An historical interview was held at Guayaquil on July 26,
1822, between the two greatest men of the Continent of that time, San
Martin and Bolivar. The details of this interview have never been made
public, but what occurred may be surmised more or less accurately from
the knowledge of the characters of the two men.
In one sense Bolivar's horizon was wider than that of San Martin. For
practical purposes, indeed, there is no doubt that this horizon of the
northern liberator had extended itself to a somewhat dangerous and
impracticable degree. His dream was a federated South America--a single
nation, in fact, which, save for the great Portuguese possession of
Brazil, should extend from Panama to Cape Horn.
Bolivar's enthusiasm on this point refused to be curbed at any cost--at
all events, at this period. It must be admitted that he did not take
into full consideration the differences which climatic influences and
the varying degrees of racial intermarriage had worked in the
populations of the several provinces. Thus the ethics of the northern
and equatorial countries had become widely different from those in the
southern and temperate zones. Nevertheless, such was Bolivar's faith in
the destiny of South America as a whole that he would have flung the
entire mass together, and left it to work out its complicated will.
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