{"id":36627,"date":"2026-07-15T11:43:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/in-1826-simon-bolivar-called-for-latin-america-to-resist-great-powers\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:43:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:43:24","slug":"in-1826-simon-bolivar-called-for-latin-america-to-resist-great-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/in-1826-simon-bolivar-called-for-latin-america-to-resist-great-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"In 1826, Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar Called for Latin America to Resist Great Powers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On July 4, the United States celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with soaring rhetoric<\/a> of American exceptionalism. Elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, countries are marking a different historical milestone: the bicentenary of the Congress of Panama.<\/p>\n

Two hundred years ago this summer, diplomats from across the Americas gathered in Panama for the Western Hemisphere\u2019s first international summit. Although the bicentenary of the Congress of Panama<\/a> has been overshadowed by the United States\u2019 250th birthday, these parallel commemorations offer a window into competing U.S. and Latin American visions for hemispheric relations. The legacy of the largely forgotten Panama summit remains relevant as the region once again confronts pressures from Washington.<\/p>\n

The delegates in Panama contended with tropical disease, food shortages caused by years of wartime disruption, and the daunting logistics of bringing together representatives from across the region. But the greatest challenge lay elsewhere: Their newly independent states remained politically fragile. Across the Atlantic, Europe\u2019s reactionary Holy Alliance of Austria, Prussia, and Russia had endorsed the restoration of Ferdinand VII\u2019s absolute rule in Spain, fueling fears that they might also back a Spanish attempt to reassert authority in the Americas. Faced with this existential threat, the delegates in Panama concluded that only a united front could safeguard their hard-won independence.<\/p>\n

Two centuries later, Latin America once again confronts a common challenge. This time, the pressure comes not from European monarchies but from an increasingly unpredictable United States. In recent months, Washington has tightened its economic and political stranglehold on Cuba, carried out deadly maritime strikes widely criticized as violations of international law, and threatened or retaliated against governments in countries including Brazil<\/a>, Chile<\/a>, Colombia<\/a>, Mexico<\/a>, and Panama<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most shockingly, the Trump administration launched a raid on Jan. 3 to capture Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Since then, the U.S. government has insisted<\/a> that it will \u201crun\u201d the country while opening Venezuelan resources to U.S. companies. That plan was always tenuous. It now looks even more feeble as the Venezuelan government and self-styled \u201cviceroy<\/a>\u201d\u2014U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2014grapple with the devastation caused by the June 24 earthquakes.<\/p>\n

Yet Latin America\u2019s response to the U.S. pressure campaign has been strikingly subdued. Leaders such as Argentine President Javier Milei and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa cheered<\/a> the U.S. intervention in Venezuela. Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva emphasized what he called a violation<\/a> of international law, but no country convened a joint response. This mix of acquiescence and timid protest is a far cry from the shared resolve that animated the Congress of Panama.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n A Cuban postage stamp featuring a portrait of a man in a black and gold embroidered military uniform with epaulets. The portrait is framed by a gold border on a blue background, overlaying a light green map of Central America. Text at the top reads “CUBA CORREOS 1991 50,” and Spanish text at the bottom commemorates an anniversary.<\/p>\n

A 1991 Cuban postage stamp depicts Bolivar to commemorate the 165th anniversary of the Congress of Panama.Alamy photo<\/span> <\/p>\n

The 1826 conference was the brainchild of Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar, South America\u2019s independence hero. Representatives from the newly created Gran Colombia, United Provinces of Central America, Peru, and Mexico convened in Panama, which was then a province of Gran Colombia, after two decades of brutal wars of independence against Spain.<\/p>\n

At Bol\u00edvar\u2019s urging, representatives forged<\/a> a treaty of \u201cperpetual union,\u201d pledging mutual defense and an \u201cunalterable peace\u201d among themselves. The Congress of Panama rested on a simple but radical idea: that small states, acting together, could resist the predations of great powers. For the newly independent republics, unity was not an ideal\u2014it was a necessity.<\/p>\n

The delegates envisioned more than a defensive alliance. They imagined<\/a> a confederation of American republics that would stand apart from the European order established at the Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815 and its system of concert diplomacy<\/a>. In a world of monarchies, the signatories committed themselves to preserving their existing republican forms of government and repudiating the logic of great-power domination.<\/p>\n

