, in a heated election where he overcame another strong candidate for the post, Antonio Nariño, by a 38 to 19 vote margin.
Acting Executive
Since Bolivar, the president of the new republic, decided to continue leading the republican forces towards Ecuador and Peru, the constitution mandated that Santander remain in Bogotá and act as the representative of the executive branch of government.
As acting ruler, Santander had to deal with the grave economic crisis that was one of the direct consequences of almost a decade of constant warfare, as well as with surviving Royalist sentiments, the requirements of continuing military operations (including recruitment, training and supply), administrative and legislative reactivation, and internal political divisions.
Political Differences
Initially, Santander and Bolivar were considered as close friends and allies, but gradually political and ideological differences emerged. It is considered by modern scholars that Santander believed in the sanctity of constitutional government and in the rule of law, perhaps to a greater degree than Bolivar, who would have allegedly thought that those concerns were secondary to what he perceived as the actual needs and solutions that historical circunstances demanded, and thus could be subject to flexibility.
In 1826, when the first Venezuelan uprising occurred, Santander and Bolivar came to disagree about how to handle the situation. Santander believed that the rebels, led by José Antonio Páez and federalist sympathizers, should be punished or at least made to openly submit to the established constitutional order. When Bolivar, who had returned from Peru and reasumed his executive powers, arranged for an amnesty and placed Páez as supreme military chief of the department of Venezuela, Santander felt that the central government's authority and the rule of law were being undermined by the constitutional President himself in a personalist manner.
Santander also disagreed with Bolivar's attempt to promote a reform of the 1821 constitution before it was legally permitted (the constitution stated that ten years had to go by), and especially with Bolivar's attempted nationwide implementation of the constitution that he had previously drafted for Bolivia, which among other provisions called for a lifetime presidency with the ability to select a direct successor. In Santander's opinion, this could place the country dangerously close to monarchism.
In 1828, Growing internal conflicts led Bolivar to abolish the office of the vice president. Santander was elected as one of the delegate to the Ocaña constitutional convention, during which both his supporters and other opposition political factions blocked Bolivar's attempts at reform. This led to the sudden exit of many of the Bolivarian delegates.
These events eventually led Bolivar to declare himself dictator in August of that year.
Santander and his political sympathizers felt that this act betrayed liberalism and the ideology of the Age of Enlightenment, some even comparing Bolivar to Napoleon or Julius Caesar.
In September, 1828 Bolivar escaped an assassination attempt. Among those blamed was Santander who, in a quick military trial, was originally sentenced to die without specific proof of his participation in the event. Bolivar pardoned him and his exile was ordered.
Even today the details are not totally clear and the evidence appears to be inconclusive. Some historians consider that Santander knew about the possibility of an assassination attempt and initially opposed it, but eventually allowed it to happen without his direct participation. This position was eventually assumed by Santander himself later in his life. Others consider that Santander may have been involved in the plan from the beginning as it would benefit him politically, though no direct proof of his role has been found.
Return to New Granada
After Bolivar died and Gran Colombia broke up, Santander returned from exile in 1832 and served as President of New Granada 1832 to 1836.
After his term expired, he remained an important and influential political figure. He died in 1840 and was eventually considered as one of the original historical representatives of the Colombian Liberal Party, which would be founded some eight years later.
