El Colombiano | Tracking Colombian sentiment towards France in a Caracas newspaper

El Colombiano

19 issues of this Caracas newspaper, each a 4-page folio (488 x 320 mm), the issues dated 10, 26, 31 December 1823; 14 January 1824; 4, 11, 18, 25 February 1824; 3, 17, 31 March 1824; 6, 14, 28 April 1824; 5, 19, 26 May 1824; 2 June 1824; and 18 August 1824. Caracas: Printed by William Johnson, 158 Calle de Margarita

From 22 March through 15 June 1824, Chassériau was in Colombia commissioned by the Viscount of Chateaubriand, minister of Foreign Affairs, to meet with Francisco Santander and Pedro Gual and offer France mediation with the kingdom of Spain. He compiled articles published in El Colombiano that were critical of France, which was suspected of supporting Spain.

"The nineteen issues of the newspaper El Colombiano, published in Caracas, form an … intriguing collection. Chassériau, for the benefit of Chateaubriand, selected the copies mentioning the potential danger of a French invasion in the aftermath of the expedition of the 'Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis.' Indeed, after restoring Ferdinand VII to the throne in October 1823, Chateaubriand briefly considered pursuing his 'gigantic enterprise' in South America to install constitutional monarchies in place of the fledgling republics. It seems likely that Chassériau collected these diaries during his exploration of Venezuelan ports between March and May 1824, and then in Cartagena in June. By then, the Colombians had come to regard him as an agent serving an ambition contrary to their own" (Georges Lomné).

El Colombiano was first printed in Miranda House in London by Francisco de Miranda and Simón Bolívar in 1810.