Simón Bolívar (1783-1830)

Known as El Libertador (the Liberator). Venezuelan creole. The most important revolutionary leader in South America. Led independence movements that liberated Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (named in his honor). He envisioned a unified Latin American federation modeled on the United States but failed to maintain political unity. His Gran Colombia broke apart, and Bolívar died disillusioned, famously saying "I have plowed the sea."