By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

On the occasion of the 214th anniversary of Venezuela's Independence Day, which falls on July 5, 1811, the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the Republic of Korea held an event to encounter with Venezuelan nationals in Seoul in the Venezuelan Official Residence in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul on July 5.

Delivering an address, Isabel Di Carlo Quero, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Venezuela in Seoul said, “Today is a day that unites Venezuelans in a national sentiment, because many generations after 214 years value the heroic deeds of our independence heroes as important, and because we are convinced that we will continue to be free, sovereign, and independent.”

Noting that Venezuela's independence was not a gift, she said, “it was achieved through the united struggle of the Venezuelan people and guided by our independence heroes. The independence forerunners were equally important and our indigenous peoples who resisted to death, some others, refusing to be colonized, emigrated to the Eastern Antilles in the Caribbean Sea.”

She continued to say, “Achieving the Independence took years of effort by great men and women who sowed the seeds of a republic. First, there was the Declaration of Independence in 1810, followed a year later by the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1811, and the Battle of Carabobo in 1821, the military feat that definitively ended 300 years of colonization.

“Venezuela's independence was never conceived in isolation, but rather for the entire region. Thus, Venezuelan armies set out on foot to cross the Andes and achieved the freedom of Colombia, which was later divided when Panama was created, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The sister nations of Bolívar have already reached their bicentennial of independence, with Bolivia celebrating it this year.”

She added, “It is necessary to recall the thoughts on global balance of our national hero Simón Bolívar, whom we honor today as the Father of the Nation. He maintained that to guarantee Venezuela's independence and peace, it was necessary to achieve a balance of global powers, and thus proposed and pursued the goal of Latin American and Caribbean unity.“