Melissa’s Soapbox

The square featured a statue of Francisco Santander (1792 – 1840) who was a Colombian hero, and materially contributed to the victory at Boyacá which acquired Colombia (then known as New Granada) its independence from Spain.  Appointed by Simon Bolívar himself, Brigadier Generals Francisco de Paula Santander and José Antonio Anzoátegui led a combined republican army of Colombians and Venezuelans, complemented by a small British Legion made up of mostly Irish volunteers (including some veterans from the Napoleonic Wars), to victory over a Spanish Royalist force led by Colonels José María Barreiro and Francisco Jiménez.  The battle occurred 150 kilometers from Bogotá in the Andes Mountains.

In October of 1821, Santander became vice president of Colombia and ably administered the country during Bolívar’s long absences.  A believer in constitutional government, Santander led the federalist opposition to Bolívar, who, on September 24, 1828, suspended him from office.  That night Bolívar barely escaped assassination.  Convicted without proof of complicity in the plot, Santander was sentenced to death, but was instead exiled to Isla Providencia.  After Bolívar’s death and the dissolution of the republic of Greater Colombia, Santander returned and served from 1832 to 1836 as president of New Granada.  His administration was competent, but there were plots against his life and he maintained control only by force.

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