13: The Bolívar of José Galvez
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On July 28, 1821, Argentine General José de San Martín proclaimed the independence of Peru upon his victorious
arrival in Lima, at the head of a liberating army of Argentine and Chilean troops. Two years later, having been
unable to effect the complete independence of the country by a decisive victory over the Spaniards, San Martín
returned to Argentina, leaving the nation his genius created weakened by political and military dissension, and
threatened by the powerful Spanish armies entrenched in the high valleys of the Peruvian Andes.
It was after San Martín had left Peru-never to return -that the Government of the dying republic requested and
obtained the help of Bolívar. In less than sixteen months the Colombian Liberator, fighting against almost
insurmountable obstacles, was successful in freeing Peru forever from the Spanish yoke.
With this preamble we come to the purpose of our chronicle. One hundred years later, on July 28, 1921, Peru
celebrated the centennial of its independence with great splendor. The entire nation expressed its gratitude to the
memory of its first liberator, José de San Martín, and the Peruvian press was full of articles praising his heroic
deeds.
But, possibly because the Argentine general was the outstanding hero of the celebration, a beautiful essay on
Bolívar, published at the time by the magazine Mundial in its special centennial issue, went unnoticed. Written by
the Peruvian poet Don José Galvez, this eulogy to the Colombian Libera for is so masterful that we thought it
fitting to quote it here:
Bolívar
"There is muted sorrow and a deep melancholy when San Martín leaves. Desertions are rampant. Spirits are low.
And ominous forebodings fill the mind with dark visions of disaster and defeat, like sinister vultures circling over
the dying spoils of the first crusade of liberation.
"But from the north comes a ray of hope. A resounding clarion announces the resurrection, and a gleam of light
appears on the dark horizon-a harbinger of the dawn of deliverance. It brings inspiration and joy. Under the
tropical American sun a new Quixote emulates the gaunt hero of Cervantes in his burning zeal to "fight injustices
and succour the aggrieved."
"But his summons to glory transcends the Quixotic dream, because he defends peoples and liberates races. Also
gaunt, with an intense countenance and frail in appearance, he performs the miracle-he conquers defeat and bears
in his hands the divine torch of his exploits. On Peruvian soil he sounds his immortal call to Victory-which
Destiny heard and acknowledged, when no one heeded it, when everyone in the timidity of doubt had let the
weakness of the flesh overcome the nobler forces of the spirit.
"He is Bolívar! With him come the echoes of the oath of Monte Sacro, the invocation of Tequendama, the
supernatural vision of Chimborazo, and the epics of Boyacá and of the meeting at Guayaquil, where over two
giants hovered the twin tongues of Pentecostal fire: Destiny and Mystery!
"He is Bolívar! Nothing perturbs him! Nothing stops him! Accustomed to mastering men and events with his
eagle's gaze and his lion's heart, he organizes victory, uplifts the downhearted, and with his tread arouses echoes of
the oldest and most fabulous triumphs, creating heroes, writing constitutions, welding peoples
together. And when Destiny signals the decisive hour, he alone hears the call-at Junin and Ayacucho he breaks
forever the centuries-old bonds of the Spanish yoke.
"Great for his deeds, for his military genius and for his amazing capacity to scale all summits: those of nature, of'
the mind, of the will, and of the gift of expression. He is able to confront volcanoes; to change the march of time;
to fight against destiny and to be greater than his victories. Everything he strove for he achieved. His stature grows
with the passing of time. We are astonished by his audacity and amazed by his feverish activity; overcome by his
eloquence and bedazzled by his genius; and even his human failings by their very intensity are endowed with
greatness.
"Great even in grief and disillusionment! While other men are forgotten and in darkness, Bolívar's immortal
essence remains transcendent! No more fitting commendation could have been composed in his honor than that
addressed to him by a humble village priest on Peruvian soil:
"Your fame will grow with the centuries as the shadows grow with the setting sun!"
José Gálvez
When this essay of Galvez becomes better known in our Americas, it will occupy a prominent place among the
literary gems on Simón Bolívar by those other giants of Castilian letters--Rodo, Unamuno, Garcia Calderon,
Martí, Montalvo.
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