Simon Bolivar commanded various armies in South America and was the key leader of independence movements in Latin America. He helped to win independence for Bolivia, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Unlike the priest Miguel Costilla, who first declared Mexican independence, Bolivar did not have strong ties to the church. He declared that "the state cannot rule the conscience of the subjects…because God is the higher power." Religious and political duties, he believed, should remain separate. Long after Bolivar's death, Latin Americans would continue to wrestle with church and state issues.