Decree: El Decreto de Guerra a Muerte

Overview
Issued by Simón Bolívar in Trujillo, Venezuela, on June 15, 1813, the Decree of War to the Death was a drastic wartime proclamation designed to transform the struggle for Venezuelan independence into a total, uncompromising conflict against Spanish rule. It drew a stark line between “Spaniards and Canarians,” who were deemed agents of tyranny unless they actively supported independence, and “Americans” (people born in the Americas), who were promised life and clemency even if they had previously supported the royalist cause. The decree’s famous formulation , “Spaniards and Canarians, count on death; Americans, count on life” , crystallized its purpose as both punishment and mobilization.

Context
The decree followed the collapse of Venezuela’s First Republic in 1812, royalist reprisals, and the harsh occupation measures implemented by Domingo de Monteverde. Bolívar, advancing during the Admirable Campaign of 1813, sought to rally the populace, deter collaboration with royalist forces, and retaliate for atrocities he attributed to Spanish authorities. By explicitly naming peninsular Spaniards and Canary Islanders as enemies, the proclamation framed the conflict in terms of birthplace and allegiance, reflecting the polarized social landscape of the time.

Core Provisions
The decree declared that Spaniards and Canarians who did not actively support independence would face execution, while Americans would be spared and even pardoned for prior political errors. Foreigners were offered security if they remained neutral; those aiding the Spanish would be treated as enemies. Bolívar also promised protection and integration to Spaniards who demonstrably embraced the patriot cause, converting the decree into an instrument of defection as well as repression. The policy authorized summary justice on the battlefield against peninsular enemies and rejected the customary protections of prisoners of war for that category, while extending mercy to American-born adversaries.

Purpose and Rationale
Bolívar justified the decree as a response to what he characterized as systematic royalist cruelty, arguing that clemency toward Spanish agents had only invited further violence. By codifying a no-quarter policy against peninsulars, he intended to deter collaboration, exact retribution, and underscore the irrevocability of independence. At the same time, he offered a broad amnesty to Americans and a conditional path to safety for Spaniards willing to switch sides, thereby seeking to increase manpower, supplies, and legitimacy for the republican cause.

Implementation and Consequences
The decree intensified the conflict’s ferocity, giving legal cover to executions of peninsular prisoners and sharpening distinctions in the treatment of captives. Patriot forces publicized it as a warning and as a call for locals to rise, while royalists used it to portray the republicans as advocates of indiscriminate violence. In practice, application varied: some commanders enforced it strictly; others tempered it for strategic or humanitarian reasons. The policy contributed to a spiral of brutality that culminated the following year in the wider “Guerra a Muerte,” as royalist caudillos and patriot leaders alike engaged in retaliatory campaigns affecting soldiers and civilians.

Legacy
The Decree of War to the Death became one of the most controversial documents of the independence wars, both a rallying cry and a symbol of extreme measures. Its logic of existential struggle ended only with the 1820 Armistice and Regularization of War, when Bolívar and Spanish general Pablo Morillo agreed to restore the laws of war and abandon no-quarter practices. Historically, the decree is interpreted as a product of necessity and trauma: a stark attempt to consolidate the revolution amid collapse, to terrorize opponents into submission, and to redefine loyalty in a fractured society seeking sovereignty.