Casa de la Libertad

The name “casa” is misleading here: there is no residence behind it. The stone walls preserve the former domestic chapel of the Jesuit university building; after the order was expelled, it was made the university's main lecture hall, where doctoral theses were defended and ceremonial events held. The benches, lectern, and seats for honored guests made it possible to hold large public meetings here, and many of the lawyers who entered this hall had previously studied within these same walls. A glass display case with a copy of an old document now stands on a stone column, while its original is kept in the museum archive.

In the summer of eighteen twenty-five, one of the seats in the former Jesuit chapel was taken by Casimiro Olañeta—a deputy from Charcas and a lawyer working to create a separate state. Until recently, he had served as secretary and adviser to his uncle, Pedro Antonio Olañeta, the last military commander in these parts who remained loyal to the Spanish king. Casimiro's position, income, and patronage depended on his uncle. At the beginning of the year, he left him and went over to the victorious side.

Antonio José de Sucre, the commander who had defeated the main Spanish forces at Ayacucho, led the liberating army. Casimiro argued to him that the fate of Upper Peru should be decided by local representatives. On the ninth of February, Sucre convened an assembly of deputies. Casimiro's uncle continued his resistance, but in April he was mortally wounded at Tumusla. The Spanish command collapsed, while the nephew prepared to argue that the liberated provinces should not come under the rule of either neighbor.

That was how the dispute arose for which the deputies gathered here. The territory had previously been subordinate to Buenos Aires, was governed from Lima during the war, and was now occupied by Sucre's army. Congress in Buenos Aires had already allowed the provinces to determine their own fate. Simón Bolívar, the leader of the liberation campaign, who had received extraordinary powers in Peru, acted more cautiously: he ordered that the deputies' decision not be considered final until the Peruvian Congress met the following year.

The word “casa” in the name does not mean a private residence. Before the assembly, this was the Jesuits' university building. After the order was expelled, its domestic chapel was turned into the university's main lecture hall: doctoral theses were defended there and ceremonial events were held. For the deputies, it was a ready-made assembly hall with benches, a lectern, and seats for honored guests. Many of them had studied law within these same walls.

One option was to return to Buenos Aires; another was to join Peru. Casimiro Olañeta argued for complete independence. José Mariano Serrano, elected president of the assembly, had to turn the outcome of the dispute into a legal document. Not a single vote was cast for Buenos Aires. Two supported joining Peru. The rest chose a separate republic.

Serrano and a commission appointed by the deputies drew up an act declaring Upper Peru independent of Spain, Lima, and Buenos Aires. The document was dated the sixth of August—the first anniversary of Bolívar's victory at Junín. Forty-eight signatures appeared beneath it, including those of people who had favored an alliance with Peru during the debate. A few days later, the deputies named the new state the Republic of Bolívar.

One signature was not enough for its recognition. The assembly sent Casimiro Olañeta and its vice president, José María Mendizábal, to Bolívar. The man who had recently drafted papers for the last Spanish military commander was now carrying the liberator a decision to create a country. Bolívar agreed to it, and Sucre later took the oath as the first constitutional president in this same lecture hall. Casimiro received offices in the new state as well: he was a deputy, minister, diplomat, and judge.

Until eighteen ninety-eight, deputies of the Bolivian Congress continued to meet in the former chapel. The building was then turned into a historical museum and named Casa de la Libertad—House of Freedom—by a decision made in its main hall. A display case containing a facsimile of the act has been installed on a stone column there; the original is kept in the museum archive. In the neighboring Hall of the Signatories, Serrano, who drafted the document, is placed above the portraits of the deputies, and beside him hangs Casimiro Olañeta, who first changed sides, then secured the vote, and personally carried its result to Bolívar.