When the historic current towards the Liberator is considered, in my opinion it only examines it under the sole prism of Venezuelan, Great Colombian or American events. This sole prism would mutilate his thought. Furthermore, it would provide a half understanding of the finality of his work. By the right that his genius concedes to him, Bolivar is a man through universal autonomasy. More than a presentment, he truly knows that South American liberty to which he consecrates himself, involves a gift of future progressive development the beneficiaries of which should be, jointly with the Americans, men of all climates and of all races. For the artisans of five nations who owe him their liberty, these lands cannot constitute a closed ark where its inhabitants develop themselves outside of the universal process that can and should unite men and Nations. Tightly closed regional structures that are not solidary to the world that surrounds them, do not have a place in his thought and for this reason, he goes on to broaden his work and provide new fields to his wide and generous action. Caracas, Bogotá, Quito, Lima and La Paz, constitute the wide and rocky Andean platform where his universal personality shines. He searches for changes of a destiny in God’s own roads: the roads of men’s liberty, the personal or community potter of every historical process.
In the work that whoever reads these lines holds in his hands, the reader may appreciate the valor of a historian who has been formed by persistence, intelligence, very solid indeed, and serene and clear meditation that flows by means of his own style without the pretension of shining in vain.
Years ago I had the honor of meeting General Víctor José Fernández Bolívar. From this first moment we agreed, when we focused, during long talks, on various cultural matters. And above all, on matters regarding ancient and contemporary history. Since then, I realized that his forte was not light chronicles or partial anecdotes that, although it is true, help much, but cannot impart on their own, the scientific thought of history. In this field he was seen as a good plainsman of our fascinating Apure, always looking forward without resting and retiring to meditate, with silent seclusion, on the experience of that vital content with the past and the present. With that attitude of life, an austere Fernández Bolívar arises who, having an indomitable internal discipline, coincides with his work, now having a universal quality, with the scientific conclusions that defend the so called mathematical interpretation of history. Mathematics that, on the other hand, explains the processes of human events so that man, the basic unit of history, does not have his liberty reduced.
General Víctor José Fernández Bolívar, a good Venezuelan military man, seems obsessed by his historical research, that is, by the overflowing force of the life and work of the Liberator. How could he escape from this obsession when his research and work move within the great historical synthesis of universal dimensions? By only reading the simple summary of this work we can see what I have just pointed out. In one sole precision piece to which I would describe as admirable, we are given the basic concepts of the author’s thought, the particular process of the meeting between Bolivar and San Martin, so many times focused on various criteria of interpretation, and its conclusions, a true analytical jewel, of that memorable act where the magnanimous Liberators taught the Americans a lesson of understanding the sacred interests of this Continent to those who wish to search and find, by means of dialog.
This dense and keen research is quite current. Let us not forget that the integration of our Andean Countries, today on the way to completeness, tends to be geared towards a Latin American integration, as a prior step, and that, in its historical-vital center, the already far reality of the Guayaquil meeting is brought to mind.
Only two years ago, in the Spain we carry deep in our hearts, the author and I, talked about the matter of what this work would be like. Before us was the ancient façade of the Cathedral of Toledo. Everything wrapped us into a distant past the prints of which, in the present, made us foresee the future of our civilization. Then, we understood one more time that, in the scheme of history, we cannot do without the past threads that try to unite us under an always-latent ecumenism, even though we often pretend to ignore it. The mathematics of history discovers those threads for us and, when it places them in our hands to prolong them towards the future, it makes us work towards achieving a better world.
The message of this work by General Víctor José Fernández Bolívar, with the interpretation of history that he poses herein, constitutes a message of optimistic and conscientious seriousness. If we want to think, we should visit its pages. Only he who seriously and sincerely thinks can guide us through the roads of true history.
“The meeting between Bolívar and San Martín”, when it makes us think, is true and constructive history.
ENRIQUE DIAZ RUIZ