Decree of War to the Death

The Decree of War to the Death, in Spanish Decreto de Guerra a Muerte, was a decree issued by the South American leader Simón Bolívar which permitted murder and any atrocities whatsoever to be committed against civilians born in Spain, other than those actively assisting South American independence, and furthermore exonerated people from the Americas who had already committed such murders and atrocities. The phrase "war to the death" was used as a euphemism for these atrocities. The decree was an explicit "war of extermination" in Bolívar's attempt to maintain Venezuelan independence in the war with Spain, since he felt that the Spanish Army's use of atrocities against those who supported the First Republic of Venezuela had contributed decisively to its defeat. Bolívar promulgated the decree on June 15, 1813, in the Venezuelan city of Trujillo. Background The decree states that it was created as a response to severe crimes and massacres by Spanish soldiers after the fall of the First Republic, in which Spanish leaders allegedly stole property and executed thousands of Republicans: "we could not indifferently watch the afflictions inflicted to you by the barbaric Spaniards, who have annihilated you with robbery and destroyed you with death, infringed the most solemn treaties and capitulations [a reference to the San Mateo Capitulation, 1812]; in one word, committed every crime, reducing the Republic of Venezuela to the most horrific desolation." It proclaimed that all Peninsular people in Spanish America who didn't actively participate in favor of its independence would be killed, and all South Americans would be spared, even if they had cooperated with the Spanish authorities. (See below for full declaration). The document's ultimate goal was to assure the Venezuelan elites that they would not be unfavorably treated for having collaborated with Domingo de Monteverde and the royalist authorities. The Decree was the first step in transforming the common and legal view of the Venezuelan war of liberation from a mere rebellion (or at best a civil war) taking place in one of Spain's colonies, to a full-fledged international war between two distinct countries, Venezuela and Spain.