SOTW 3 Annotated for LDS Ch. 34 Freedom for South America

Latter-day Saints have a unique perspective on the events in South
America because we have the Book of Mormon which explains why the
Americas are special to our Heavenly Father.

Jacob, brother of Nephi taught:

The Gentiles shall be blest upon the land . . . and this land shall
be a land of liberty . . . and there shall be no kings upon the land .
. . and I will fortify this land against all other nations. . . for
this is a land choice above all other lands (2 Nephi 10: 10-12, 19).

Elder Ezra Taft Benson wrote:

God raised up wise leaders among [the South American] progenitors
which afforded Latin American countries political freedom and
independence. I only mention the names of a few whom God raised up to
accomplish His holy and sovereign purposes: Jose de San Martin,
Bernardo O'Higgins, and Simon Bolivar. These were some of the
"founding fathers" of [the South American] continent.

I believe it was very significant that when independence came to the
countries of South America, governments were established on
constitutional principles-some patterned after the Constitution of the
United States. I believe this was a very necessary step which preceded
the preaching of the gospel in South America. ("The Righteous Need Not
Fear," LaPaz, Bolivia, 10-18 January 1979.)

Perhaps no man in the secular history of the Americas was more an
instrument of prophecy than was Bolivar. When other liberators,
fighting for freedom from Spain, were yet willing to be ruled by kings
of their own choosing, he stood fast for the principle of no kings in
America. He was himself prophetic. He foresaw that this country should
be united-all its separate parts-and should be able to stand against
all enemies, and that its destiny was to be that of arbiter and guide
to other nations.

Bolivar dreamed of America "as the greatest country in the world, not
because of wealth and extension, but because of its glory and
freedom."
(Ramona W. Cannon, "American Tradition of Freedom," Improvement Era, 1940).

Elder Melvin J. Ballard referred to Jose de San Martin as the "George
Washington of South America."