Bol\u00edvar understood that division among Spain\u2019s former colonies would invite foreign interference. The Panama settlement recognized the territorial boundaries inherited from the Spanish Empire and treated all member states as juridically equal. The signatories pledged to resolve disputes peacefully in a general assembly of the signatory states, lest external powers exploit their rivalries.<\/p>\n

The treaties negotiated in Panama never entered into force. Their ambition exceeded the capacities of the fledgling republics, and rivalries and mutual suspicion among the former Spanish territories proved insurmountable. The remainder of the 19th century was bloody.<\/p>\n

But despite these initial failures, the principles articulated in Panama shaped the ideals of later generations of Latin American diplomats: sovereign equality, territorial integrity, collective defense, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. In the wake of intraregional violence and foreign intervention, Latin American states repeatedly returned to these principles. Gradually, the region developed a \u201cnorm complex<\/a>\u201d that dramatically curtailed international conflicts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n Members of the military march through the streets in green fatigues carrying a red, blue and yellow flag with stars.<\/p>\n

Members of the Venezuelan armed forces march in support of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas on Jan. 6, after their capture by U.S. forces.Jesus Vargas\/Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n

Since returning to the White House for a second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has taken direct aim at many of those principles. His restatement of the Monroe Doctrine has been unilateral, paternalistic, and militarized. Ominously, Panama found itself in his crosshairs, as Trump vowed to \u201ctake back\u201d the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n

The U.S. intervention in Venezuela, Bol\u00edvar\u2019s homeland, disrupted ongoing negotiations and made a mockery of non-intervention and peaceful settlement of disputes. Trump\u2019s 2025 National Security Strategy openly called for restoring \u201cAmerican preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.\u201d He treats Latin American countries not as equals but as subordinates. This dynamic was on full display at the recent \u201cShield of the Americas\u201d summit, where Latin American leaders were summoned to Trump\u2019s Florida golf resort to endorse, not shape, Washington\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n

Many of the region\u2019s right-wing populist governments have embraced elements of Trump\u2019s polices, including his hard line on left-wing authoritarian regimes, tighter immigration controls, and law-and-order approach to crime and drug trafficking. But the contrast with the Congress of Panama could hardly be starker: In 1826, the delegates created a rotating presidency of the congress precisely to ensure that no republic, however powerful, would dominate the others. The Shield of the Americas reflects the opposite logic: One country sets the agenda while the others are largely left to follow its lead.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s U.S. threats would not have surprised Bol\u00edvar and his contemporaries. Even in 1826, Latin Americans viewed the hemisphere\u2019s oldest republic with ambivalence. They welcomed U.S. recognition of their independence and U.S. President James Monroe\u2019s warning against European intervention. But they also recognized the Monroe Doctrine\u2019s unilateralism and worried about the United States\u2019 expansionist impulses.<\/p>\n

Bol\u00edvar\u2019s vision shared some rhetorical elements with the U.S. founding and Monroe\u2019s declaration. Both cast the American revolutions as a new force in world history and approached relations with Europe with ambivalence. Yet there were also sharp differences. The United States offered Latin America protection that was unilateral and imposing. In contrast, Bol\u00edvar insisted on multilateralism among equals.<\/p>\n

After intense debate, the organizers of the Congress of Panama decided to invite the United States. The Spanish Americans\u2019 outreach sparked a heated debate<\/a> in the United States. Proponents of U.S. participation, led by Sen. Henry Clay, portrayed the new states to the south as \u201csister republics\u201d and promising trade partners. But many disagreed, fearing that participation could entangle the United States in conflicts that did not serve its interests.<\/p>\n

The Panama agenda included the abolition of the slave trade, and, more controversially among the delegates, the liberation of Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spain as well as the diplomatic recognition of Haiti. In the United States, the questions of race and culture touched a raw nerve. Others recoiled at the prospect of treating Catholic and racially heterogenous nations as peers. Sen. John Randolph decried<\/a> that U.S. diplomats would sit \u201cbeside the native African, their American descendants, the mixed breeds, the Indians, and the half breeds, without any offence or scandal at so motley a mixture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the U.S. Congress approved participation, but it was too late. One envoy died on the way to the event; the other arrived only after it had adjourned. The rancorous debate in Washington shattered hopes that fraternity could bridge the divide between the American republics of the north and the south.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n A vintage, sepia-toned map of Central America divided into a grid pattern. The landmasses are shaded in muted green and brown topographical details showing mountainous terrain. Inset diagrams, scales, and extensive hand-written style text and titles are visible in the lower-left corner.<\/p>\n

