The Guayaquil Conference () was a meeting that took place on July 26âÂÂ27, 1822 in the port city of Guayaquil (today part of Ecuador) between libertadors José de San MartÃÂn and Simón BolÃÂvar to discuss the future of Peru, and South America in general. The conference is considered a turning point in the South American independence process.
Lima, a major royalist stronghold, had been captured by San MartÃÂn, who declared Peru's independence. Meanwhile, BolÃÂvar had a successful campaign in Venezuela and New Granada, forming Gran Colombia. In Ecuador, a revolt in Guayaquil sparked independence movements, raising questions about its future alignment. Despite their common goals, BolÃÂvar and San MartÃÂn could not agree on governance strategies for the liberated nations, with San Martin favoring constitutional monarchies and Bolivar supporting republics. Post-conference, San MartÃÂn retired, and BolÃÂvar continued the liberation efforts.
Lima, capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was the most important city of the Spanish colonies in South America. It was a royalist stronghold during the Spanish American wars of independence, fighting against the several independentist outbreaks. For this reason, after the conclusion of the Chilean War of Independence the general José de San MartÃÂn organized a navy that allowed his forces to siege and capture the city, declaring the independence of Peru shortly afterwards. However, there was still a strong royalist force in the Peruvian countryside.
Simón BolÃÂvar led another independentist campaign. He liberated Venezuela after many attempts and with the help of Francisco de Paula Santander liberated the United Provinces of New Granada, creating the Gran Colombia. The battles of Lake Maracaibo secured the independence of Venezuela.
A revolt in Guayaquil proclaimed the independence of the city, followed by other Ecuatorian cities. Neither San MartÃÂn nor BolÃÂvar took part in the initial development of the Ecuadorian War of Independence. The Ecuadorians discussed the future of the region: some factions wanted to join Colombia, others to join Peru, and others to become a new nation. BolÃÂvar ended the discussion by annexing Guayaquil into Colombia. There was Peruvian pressure on San MartÃÂn to do a similar thing, to annex Guayaquil to Peru.
The main objective was to define how the war of independence would end, given that the royalists were reorganizing. And what should happen to the newly independent countries to ensure and consolidate South American independence. This taking into account that the liberating campaigns had different ways of being carried out by each of their leaders, being in the case of Gran Colombia a war declared to the death against the royalists, which did not accept ambiguities.
Another objective was to deal with sovereignty over the Free Province of Guayaquil, whose capital, Guayaquil, being part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was liberated from Spanish rule in 1820 thanks to the uprising of the city's garrison, formed by the so-called âÂÂCuzco Reserve Grenadiersâ regiment, made up of Peruvian royalists originally from Cuzco and having declared themselves independent, that showed strong ties with Peru.
San MartÃÂn arrived in Guayaquil on July 25, where he was enthusiastically greeted by BolÃÂvar. However, the two men could not come to an agreement, despite their common goals and mutual respect, even when San MartÃÂn offered to serve under BolÃÂvar. Both men had very different ideas about how to organize the governments of the countries that they had liberated. BolÃÂvar was in favor of forming a series of republics in the newly independent nations based on his own modifications to the political theory underlying the Constitution of the United States, whereas San MartÃÂn preferred European and particularly British models of constitutional rule, hoping to build the liberated nations of South America as constitutional monarchies. San MartÃÂn was also in favor of placing a European prince in power as King of Peru when it was to be liberated.
San MartÃÂn, after meeting with BolÃÂvar for several hours on July 27, stayed for a banquet and ball given in his honor. BolÃÂvar proposed a toast to âÂÂthe two greatest men in South America: the general San MartÃÂn and myselfâ (Por los dos hombres más grandes de la América del Sur: el general San MartÃÂn y yo), whereas San MartÃÂn drank to âÂÂthe prompt conclusion of the war, the organization of the different Republics of the continent and the health of the Liberator of Colombia (Por la pronta conclusión de la guerra; por la organización de las diferentes Repúblicas del continente y por la salud del Libertador de Colombia).
After the conference, San MartÃÂn went to Lima and abdicated his powers in Peru in front of the newly formed Peruvian Congress and returned to Argentina. Soon afterward, he left South America entirely and retired in France.
The Guayaquil conference inspired a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, Guayaquil, published in his book ' (1971), in which he explores the possible psychological relation between San MartÃÂn and BolÃÂvar.