Independence in Spanish America
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Argentina
The independence process began in 1810 with the creation of a junta in Buenos Aires. National independence was declared in 1816.

Bolivia
Formerly known as Upper Peru. In 1809 a revolutionary uprising in Chuquisaca was put down. Fighting against Spanish forces lasted until 1825.

Chile
A junta was formed in Santiago in 1810 but Chile was retaken by the Spanish in 1814. Independence was sealed in 1818.

Colombia
The Comunero Revolt of 1781 was supressed. In 1810 a junta was formed in Bogotá and the struggle for independence continued. The Republic of Greater Colombia was formed in 1819 and included Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador. The union split in 1830.

Costa Rica
Independence from Spain in 1821. Part of the United States of Central America until full independence in 1838.

Cuba
In 1898 Spain relinquished Cuba to the United States. Cuba secured its independence in 1902.

Dominican Republic
Declared independence in 1821 but was invaded by Haiti only weeks later and occupied until 1844. Haitian attacks meant that the Dominican Republic returned to the Spanish Empire between 1861 and 1865.

Ecuador
A junta was formed in Quito in 1809 but the rebellion was crushed in 1812. Following independence from Spain in 1822, Ecuador became part of the Republic of Greater Colombia. It withdrew from the union in 1830.

El Salvador
Independence in 1821. Part of the United Provinces of Central America until the region broke away in 1838. Named El Salvador in 1844.

Guatemala
Independence in 1821. Part of the United Provinces of Central America, a federation formed in 1821 that also included El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua and dissolved in 1838.

Honduras
Independence in 1821. Honduras seceded from the United Provinces of Central America in 1838.

Mexico
War for independence began in 1810. Independence was won in 1821.

Nicaragua
Independence in 1821. Nicaragua seceded from the United Provinces of Central America in 1838.

Panama
Independence from Spain in 1821 and then became part of the Republic of Greater Colombia. Became an independent nation in 1903.

Paraguay
Independence from Spain in 1811.

Peru
The Túpac Amaru uprising in 1780 was suppressed. Independence declared in 1821.

Uruguay
Occupied by the Portuguese and then the newly independent Brazil from 1816. Becomes an independent nation in 1828.

Venezuela
In 1806 Francisco de Miranda launched an unsuccessful attempt to free Venezuela. Revolutionary struggle began again in 1810 but Spanish authority was restored until 1821. Venezuela seceded from the Republic of Greater Colombia in 1829.

The origins of the independence movement in Spanish America
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During the colonial period some sectors of the Creole population (Spanish descendents born in the Americas) became increasingly frustrated by Spanish rule. Their discontent grew out of the belief that local ambition and prosperity were stifled by colonial administrative, tax and trade policy and the superior status conferred to Spanish-born residents. Another grievance was the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 by the Spanish Crown in order to secure its power in the colonies.

The occupation of Spain by Napoleon in 1808 paved the way for the independence of the Spanish American territories. The constitutional crisis in Spain caused by the imprisonment of Fernando VII in France and the imposition of Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne created an opportunity for the Creoles to proclaim their independence from Spain. Widespread revolts and civil war broke out across the region and juntas (local governing bodies) took matters into their own hands. Fernando VII returned to the Spanish throne in 1814 and initiated a ‘reconquest’ of the Spanish American colonies but the resolution of the crisis came too late to stem the tide of rebellion.

Patria Boba 1810-1816
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The period between 1810 and 1816 in the New Kingdom of Granada (today Colombia) was marked by such intense conflicts over the nature of the new government or governments that it became known as la Patria Boba (the Foolish Fatherland). Constant fighting between federalists and centralists gave rise to a prolonged period of instability. Similar developments can be seen at the same time in Río de la Plata. Each province, and even some cities, set up its own autonomous junta, which declared themselves sovereign from each other.

Thousand Days War 1899-1902

Civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, (including its then province of Panama) between the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its radical factions. In 1899 the ruling conservatives were accused of maintaining power through fraudulent elections. The situation was worsened by an economic crisis caused by falling coffee prices in the international market, which mainly affected the opposition Liberal Party, which had lost power.

Panama Secedes from Colombia 1903

United States and Colombia signed the Hay-Herran Treaty to finalize the construction of the Panama Canal but the process was not achieved because the Colombian congress did not pass the measure on August 12, 1903. The United States then moved to support the separatist movement in Panama to gain control over the canal.

La Violencia 1948-1958 (sources vary)

The 1948 assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitán lead to the Bogotazo, an urban riot killing more than 4,000 people, and subsequently to ten years of sustained rural warfare between members of Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party, a period known as La Violencia, which took the lives of more than 200,000 people throughout the countryside[

Labor Rights and the Peru, Panama and Colombia FTAs
courtesy of PublicCitizens.org

The NAFTA expansions to Peru, Panama and Colombia will decrease job security in these countries and in the United States. Under NAFTA, U.S. wages remain stuck at near-1970s levels, while Mexican wages have actually decreased. More of the same can be expected in these countries if NAFTA is expanded.

In Colombia, the labor rights situation is especially dire. Since 1991, over 2,100 trade unionists have been assassinated, with 72 murdered in 2006 alone. The Colombian army has been implicated in many of these killings, and very few have been prosecuted.

Read the letter from Congress to USTR Portman opposing trade negotiations with Colombia until the Colombian labor rights record improves (PDF)

Pan-American Highway