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Colombia

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On July 25, 1819, at Pantano de Vargas, troops led by Simón Bolívar confronted Spanish royalist troops who were trying to reach Bogotá, which was lightly defended. Even though they were exhausted after crossing a mountain pass, they defeated the royalists. This victory was followed by another at Puente de Boyacá just two weeks later, securing independence from Spain for Nuevo Granada (now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama).