21st March, 1812
Caracas, Venezuela.
So far the only place in Venezuela I had been had been the Simon Bolivar
Airport in Marquetía, near Caracas. Well, I have not been far away this
time. I arrived yesterday afternoon to La Guaira and stayed in that
port overnight so I could come to Caracas in the morning. The trip took
a little more time than the expected due to bad weather and a few
problems I had in Cartagena. Finally I had to cancel a short visit to
Maracaibo in order to manage being in Caracas for the big event.
People are here involved in the preparations for the Palm Sunday
tomorrow. I had some trouble by that, but I finally managed to get a
hearing with President Miranda, which I think it was fruitful. I shared
with him some of my ideas of a strong Hispanic America, made from
smaller autonomous states, into bigger federations and confederations,
but, as a first step, we should focus on a union between New Granada and
Venezuela.
Not that this ideas were alien to him. He was the first big dreamer of
Colombia, a nation made of all the Hispanic American nations, governed
by an inca in what would have been a mix of different government
systems. Many people have convince him a narrowed, less pretentious,
version; among this people a young rebel military called Simón Bolívar,
whose ideal Colombia will barely include New Granada (including Quito
and Panamá) and Venezuela.
Of course, as an uptimer my idea of Colombia (which is what we latter
would call Gran Colombia in opposition of the uptime Republic of
Colombia = New Granada minus Panama and Ecuador), is not quite original
and comes from the Bolivarian version, however I am more projecting over
Central America and the Caribbean than on Peru, as Bolivar did. Well,
Venezuela has strong links with Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico and Cuba,
while New Granada has historically being closest to Peru.
Anyhow I played kind of dumb, letting Miranda to look at my coincidences
to Bolivar. He suggested that I should visit him at his family mansion
of San Mateo. I am not sure about the general idea Miranda took about
me, but it seem not too far from the idea that Cartagenians had, but I
got what I wanted, to have this idea of a meeting soon between
representatives of free Venezuela, Cartagena and Darien.
One of the reason I had to delay my departure from Cartagena was trying
to make this meeting, and representatives of Cartagena and Don Antonio
Nariño to get them prepared to a meeting in Maracaibo a week after
Easter, and to have a Cartagenian with me in this trip to Caracas. Seen
from here, Maracaibo does not seem to be the best option, but it looked
pretty okay for me from Cartagena. It seems that, while nominally
Maracaibo is republican and alleged to the Republic of Venezuela
presided by Miranda, there are still many royalist factors and the port
is not too safe.
I know, anyhow, that my troops there will provide protection for me and
for the other delegations, and that the couple of royalist ships that
are around Maracaibo would not oppose resistance to the Cartagenian and
Venezuelan fleets (not that these fleets are big, but because the
blocking ships are just a couple of frigates with little firepower), but
a safer place would have been better, anyhow.
I will probably spend tomorrow here in Caracas, and go to San Mateo on
Monday. If I am not mistaken, Matheson should be with Bolivar in San
Mateo, I could probably work something out with him.
Now it is time to take some rest.
-- Gen. Carlos E. Tomás Pinzón G.
Caracas, Venezuela.
26st March, 1812
Caracas, Venezuela.
At this time I wonder why on h*ll did I decide to come to Caracas for
just today. I've never been so scared in my life, and this is not the
first earthquake I have been, but I have never been this close to the
epicenter, seen the buildings collapse and then feel the smell of the
dead bodies and blood, listening the screams and the cries.
Well, I do know why I came here and the Caracas Earthquake of Maundy
Thursday 1812 was the main reason. Just that I had seen that as a
political move in the middle of this millstone of history and I forgot
that this was a natural event that OTL killed one fifth of the
inhabitants of Caracas. Fortunately we managed to prevent many of the
dead this time just by boycotting people to go to church today and
gathering them in public open places.
The fact that many people died in the churches, rather than we who
stayed outside, was part of the political platform to bring up Bolivar
as a popular leader against those voices that claimed that the
earthquake was a punishment of God against the revolution. Anyhow I
missed those words from Bolivar: "If nature opposes our destiny we will
fight against nature". Bolivar worded things differently this time, but
this idea got through, anyhow.
But I can not denied I was afraid. We managed to save lives and that
was okay, but too many people died, some of them few meters away from
where I stood. This was like nothing I had lived before, and the
body-count is still above three thousand people.
On the other hand. I managed to discuss with Bolivar and Matheson on
our plans to free New Granada and get rid of the royalists still in los
Llanos and the Venezuelan Andes.
We will leave after Easter to this mini-congress in Maracaibo. Bolivar
is coming as leader of the representation of Caracas and Venezuela. Don
Germán Gutiérrez de Piñeres should lead the delegation from Cartagena
and Don Antonio Nariño should also come to Maracaibo.
This is a long night, as we are still in the rescue mission.
-- Gen. Carlos E. Tomás Pinzón G.
Caracas, Venezuela.