Lessons from a liberal swashbuckler
Francisco de Miranda and the betrayal of liberty in Venezuela
EVEN by the standards of an extraordinary age, it was a remarkable life. Francisco de Miranda, who was born in Venezuela in 1750 and died in a Spanish prison 200 years ago this month, was a soldier, statesman, student of military affairs and philosophy, womaniser and bon vivant. Above all, he was a peerless networker and self-appointed leader in the cause of independence for South America from Spanish rule. The populist rulers of present-day Venezuela claim Miranda as a forebear, but his hurly-burly life is a rebuke to their illiberalism.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Lessons from a liberal swashbuckler”
From the July 23rd 2016 edition
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