Bolívar's Political Ideas: From the Jamaica Letter to Angostura

Simón Bolívar, a wealthy creole from Caracas, was both a general and a political thinker. In his Jamaica Letter of 1815, written in exile, he analyzed why Spanish America was not ready for the federal democracy of the United States: centuries of colonial rule had given its people little experience of self-government. He hoped for strong, unified republics. In his Angostura Address of 1819, he praised the British constitution, proposed a hereditary senate and a strong executive, and warned that 'absolute liberty' could collapse into tyranny.

His constitution for Bolivia (1826) included a president for life. Comparing Bolívar with Jefferson and the French radicals reveals different conclusions from similar Enlightenment principles: he shared their belief in popular sovereignty and equality but feared that weak institutions in diverse, war-torn societies would produce anarchy, and so favored centralized power.