"The General in his Labyrinth"

What has struck me most while reading "The General in his Labyrinth" is how much the General, Simone Bolivar, is detested in his homeland. I cannot understand how the perception of his leadership has changed. What did he do to cause his citizens to want to murder him? The General states in the beginning of the novel "I have no friends, and if I do have any left it won't be for long." While he does have a small entourage of about five or six close men, he does not have any faith that they will stand by him; everyone else close to him has deserted him. He is quite pessimistic. The General is constantly at risk of assassination and abuse. I don't understand why his life should still be at risk. He is weak, sickly, and fragile. The novel states that he is a mere eighty-eight pounds. He is not a threat to the country and for the first half of the book he is waiting to get a passport so that he can quietly retire to Europe. As soon as his passport is processed he yells "We are free" and plans to leave as soon as possible. He even "gave no explanation, no sign that would permit conjecture regarding his motives, and he allowed no time for saying goodbye to anyone." If the General simply wants to escape to Europe, why is his life still at risk. For example he narrowly escaped death when his guard, mistaken as the General, was murdered in his bed. Why has his country turned against him? I wonder if what his puts upfront, his proud shell, is partly because the public opinion of him has dropped so significantly. I sympathize with the General. The end of his life should have been triumphant because of his many accomplishments.