From Bogotá to Medellín, la Macarena to Guatavita, Simón Bolívar is everywhere! So what makes this guy so special? A whole lot of history. Let's talk about it.
Just as the United States was first "discovered" by a Spanish explorer in the late 16th Century, much of Central and South America was colonized by Spanish explorers around that time. Fast forward two centuries, or 200 years, and the U.S. has recently won independence from the British, while Central and South America are still being ruled by the Spanish. However, Simón Bolívar, or El Libertador, changed all of that.
Simón was born into a wealthy, aristocratic Creole family, or a family with Spanish and indigenous blood. After learning about how different countries were gaining independence, he became motivated to free countries from the Spanish empire. In 1821, Bolívar defeated a large Spanish army and made Venezuela an independent country. He later helped found Gran Colombia, or a union of the countries Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, to which he was appointed the president. He wasn't done there: Bolívar would go onto free Peru and Bolivia of their Spanish rulers!
Simón Bolívar wanted to create a strong, liberated Spanish America to stand up to outside empires like Euopre & Spain, and also the nearby U.S.
