Invocation (Invocación)

Here are more bits and pieces of the history of Colombia, later narrated through my Father’s poetry.

In October 1821, after the Constitution of Cúcuta was proclaimed, Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (2 April 1792 – 6 May 1840) was elected by the newly gathered Congress as Vice President of The Gran Colombia. The nation was entrusted to him when General Simón Bolívar, the President of the new republic, decided to continue leading the republican forces against Spain in their southern campaigns in Ecuador and Perú.

Initially, Santander and Bolívar were considered close friends and allies, but gradually political and ideological differences emerged. It is considered by modern scholars that Santander believed in the sanctity of constitutional government and in the rule of law, perhaps to a greater degree than Bolívar, who allegedly thought that those concerns were secondary to what he perceived as the actual needs and solutions that historical circumstances demanded, and thus could be subject to flexibility.

After Bolívar died and the Gran Colombia broke up, Santander returned from exile in 1832 and served as President of Republic of New Granada from 1832 to 1836. He died in 1840 and was eventually considered as one of the original ideological founders of the Colombian Liberal Party.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Paula_Santander.

This is from my Dad’s book Variations for an epopee (Variaciones para una epopeya).

Invocation (Invocación)

SANTANDER,     formed under the dry and brambled sun

                                of a perpetual scorching summer.

SANTANDER,     whose eyes, saturated

with the green of the valley

created hope.

SANTANDER,     wise magistrate,

with the wisdom

of our traditions.

SANTANDER,     man of character,

calm, with the courage

of our peacefulness.

SANTANDER,     co-operator of the Genius,

soldier and jurist:

Bolívar’s interlocutor.

SANTANDER,     forged in the melting pot

of pulchritude,

example of integrity

in the magnanimities of power.

SANTANDER,     dignified under the vaults

of Cartagena,

facing capital punishment

and in the nostalgias of exile.

SANTANDER,     sleepless and brave captain

tamer of turbulent seas.

SANTANDER,     the Liberator’s rival

in the contradictions

of mutual work

and glory.

SANTANDER,     Forger of the Victory,

Man of the Laws,

from the silent eloquence

of bronze.

Guide us!