1. The General in His
Labyrinth
Chapter 6

2. Introduction
The General is currently in Turbaco, waiting for
his passport to leave.
The men with him were, Jose Palacios, General
Montilla, and his military men.

3. Waiting in Turbaco
In June 16th, the general received his pension for
life. And he said “We are Rich". This is ironical
because the great Liberator is living from a little
amount of money given by the government.
June 22nd , finally receives his passport, “We are
free,” said Bolivar, again ironical because he is
free from the country he liberated.

4. Going to Cartagena
He immediately leaves from Turbaco to
Cartagena, and left without advice.
He did not stop or talk during the whole trip,
contrary to order trips were he stopped and talk
to the people.

5. Cartagena
Cartagena was full of pilgrims, because the
seasons of prayers.
There was panic in the city, because of a dog with
rabies were biting people.
A party was waiting for the General at Cartagena
organized by Montilla.
All the people gathered around to receive the
General entrance to Cartagena, and he could not
stop thinking about the great entrance he did in
Caracas in August in 1813 when he was named
the Liberator.

6. Cartagena
Cartagena de Indias one of the most beautiful
and rich cities of Colombia was now destroyed
because of the independence war, and he felt the
same, from glory to worthless.
“What a price we’ve had for an independence
that’s not worth shit!,” said the angry General.
Many Grenadiers did not liked Bolivar and
Montilla anymore.

7. Cartagena
Montilla did not want the General to leave, he
was sure that the General would die because of
his health during the long trip.
He would create excuses to the General, for
example, he would tell him that the captain of
the ship was not going to leaf, because they
were too many women that were going to board
the ship.

8. Cartagena
His Deliriums
The bad health of the General
made him have deliriums
His deliriums:
He woke up and said to Montilla to
free a man in prison of justified
homicide.
The barks of the dogs that were been
killed in the street, made him sad,
because he loved dogs, and he
remembered Nevado. And Montilla
promised he would not kill more dogs,
but they still kill the dogs.

9. Cartagena
Montilla begs the General not to leave
Cartagena, and to convince him, he revealed him
a secret. The General Rafael Urdaneta,
Bolivarist, is preparing a coup in Santa Fé de
Bogotá.
The General heard him, even interested about it,
so he told him to talk to Sucre. The General told
him that he should not waste time talking to this
old man.
The General made his choice, he commanded to
load the boat, and he will leave.

10. Cartagena
Many people gather to farewell, and Montilla
prepared a military party. The house was full with
people.
The General curiously went closer to Camille and
flirted with her. He talked about the party and the
people.
Camille accepted him with grace
Suddenly, no one knows why, The General decided
to stay! Every one notice this, because he would say
that what would he do with all the women in a boat
with the state of health he has.
Palacio said, “Only my master knows what my
master is thinking.”

11. La Popa Hill
Montilla wanted a better climate for the General,
so he rented a simple house in La Popa Hill, a
suburb near Cartagena
The General liked the house, the house’s colorful
walls, the roof, and the backyard filled with fruit
trees attracted his attention.
The climate was less
humid, so it was better for
his health.

12. Paintings
He only went to Cartagena three times to pose for
Antonio Meucci for a portrait.
Jose Maria Espinoza the New Granadian artist
painted the General before his assassination attempt,
in this portrait the General look very old and wasted
His oldest painting was made in Madrid when he was
16, and another 2 were painted in Haiti when he was
32.
Many painters idealized the General in his days of
glory.

13. Paintings
This is a This was
contrasts of painted Jose
paintings by two
Maria Espinoza
artists, and at the
for July 1830:
same time, which
can be covered sick and dying!
by Boulton
Foundation in
Plaza Pantheon
of Caracas: The
Decrepit Bolivar
or Bolivar They saw and
Espinoza Meucci painted for
Gallardo. The Antonio Meucci
difference is, July 1830:
when Bolivar Arrogant and
posed for Meucci, Lofty!
while Spinoza
drew

14. Strange Girl
One night, the General woke up an there was a
beautiful woman in the room.
He ask the mysterious girl, what the people thought
of him? And she answered that the people thought
you are not sick.
To prove he was ill he took his shirt off to show her
how skinny he was.
“The only thing lacking is for me to die,” said the
General.
She left as well as all of the other girls.
The General never had a strong relation ship with a
woman.

15. Iturbide
Iturbide was one of his soldiers
He ask Iturbide, what are they
saying in Mexico? “I don’t have
anyone there,” “I am in exile,” said
Iturbide. The General replied “All of
us are in exile.”
The war of independence
eliminated the bonds between
Spain, and for a while the people
felt they did not have identity.
Iturbide wanted to feel the battles,
but they were all over. The General
reminded him that the only wars
were the civil war, were the same
people kill each other.

16. Antonio José de Sucre
The general received the
news from General Machado
that a group of military
opposition of anti-separatists,
who wanted the General to be
the head of the group
The General was not exited,
and he ask were was Sucre,
and he was told that he went
by land to Quito.
That same night, the General
received the horrible new that
on June 4th the Marshal Sucre
had been ambushed and
killed.

17. The General´s Mourning
The General had the feeling that something bad will
happen to Sucre, and he was correct.
He damns Sucre´s death, and his soul did not found
comfort, and he imagined him on his horse before he die.
That night he vomited blood.
That same night, the General pondered about how old he
had become.
To deal with his grief, he talk to his soldiers about the same
topic again and again: Santander, the separation,
Panama’s congress, he had to be a dictator and decree
the death sentence to create order, spend all his money on
war, he divided his lands among his slaves, he reject
1,000,000 that the Peruvian government gave him, and he
was frustrated that nothing worked out.

18. The General´s Mourning
Nothing seem to take the General out of his sorrow,
they were his worst days.
Not even the integration movements would take him
out.
He only received as a visit of the Colonel Miecieslaw
Napierski.
The General told him, “There is nothing left, you had
come too late there is nothing here.”
Everyone was trying to protect the General from more
bad news.

19. More Events
Manuela Saenz did a revolt in Santa Fé de Bogota.
Her sister wrote him to come back to Venezuela to put
order.
The congress of Venezuela decreed the fully
separation from the Gran Colombia.
His birth day came, he became 47, this was a special
age for all the bad things that had happened. “Forty-
seven years old, damn it,” he murmured. “And I´m still
alive!”
With his his small inner strength, he told his soldiers if
they wanted to fight for Venezuela go ahead.
Laorencio Silva, Iturbide, Fernando, and Andres Ibarra
stayed.
The General said good bye to the rest of them, with the