1 She and husband Cosmo Duff Gordon were accused in the press of bribing crew to row faster after 12 were saved in their boat, which was built for 40. 2  Tabloids of the day dubbed it the 'Money Boat' though a British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry would later clear the couple of wrongdoing.
Updated March 30, 2017. Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) was the greatest leader of Latin America's independence movement from Spain. A superb general and a charismatic politician, he not only drove the Spanish from northern South America but also was instrumental in the early formative years of the republics that sprang up once the Spanish had gone.
After 1830Edit. In 1830, JosÃ© Antonio PÃ¡ez declared Venezuela independent from Gran Colombia and became president, taking office on January 13, 1830. Although he was not the first president of Venezuela (having in mind CristÃ³bal Mendoza in 1811), he was the first head of state of independent Venezuela, after the dissolution of Gran Colombia.