Francisco de Miranda

THIS YEAR marks the bicentennial of several outstanding events in this nation’s history. One is the arrival of the Chinese immigrants to our shores. Another is the founding of the Lopinot settlement in East Trinidad.

It is also the anniversary of the first attempt to liberate South America from the tyrannical rule of the Spanish monarchy. While this event may seem of little relevance to the average Trinidadian or Tobagonian, the fact remains that this country played a very significant role in the movement to liberate Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile from Spanish rule.

While it is thought that Sim?n Bol?var spearheaded the move to free these countries from Spain, the idea was really the brain child of another man, Admiral Francisco de Miranda. While he was not Trinidadian by birth, Miranda lived at Maracas/St Joseph while he was orchestrating the liberation of the mainland.

According to information from on-line encyclopaedia Wikipe-dia, Miranda was born on March 28 in Caracas to a wealthy merchant from the Canary Islands. Throughout his life, Miranda travelled extensively and played a part in several revolutions taking place throughout the world.

During the American Revolu-tionary War, he commanded Spanish troops, aiding American insurgents in Florida and Missi-ssippi. He also played a part in the French Revolution, serving as an important French Revolu-tionary general. In fact, he is the only person from this hemisphere to have his name engraved on the Arc de Triomphe.

Miranda later conceived the idea of the freedom for South American people on an all-inclusive scale.

In his book “Trinidad Through the Eyes of Francisco de Miranda’s Correspondence”, Gilberto Jaimes-Correa, author and co-ordinator of the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Co-operation in Port-of-Spain, explained that the British supported the idea of the South American colonies and with Miranda, used this island to instill the idea of freedom into the hearts and minds of those colonised in South America.

“With the arrival in Trinidad of printing presses, a pamphlet campaign was organised to flood eastern Venezuela and naturally English newspapers and books considered impious by the Catholic Church, followed swiftly in the wake of the pamphlets,” explained Correa.

The pamphlets from Trinidad were said to have “contained the most advanced ideas on the independence of the entire continent”.

Official reports from the Governors of Cumana and Margarita dated April 1797 quote excerpts from the pamphlets saying: “Good Fortune is offered to the inhabitants of the Spanish Main: complete and entire liberty for all your commercial activity; suppression of duties both incoming and outgoing; permission to cultivate whatever is desired and to sell the fruits thereof; election of the Government of their desire, under the protection of the British Armed Forces.”

Following the distribution of these pamphlets, Miguel Herrera, Governor of Margarita wrote to the Captain General of Caracas saying: “Dear Captain General, in my zeal to execute my responsibilities in the service of the king, and the peacefulness of his possessions, I am always watchful for news of the Islands, and in particular, Trinidad from where I received word that this government thinks about antagonising the Spanish Main, contributing to its uprising, for which they await the arrival of Francisco de Miranda . . .”

In 1806, Miranda headed an expedition from Trinidad in an attempt to liberate Venezuela but his efforts ended in failure. He got a lukewarm welcome from the people he had planned to liberate, as most of them were timid and terrified at the prospect of Spanish reprisals which were known to be brutal. It was from here that the torch was passed to Sim?n Bol?var and the Patriots. Unfortunately for Miranda, a series of disagreements, misunderstandings and miscommunications resulted in his being turned over to the Spaniards by Bol?var. He was sent to a prison in Cadiz where he remained imprisoned until his death in July 1816.

In commemoration of Miranda’s achievement, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, under the Bicentennial Commission of Francisco de Miranda 1806-2006, has donated a bust of the liberator to be erected at the Chaguaramas Military History and Aerospace Museum on July 24.