History of Chile the Spaniards at the Battle of Chacabuco on February 12 and marking the beginning of the "Patria Nueva". San Martín considered the liberation of Chile a strategic stepping-stone to the emancipation of Peru, which he saw as the key to hemispheric victory over the Spanish. Chile won its formal independence when San Martín defeated the last large Spanish force on Chilean soil at the Battle of Maipú on April 5, 1818. San Martín then led his Argentine and Chilean followers north to liberate Peru; and fighting continued in Chile's southern provinces, the bastion of the royalists, until 1826. A declaration
Bernardo de Izaguirre de los Reyes Bernardo de Izaguirre de los Reyes Bernardo de Izaguirre de los Reyes (died November 16, 1668) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of La Plata o Charcas (1669–1670), Bishop of Cuzco (1662–1669), and Bishop of Panamá (1654–1659). Bernardo de Izaguirre de los Reyes was selected on July 28, 1654 and confirmed on April 21, 1655 by Pope Alexander VII as Bishop of Panamá. On January 12, 1659, he was consecrated bishop by Alonso de Briceño, Bishop of Caracas On July 31, 1662, he was appointed as Bishop of Cuzco. On July 15, 1669, Pope Clement IX confirmed