Bolívar's Vision: Not a United States of South America

Simón Bolívar did not want a single "United States of South America." He fought to liberate the continent from Spain but believed it should fracture into separate sovereign nations, each with its own government and identity—unlike the U.S. federal model.

He briefly created Gran Colombia (1819–1831), but it dissolved due to regional divisions. His legacy is independence, not continental unification.