The larger than life bronze statue of Carlos Manuel Piar stands on a large concrete base in the Punda district of Willemstad.
Manuel Carlos Piar (April 28, 1774 – October 16, 1817) was General-in-Chief of the army fighting Spain during the Venezuelan War of Independence.
In 1804, he joined the Curaçao militia that was fighting the British occupation. The Curaçao militia successfully expelled the British, restoring Dutch rule. 1807 found him in Haiti helping the revolution on the island and commanding a warship.
By 1810 his military experience and his desire for independence from the colonial governments put him at the service of the incipient Venezuelan rebellion against Spain.
Following his military victories, Piar came into conflict with his higher-ranking white criollo superiors, including Simón Bolívar. This friction eventually resulted in Bolívar stripping Piar of direct troop command. Piar then asked for leave, which was granted to him in June 1817.
In what is one of the independence struggle's darkest episodes, Simón Bolívar ordered Piar arrested and tried for desertion, insubordination, and conspiring against the government. Since Piar was the only one charged and arrested in this episode, it is generally agreed that Bolívar simply needed to make an example of a single general from among the military leadership. Piar was the unlucky chosen one. He was arrested on September 28, 1817, and was judged by a court martial which found him guilty on all charges; and on October 15 sentenced him to death. The following day Manuel Piar, General-in-Chief, was executed against the wall of the cathedral of Angostura by a firing squad. In a puzzling moment, Bolívar, who had decided against witnessing the execution, heard the shots from inside his nearby office and said in tears, "He derramado mi sangre" (I have spilled my blood).
The plaque reads (Spanish):
General en Jefe
Manuel Carlos Piar
1777 - 1817
El Gobierno y el Pueblo de Venezuela
Ofrendan este monumento a Curazao
1963
Translation:
General in Chief
Manuel Carlos Piar
1777 - 1817
The Government and the People of Venezuela
Offer this monument to Curaçao
1963
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