LAS CORTES DE CÁDIZ Y JOSÉ BONAPARTE.

The article presents a lecture given by Enrique Gaviria Liévano, president of the Colombian Academy of History, on September 24, 2009. The lecture discusses the Cortes de Cádiz, bodies which governed Spain after French king Joseph Bonaparte replaced Spanish king Carlos IV from 1808 to 1814. It describes how, in response to French invasion, Spain proclaimed its colonies in the Americas to be integral parts of the Spanish crown and incorporated colonial representatives into the Cortes.