Several of the conspirators were sentenced to die, among them Santander, but Bolívar changed the penalty to banishment from the country. Santander always contended that the sentence of death had been unjust. The worst punishment that might have fallen upon the would-be-murderers was the unanimous condemnation of all the people.
_Difficulties with Perú. Slander and Honors. On the Road to Calvary_
The wound received by Bolívar's heart had no possible cure. His physical condition was getting worse and worse from day to day, but he had to remain in power. Serious dangers threatened the country. In Bolivia, Sucre, a victim of the conspiracy of Perúvians, had been wounded and forced to leave the country where he had been in command, but not without showing his generosity in a message to the Bolivian Congress, in which he said:
"Although through foreign instigations I carry broken the arm w in Ayacucho put an end to the war of American Independence, which destroyed the chains of Perú and gave birth to Bolivia, I am comforted, feeling in these difficult circumstances that my conscience is of any guilt.... My Government has been distinguished by clemency, tolerance and kindness."
All of this was the naked truth. Perú had invaded Bolivia and had attacked Colombia. Bolívar immediately organized an expedition, under the command of General José Maria Córdova,--who distinguished himself in Ayacucho,--and he, himself, prepared to go immediately. After attending to several matters of an administrative character, he started towards the South, in spite of declining health. It was torture for him to ride on horseback. He knew that little of life remained for him, and still he was going to give his last days to the service of his country. He did not seek revenge on his enemies then in power in Perú. He only wanted to defend the integrity of Colombia against the foreign invader.
As was his custom, he tried first to settle all difficulties through negotiation. His aide-de-camp, Colonel O'Leary, was sent to offer the Liberator's friendship to Perú, but the Peruvian Government did not deign even to answer O'Leary's communication. In January, 1829, the Perúvians obtained some success; they occupied Guayaquil and other places with an army of over 8,000 men well organized, while the Colombians numbered only 6,000 men, poorly equipped, but commanded by the greatest of all South American generals after Bolívar,--Sucre, who was able to inflict two defeats on the enemy during the month of February, and, after his final victory, offered a capitulation, which was accepted by the enemy, with the stipulation that the boundaries between Perú and Colombia were to be settled by a special commission, and that neither of the contracting parties would intervene in the domestic affairs of the other. The city of Guayaquil was to be surrendered to Colombia. The Peruvian army was commanded by La Mar, head of the anti-Colombian party of Perú.