This first attempt to gain independence faltered after 1812, when Spanish troops began reconquering the colony. Francisco de Miranda, the commander in chief of the revolutionary forces, tried to negotiate peace with the Spanish commander but was taken to Spain, where he died in prison. Leadership in the movement for independence passed to one of his lieutenants, Simón Bolívar, who recovered control of Caracas briefly in 1813, only to be driven out by the Spanish a year later.

Spanish rule was solidified in Venezuela after the arrival of a large force of Spanish troops in 1815. Bolívar, whose forces were too weak to oppose the Spanish army, withdrew to Haiti. In 1816, however, he returned to the mainland with a reinforced army and seized control of the lower Orinoco Valley.

Over the next few years Bolívar gathered his forces. In 1819 Bolívar’s position was further strengthened when a congress, convened by him at Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar), proclaimed a union of New Granada (now Colombia and Panama), Venezuela, and Ecuador under the name of the Republic of Colombia (also known as Gran Colombia), with Bolívar as president. On June 24, 1821, the Spanish army was decisively beaten in Venezuela at the Battle of Carabobo, assuring the independence of the new nation. Venezuela seceded from the union in 1829 and formed an independent republic with its capital at Caracas.

Venezuelan independence. Encarta

José Antonio Páez, a hero of the revolution, served as president and remained the dominant political figure until 1846. He was tolerant toward the Roman Catholic Church and fostered a few measures for the stimulation of trade, agriculture, and education. Encarta