LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 191st Anniversary of the Inde-
pendence of Bolivia on August 6, 2016

WHEREAS, The Bolivian region in the Andes has likely been inhabited for
nearly 20,000 years; it was home to the Tiwanakan culture, the Moxos,
Mollos, and later the Incas until the Spanish conquest in 1525; and
WHEREAS, What is today Bolivia was long deemed a part of the Spanish
Viceroyalty of Peru, known as Alto Peru; and
WHEREAS, There was a long conflict in authority between Upper Peru and
Peru, and the colonies with the Spanish crown; this conflict of authori-
ty resulted in a local power struggle in Upper Peru between 1808 and
1810, which constituted the first steps taken toward autonomy; and
WHEREAS, In 1808, the President of the Audiencia, Ramon Garcia Leon de
Pizarro, leaned towards affiliation with Carlotta, but the oidores of
the Audiencia favored the Supreme Central Junta; on May 25, 1809, the
oidores deposed President Garcia Leon de Pizarro and established a junta
to govern in the name of Ferdinand VII; and
WHEREAS, During the following seven years, Upper Peru became the
battleground for forces of the United Provinces of the River Plate and
royalist troops from Peru; although the royalists repulsed three Argen-
tine invasions, guerrillas controlled parts of the countryside, where
they formed six major republiquetas; and
WHEREAS, By 1817, Upper Peru was relatively quiet and under the
control of the Viceroyalty of Peru; and
WHEREAS, By the early 1820s, General Simon Bolivar succeeded in liber-
ating both Venezuela and Colombia from Spanish domination; in 1822, he
dispatched Antonio Jose de Sucre to Ecuador to defeat the Royalists at
the battle of Pichincha; and
WHEREAS, After years of guerrilla action against the Spanish and the
victories of Bolivar and Sucre in the battles of Junin and Ayacucho,
Peru won its independence; and
WHEREAS, At this point, Sucre incited a declaration of independence
for Alto Peru, and exactly one year later, on August 6, 1825, the new
Republic of Bolivia was founded by a constitutional congress in honor of
Simon Bolivar; and
WHEREAS, Bolivar and Sucre served as Bolivia's first and second presi-
dents; and
WHEREAS, Many Bolivians have made New York their home, and this Legis-
lative Body is justly proud to thank the Bolivian people for their
contributions to this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 191st Anniversary of the Independence of Bolivia on
August 6, 2016.