Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 77
its head, though not with Bolivia as first priority in Bolivar’s head. By 1826, Bolivar
returned to Colombia and Gen. Jose Antonio Sucre, his first lieutenant, took his place in
Bolivia.
During this period both the Republics of Colombia and Bolivia elevated Leon Galindo to
the rank of general and he was appointed in the new nation to what would now be Chief
of the Joint Chiefs in our armed forces. By then he had decided to stay in this new
republic and adopt it as his permanent home. An anecdote registered in the letters that
he interchanged with Bolivia’s president, Marshal Jose Antonio de Sucre, reveals the
un-impeachable honesty and honor with which they conducted themselves. Leon
Galindo, at age 30, had been promoted to his ultimate rank of head of the Bolivian
armed forces and decided to marry his young bride, Antonia Arguelles. In response to
his request for several months of back pay, which he now needed to buy himself a new
uniform for this special occasion, Marshal Sucre sent him his own expressing hope that
it would fit him “as we are both about the same size and the treasury has more
important obligations than salaries to the leadership”.
For the rest of his life Leon Galindo continued to be active in the affairs of his adopted
country holding major political and military posts and imbuing in his children the same
love of freedom and honor that had driven his career. He led his new country’s armed
forces in a successful effort to maintain its independence from Peru, served as governor
of the state of Potosi, and held other positions of trust and power. But he died stricken
by the weight of lost freedom, betrayed by wily politicians and overwhelmed by the
specter of a return to oppression. Ultimately his descendents settled in the valleys of
Cochabamba, in the central Bolivian Andes, where they grew and multiplied. To this day
his memory is greatly revered as one of the founding fathers of the country.
General Galindo had many descendents who later shined in their own fights against
tyranny and oppression, including his first-born son who was summarily executed for
standing up to one of Bolivia’s many dictators. Among the mementos left from his
glorious days as a freedom fighter is a gold medal called the “Ayacucho Medal”, given
to him by a special act of the Peruvian Congress as a Victor of Ayacucho. Through a
sequence of bequeathals carefully directed by every generation, it came to lie in my
father’s hands. By written document my father charged me with the care of this family
icon and its continued preservation as a symbol of my family’s undying dedication to the
cause of freedom. His instructions are to pass it to my own son Cid for his continued
care. To me it also serves as a reminder of the price my family has paid for generations
to enjoy the right to pursue its dreams.
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