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previous: Chapter 1 This webpage reproduces a chapter of Antonio José de Sucre by Guillermo Antonio Sherwell Press of Byron S. Adams Washington, D. C., 1924 The text is in the public domain. This page has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: Chapter 3

p21 Chapter II

A Diplomat with a Soul

O'Leary relates that when Vice-President Zea had promoted Sucre to the General­ship in 1819, Bolívar was displeased, for Zea had no authority to make the promotion.

When the Liberator arrived at the city of Cúcuta, Sucre appeared among his followers. Coming from a distant region, he was unknown. An enemy of personal ostentation, he was simply dressed and his presence was almost unnoticed in the crowd. Some officers close to the Liberator were discussing the unknown officer. Bolívar overheard them, and spoke the following words, as related by O'Leary:

He was appointed Minister of Army and Navy ad interim. In that capacity he followed Bolívar on his way to Valencia, Mérida and Trujillo. There he was made Bolívar's chief of staff.

Before writing of the next activities of Sucre's career, we must devote a few words to what has already been called the "War to Death."

The struggle for the independence of the Spanish colonies was cruel beyond human comprehension. The royalist commander Monteverde initiated systematic cruelty. Miranda surrendered and the terms of his surrender were not respected. He was confined to a dungeon where he witnessed the worst forms of cruelty inflicted upon the most distinguished sons of Venezuela. Monteverde plunged twelve hundred other prisoners into dungeons where they suffered slow torture and death.

The independents answered in kind. A chieftain of the southwest beheaded all Spaniards who fell into his hands and with their blood he wrote the news of their punishment to Bolívar. Bolívar pronounced his terrible words: "Spaniards and natives of the Canaries,  p23 even if you are neutral, you will die." The royalists were everywhere plundering, killing, mutilating and committing innumerable crimes, while eight hundred Spaniards and natives of the Canaries were executed in Caracas and La Guaira in February of 1814.

Ribas ordered that any man in Caracas, whatever his condition and age, who did not present himself at a certain time in a certain place of the city should be executed with only three hours' preparation. He himself was caught by the Spaniards, executed, and his head embalmed and taken to Caracas, where it was exposed to insult at one of the gates of the city. Páez ordered the execution of the prisoners of La Puerta. Santander, the Colombian patriot, put to death the prisoners of Boyacá. At Valencia Boves slaughtered all the prominent men of the independent party. A royalist chieftain called Zuazola took a town, and ordered all the men to present themselves. He had them seated before him, and their ears were cut off and placed in their hands. They were then ordered to follow their executioners, who beheaded them and threw their bodies into a lake. It is related that on this occasion a little child nine years of age offered to die instead of his father. He was killed in his father's sight, and the father was himself executed. Zuazola died, as he deserved, on the gallows.

It was seven years since Bolívar had issued the "War to Death" decree. A man of superior culture  p24 and more humane feelings than his predecessors was now commander of the Spanish armies. The patriots were no longer dealing with Monteverde, Boves or Morales. The freedom of the territory which they occupied was no longer under dispute. They had a regular standing in the eyes of their enemy and consequently it was time to put an end to butchery and humanize the war. In this work no one could help Bolívar more than Sucre, who had himself always conducted warfare in a civilized way. Although his own family had been the victims of the royalists' ferocity, his hands were not polluted with the blood of victims.

Acting with authority from the Spanish Government, Morillo offered peace to the independents. Bolívar declared that no discussion of terms could take place except on the basis of the acknowledgment of Colombia's independence.

Morillo proposed an armistice until the arrival of some commissioners from Spain, with instructions from the mother country. He declared that only the Spanish Cortes (Parliament) could recognize Colombian independence. He also proposed that the Americans should accept the constitutional government of Spain, retaining control of the provinces already in their possession and also their present military degrees and privileges, but subordinating themselves to the army of Morillo or to the Government of Spain. Bolívar refused even to discuss the latter proposal.

 p25  Such was the situation when he arrived at Cúcuta, passing thence to Mérida and Trujillo, with the young general, don Antonio José de Sucre, in his suite.

Bolívar finally decided to accept Morillo's proposals for an armistice. Thus he sought an opportunity to enter into relations with the Americans who were fighting on the Spanish side, and at the same time to prepare himself for the deliverance of Venezuela. In the meantime the world should learn that Morillo was according him treatment as the President of Colombia and the General of an independent army, and not as a leader of bandits, as the royalists had tried to make him appear. He wanted also to rest his troops while he explained to the Americans serving with the Spanish armies the exact advantages that would accrue from freedom.

Morillo appointed as his delegates General Correa, who was the civil governor of Venezuela; don Juan Rodríguez de Toro, mayor of Caracas; and don Francisco González de Linares. Bolívar appointed General Antonio José de Sucre, colonel Pedro Briceño Méndez, and Lieutenant Colonel José Gabriel Pérez.

The first duty of the plenipotentiaries was to fix the conditions for the armistice. But Bolívar desired, and so he stated in his communication to Morillo, that the convention for the armistice should be followed by a treaty to regularize the war, which might be considered, "even among the most civilized nations, as a  p26 monument of civilization, generosity, and philanthropy."

The delegates met at Trujillo. After considerable discussion, they signed a convention on November 25, 1820, fixing the positions which the opposing armies should keep during the armistice. The convention has fifteen articles. Article 14 reads as follows:

The treaty to humanize the war was drafted by Sucre, and suffered slight change in the hands of the Spaniards. Since it is a monument of American international law, it should be included in its entirety.

p30 This treaty put an end to the "War to Death." Its stipulations merit attention, for they are in advance of the practice of most modern wars. It is a monument of American international law and is one of great glories of General Sucre. In speaking of it, Bolívar used the following words:

---

The Author's Note:

1 Memorias del General O'Leary, Vol. II, p67.

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