As soon as he entered Venezuelan territory, he declared that on that very
day Venezuela had returned to life. Addressing the soldiers, he said:
"In less than two months you have carried out two campaigns and have
begun a third one, which commences here and which must end in the
country which gave me life."
He regarded his two previous campaigns merely as an introduction to the
third, and most important for him, whose supreme ambition was to obtain
once again the freedom of Venezuela. At the close of the address to the
soldiers, we find these words:
"All America expects its liberty and salvation from you, brave soldiers
of Cartagena and of the Union." (The Union of Nueva Granada.)
These words indicate that he was thinking not in local terms, but in terms
of Greater America.
The government of the Union promoted him to the rank of brigadier general
and conferred upon him the honorary title of citizen of Nueva Granada. He
asked immediate authority to use the troops of the Union to continue
his march, until he could recover the ruins of Caracas. To convince the
government he repeated the arguments put forth in the proclamation of
Cartagena, tending to prove that the freedom of Venezuela was essential
to the continued liberty of Nueva Granada. He insisted so eloquently
on receiving permission to advance, that at last he obtained it, with
authorization to occupy the southwestern provinces of Venezuela: Merida and
Trujillo. In thanking the executive power for this privilege, he evidenced
his confidence in his future triumph by the following words, addressed to
the president:
"I ask Your Excellency to send the answer to this communication to
Trujillo: I shall receive it there.
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