Colombian War of Independence in the context of Junta (Spanish American Independence)

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Peru and Ecuador to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32 departments. The Capital District of Bogotá is also the country's largest city hosting the main financial and cultural hub. Other major urban areas include Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Villavicencio and Bucaramanga. It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers (440,831 sq mi) and has a population of around 52 million. Its rich cultural heritage—including language, religion, cuisine, and art—reflects its history as a colony, fusing cultural elements brought by immigration from Europe and the Middle East, with those brought by the African diaspora, as well as with those of the various Indigenous civilizations that predate colonization. Spanish is the official language, although Creole, English and 64 other languages are recognized regionally.

Colombia has been home to many indigenous peoples and cultures since at least 12,000 BCE. The Spanish first landed in La Guajira in 1499, and by the mid-16th century, they had colonized much of present-day Colombia, and established the New Kingdom of Granada, with Santa Fe de Bogotá as its capital. Independence from the Spanish Empire is considered to have been declared in 1810, with what is now Colombia emerging as the United Provinces of New Granada. After a brief Spanish reconquest, Colombian independence was secured and the period of Gran Colombia began in 1819. The new polity experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before becoming a centralised republic—the current Republic of Colombia—in 1886. With the backing of the United States and France, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, resulting in Colombia's present borders. Beginning in the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence, both of which escalated in the 1990s. Since 2005, there has been significant improvement in security, stability, and rule of law, as well as unprecedented economic growth and development. Colombia is recognized for its healthcare system, being the best healthcare in Latin America according to the World Health Organization and 22nd in the world. Its diversified economy is the third-largest in South America, with macroeconomic stability and favorable long-term growth prospects.

The Spanish reconquest of New Granada in 1815–1816 was part of the Spanish American wars of independence in South America and Colombian War of Independence. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars ended, Ferdinand VII, recently restored to the throne in Spain, decided to send military forces to retake most of the northern South American colonies, which had established autonomous juntas and independent states. The Spanish expeditionary army under the command of Lieutenant General Pablo Morillo, with support from loyal colonial troops, completed the reconquest of New Granada by taking Bogotá on 6 May 1816.

Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada, also known as the Liberation Campaign of 1819, was part of the Colombian and Venezuelan wars of independence and was one of the many military campaigns fought by Simón Bolívar. In 1819 Bolívar led a combined New Granadan and Venezuelan Army in a campaign to liberate New Granada which had been under Spanish control since 1816.

Bolívar marched his army through the flooded plains from Venezuela and entered the Casanare Province with his army in June 1819, combining his forces with those of Francisco de Paula Santander at Tame, Arauca, on 11 June. The combined Patriot force reached the Eastern Range of the Andes on 22 June and began a grueling crossing. On 6 July, the Patriots descended from the Andes arriving at Socha and into the valleys of central New Granada. After a brief convalescence, the Patriots fought a series of battles against the III Division of the Royalist army of Spanish colonel José María Barreiro Manjón, with the campaign culminating at the decisive Battle of Boyacá, where Bolivar's forces routed and dismantled the Royalist Army entering Santa Fe de Bogotá triumphantly 3 days later.

Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President of the Republic of New Granada between 1832 and 1837. Santander played a pivotal role in the Colombian War of Independence being one of the main leaders of the Patriot forces and helped lead the Patriot Army alongside Simón Bolívar to victory. He's often credited with creating the legal foundations for democracy in Colombia, as well as creating the country's first system of public education. For these reasons he is considered a National Hero in Colombia and has thus commonly been known as "The Man of the Laws" ("El Hombre de las Leyes") as well as the "Organizer of Victory" ("El Organizador de la Victoria").

Francisco de Paula Santander was born into a wealthy criollo family in Villa del Rosario, in the Viceroyalty of New Granada and spent most of his formative years there. In 1805 he left his home to continue his education in the Viceregal capital of Santa Fe de Bogotá, while finishing his studies on July 20, 1810 he joined in the revolutionary fervor that would be movement for New Granadan Independence. At the age of 18 Santander abandoned his studies to begin his military career fighting for the Patriot cause against the Royalists initially with the Centralists but switched sides and became an officer in the army of the Federalist United Provinces of New Granada.

José Antonio Anzoátegui (November 14, 1789 – November 15, 1819) was a Venezuelan military officer who fought in the Venezuelan and Colombian Wars of Independence.

Born in Barcelona, he supported the Venezuelan independence movement in 1810 and joined the patriot army, one of the first military campaigns he participated in was in the Eastern Campaign led by General Santiago Mariño which saw him reach the rank of captain. From 1813 to 1814, he was present at almost every important battle; such as Bocachico, Araure, Carabobo and San Mateo.

Juan José Francisco de Sámano y Uribarri de Rebollar y Mazorra (1753 in Selaya, Cantabria – July 1821 in Panama), was a Spanish military officer and the last viceroy of New Granada from March 9, 1818 to August 9, 1819, during the Colombian War of Independence.