Simon Bolivar and the Liberation of South America

FAIN: GN-50607-05

Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, OR 97219)
Margaret Katherine Koval (Project Director: November 2004 to May 2007)

Scripting of a two-hour television biography of Simon Bolivar.

The story begins in 1808. That was the year that Napoleon forced the Spanish royal family out of power. Spain’s American colonies were temporarily set adrift. When Napoleon was defeated, and the Spanish monarchy returned. Spanish Americans refused to re-enter the imperial fold. Margaret Koval and Patricia Asté propose to present a slice of this epic history through the era’s most memorable figure: Simón Bolívar. Bolívar defined his times in history. His story, rich in drama, idealism and romance; desperation and brutality lifts a curtain on modern South America and highlights the painful challenges to nation building itself – challenges as current today as they were two hundred years ago.