Diana’s Corner
By Diana Montes
In these days and as an annual reiteration, August 7 was celebrated as the day of independence, because it was when this event was sealed with the defeat of the Spaniards at the Boyacá bridge in 1819. It seems that historians only accepted the big press headlines that have given rise to political events that have been supported by the gamonales of the day, leaving behind truly historical significant events that are marking important paths for subsequent political positions. I am referring to Garzón’s Political Constitution, approved on September 6, 1818, a year and a month before the Battle of Boyacá took place. This Constitution is very important, because it is actually the second of what was the New Kingdom of Granada, after that of Socorro (Santander) issued on August 15, 1810. Historians such as Rodrigo Llano Isaza, consider that the Constitution of Garzón has the privilege of being the first in the new Granada to disregard the King of Spain and to equalize the rights of indigenous people, whites and blacks. Garzón’s Constitution, in 19 articles, creates a Republic called “Timaná en Garzón” and its limits comprised the center and south of what is now Huila. It has the property of having been signed by indigenous leaders from El Pital, La Jagua, La Ceja, San Agustín and Naranjal. This historical fact went unnoticed on September 6, 2018, when the bicentennial of said constitution was fulfilled. Its memorable data have been eclipsed and kept silent to give importance to other regions and take away the right to important provinces such as the south of Huila, with its epicenter in Garzón, where since that time there have been citizens keenly interested in political, economic development and social of their communities. From a legal point of view, it seems to me that it is a date that we have to highlight in gold letters, due to the human values of the past, to motivate the new generations to continue cultivating this type of thoughts and historical dates, which are marking paths in the future of our country. Garzón must be a protagonist in the development of Colombian constitutional law.