San Martín’s contribution to the cause of independence was his military skill. The boldness of his plan to attack the viceroyalty of Lima by crossing the Andes to Chile and going on by sea, as well as the patience and determination with which he executed it, was undoubtedly the decisive factor in the defeat of Spanish power in southern South America. Whether at Guayaquil he consciously made a great renunciation of personal ambition so that Bolívar, and with him the cause of independence, might triumph, or whether he went into voluntary exile because Bolívar made it clear that he was not prepared to help Peru so long as San Martín remained in control, remains an unresolved historical problem.