General Paez Forgiven

  

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~ ::: La Gaceta de ::: ~

: ~ : C O L O M B I A : ~ :

~ 13th May, 1828 ~ Publication #20~ Ocana, New Grenada

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General Paez Forgiven

As many of us know, a momentous event occurred during the Congress of Ocana. In the past month, General Paez, along with Governor Sanitago Morino, has barred entry of tax collectors from the central government from entering their respective regions. Minister of War, Rafael Urdaneta Farías, has submitted an ultimatum demanding that General Paez surrender half his troops which he promptly denied. In response, Minister Farias applied to President Bolivar for General Paez to be stripped of his rank, and sent 10 infantry soldiers during the Congress to capture him. General Paez was able to escape after single-handedly fighting off the 10 men. 

Recently, to the great surprise of many, President Bolivar and Vice President Santandar have issued a clemency on his crimes and formally invited him back to the Congress. Vice President Santandar declared that though General Paez’s actions were inexcusable, any more infighting would simply cause our new found nation to collapse and, as such, he shall extend an olive branch to the other side. Further, he declared that Minister Farias’s actions were “in all honesty, an abuse of Centralist power by Bolivar’s close ally,” but since his actions were “in the interests of the nation, President Bolivar has refused to try him for any crime.”

This result has polarised opinions. Though Federalists of Venezuela are happy with the results, Centralists in New Granada are angry with one newspaper arguing, “this is another egregious act from Paez pardoned due to his inflated powers. No one whose actions have caused such disruption and potential violence should be allowed to sit in the honoured seats of the congress.”