María Antonia Bolívar and the War for Independence in Venezuela

Her letters not only contained news of political events but also dealt with various lawsuits and the convoluted Venezuelan legal system. She had four lawsuits pending that involved property and money: one was Bolívar's claim to the Aroa mines that was contested by señores Lazo and Estévez who embargoed a portion of the proceeds from the copper mines until the suit was decided. The second major litigation involved the Aristeguieta entail inherited by Bolívar upon the death of his brother Juan Vicente. José Lecumberri, a descendant of Bolívar's aunt and a member of the Aristeguieta family, challenged the claim. In 1824, the Supreme Court of Bogotá decided in favor of Bolívar as the rightful heir, but in 1829 he turned over the properties that he received from the dissolution of the entail in 1827 to his nephew Anacleto. The other lawsuits involved haciendas that tenants had either abandoned or owed rent on and a house where the tenant had not paid rent for years.28

According to María Antonia, the laws were unsound and cumbersome because both authoritarian Spanish and liberal Colombian Codes were used simultaneously. Litigation was time consuming and confusing, and the average citizen was unable to understand the laws. In her opinion, the judges were thieves, and Venezuela was ungovernable without legal reforms.29 Frustrated and impatient with the legal system, she wanted Bolívar to use his political clout to settle the lawsuits, but he refused, saying that he wanted no more rights than the ordinary citizen.30 She suggested that Bolívar have Congress appoint a commission to draft new laws to present to the legislature.31 He attempted to institute some changes when he returned to Gran Colombia in 1827, but these had little effect on the legal system.