Caracas, March 24, 2025 – The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America–Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, has denounced as “absolutely false” the information disseminated by the media outlet DW regarding the Liberator Simón Bolívar.

The video in question, titled “Was Simón Bolívar Really a Hero for All Latin Americans?”, is presented by a young Afro-descendant narrator who claims that Bolívar liberated several countries—Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Bolivia—but did not grant freedom to enslaved people. “He left Afro-descendants as they were, enslaved,” the narrator asserts.

In response to this statement, Arreaza countered on DW’s social media account, stating that the information is entirely false. “Provide the source for such a claim (…). On March 30, 1814, Bolívar decreed the liberation of the slaves. This was the first precedent of its kind in the Americas.”

The Executive Secretary clarified that Alexandre Pétion, President of Haiti and an ally of the Liberator, reinforced this request starting in 1816, “but it followed Bolívar’s initial idea.”

In its video, DW portrays Bolívar as having betrayed Pétion by failing to liberate Afro-descendants. It also claims that “Haiti was the first free country in the region”, while presenting incorrect dates regarding the abolition of slavery in the countries Bolívar helped liberate. The report concludes by stating that “Simón Bolívar died without fulfilling his promise to free the enslaved.”

In response to these “claims”, Arreaza emphasized that Bolívar’s Independence Revolution included Black and mixed-race individuals. “Many soldiers and officers belonged to these social groups, and Bolívar entrusted them with critical operations. He did not fear mixed-race people, but he did fear anarchy,” he stated.

Furthermore, Arreaza explained that the execution of Venezuelan military officer Manuel Piar was due to insubordination and his attempt to incite a civil war. He also clarified that the execution of Colombian General José Padilla “had nothing to do with his skin color but rather with his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to assassinate Bolívar in September 1828, in which Santander and other New Granadians participated.”

Arreaza stressed that Bolívar must be understood within the context of his time and in accordance with the political, social, and military criteria of that era.

Finally, he condemned DW for publishing misleading and inaccurate information without verifying historical records and documents. “The credibility of Germany’s DW network is now entirely in question, as it joins the campaigns aimed at tarnishing the image of the Liberator,” he concluded.