"all who served the revolution have plowed the sea" –simon bolivar the quotation above most likely reflects the liberator’s frustrations with

... frustrations with how independence had led to situations where caudillos (authoritarian leaders) rose to power.

Bolivar had wanted a united Spanish America, a great nations, but the wars of independence had tended to result in charismatic military rulers leading their own countries in authoritarian ways -- what we today would call dictators.