Haiti's Gift to Latin American Independence

Haiti directly shaped the independence of Spanish America. In 1815–16, after defeats in Venezuela, Simón Bolívar took refuge in Haiti, where President Alexandre Pétion provided ships, weapons, money and volunteers. Pétion's condition was that Bolívar would free enslaved people in the lands he liberated. Bolívar soon issued emancipation decrees for enslaved people who joined his forces, though full abolition in the countries he freed came only decades later.

Haiti's 1816 constitution also offered refuge to people of African or Indigenous descent who reached its shores. Yet Bolívar did not invite Haiti to the 1826 Congress of Panama, reflecting fears among creole elites about race and Haiti's example. This shows the double influence of Haiti: it inspired and assisted freedom movements while frightening elites who wanted independence without social revolution.