A topographic map shows the countries of Central America in 1850. Trelawney Saunders map\/ Buyenlarge\/Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n

There is a bitter irony in the fact that the bicentenary of the Congress of Panama, so often celebrated<\/a> as a symbol of Latin American unity<\/a>, arrives at a moment when regional cooperation is weaker than it has been in generations.<\/p>\n

If Bol\u00edvar could look at Latin America today, he likely would be disappointed but not surprised by the region\u2019s divisions. Even in 1826, fears of European reconquest did not create unanimity. Argentina, Brazil, and Chile declined<\/a> to send delegates or observers to the congress. Gran Colombia, Central America, Mexico, and Peru signed the treaties on July 15, 1826, but they were left unratified by all but Gran Colombia, and even that republic would soon succumb to centrifugal forces and fragment into three separate states.<\/p>\n

Yet the Congress of Panama still offers lessons for the present.<\/p>\n

First, the summit convened under intense external pressure, but that is not what caused its failure. Mistrust and rivalry\u2014not least Peru\u2019s growing unease of Bol\u00edvar\u2019s hegemonic ambitions<\/a> and his penchant for strongman rule\u2014outweighed the commitment to unity. Ambitions at the summit exceeded what its participants were prepared to sustain. Today, after a decade of regional fragmentation<\/a>, Latin America must rebuild trust among its governments. Limited, concrete agreements should replace the \u201cdeclaratory regionalism<\/a>\u201d of the recent past to contain Trump\u2019s interventionist impulses. Mercosur\u2019s renewed enthusiasm for a trade deal with Europe suggests such a response to Trump\u2019s capricious tariff policies.<\/p>\n

Second, although many states opted out of the 1826 gathering, the principles articulated there outlived<\/a> the congress and gradually gained wider acceptance across the region. The treaties were deliberately left open for other American states to join, reflecting the conviction that regional cooperation could expand over time rather than requiring unanimity from the outset. Given Latin America\u2019s current ideological divisions, smaller coalitions of states will once again have to lead the way, whether through existing arrangements such as the Pacific Alliance, Caribbean Community, and Mercosur or new issue-specific minilateral initiatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Third, Washington ultimately decided that participation at the Congress of Panama would serve its interests. Later generations of U.S. foreign policymakers would cite Bol\u00edvar\u2019s meeting as a precedent for Pan-Americanism<\/a>, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s \u201cGood Neighbor Policy<\/a>,\u201d and the Organization of American States<\/a>. The organization remains contested in Latin America, but it is also a reminder<\/a> that the United States has often pursued its interests in the Western Hemisphere through multilateralism.<\/p>\n

Finally, the contrast between the Congress of Panama and the Shield of the Americas demonstrates that Latin Americans can be rule-makers, too. In 1826, the United States was invited only after Latin Americans had set the agenda. That vision of hemispheric cohesion is worlds apart from Trump\u2019s National Security Strategy.<\/p>\n

At the Panama summit, Latin Americans led the way. The principles they set up two centuries ago, including sovereign equality, territorial integrity, collective defense, and the peaceful settlement of disputes, became cornerstones<\/a> of the modern international order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 4, the United States celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with soaring rhetoric of American exceptionalism. Elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, countries are marking a different historical milestone: the bicentenary of the Congress of Panama. Two hundred years ago this summer, diplomats from across the Americas gathered in Panama for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11611],"tags":[14,26289,2201,19397,11748,457,1017,11749,3150,11751,17422,15585,16919,4211,18102,12428],"class_list":["post-36627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spyballoon-global-news","tag-america","tag-bolivar","tag-called","tag-central-america","tag-foreign-public-diplomacy","tag-great","tag-history","tag-homepage_regional_americas","tag-latin","tag-north-america","tag-panama","tag-powers","tag-resist","tag-simon","tag-south-america","tag-u-s-foreign-policy"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1-panama-congress-simone-bolivar-CF2MEK.jpg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"SPYBALLOON GLOBAL NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"On July 4, the United States celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with soaring rhetoric of American exceptionalism. Elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere, countries are marking a different historical milestone: the bicentenary of the Congress of Panama. Two hundred years ago this summer, diplomats from across the Americas gathered in Panama for…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36629,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36627\/revisions\/36629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}