Earthquakes, Cocoa and Calamities
The new government was beset by more than civil strife with royalist regions. The loss of the Spanish market for cocoa, then Venezuela’s primary export, meant that the new government was broke. The worst stroke of bad luck, however, was a devastating earthquake on March 26, 1812. Caracas was destroyed and thousands were killed. The earthquake was unlucky in many ways. First of all, it occurred on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. Two years previously, the rebels had deposed the Spanish authorities on Maundy Thursday as well. Second, the earthquake destroyed rebel hotbeds like Caracas and left royalist strongholds like Valencia and Coro intact. Many Venezuelans, egged on by the clergy, interpreted the earthquake as a divine punishment for the insurrection.
End of the First Republic
After the earthquake, the royalists regrouped under Captain Domingo Monteverde. This charismatic leader started with a small force of royalists but quickly built his army up, gaining ground from the new government. Miranda was granted absolute power to run the government and defeat Monteverde, but he could not. When Monteverde recaptured Valencia and held most of the ports, Miranda decided to sue for peace. In this, he was supported by most of his advisors, who felt the cause was hopeless. Although the terms of the truce gave amnesty to rebel leaders, Miranda attempted to return to London. He was arrested by none other than Bolivar himself and handed over to the Spanish authorities on July 30, 1812.
Legacy of the First Venezuelan Republic
The First Venezuelan Republic was short-lived and almost doomed from the start by internal strife and bad luck. Still, it was the first fully independent South American government and as such allowed the people of Latin America to imagine an alternative to Spanish rule. It also launched the distinguished career of Liberator Simon Bolivar.
Although it gave Bolivar the international prominence he would later need to lead the movement for South America’s independence, the dismal days at the end of the First Republic also marked Bolivar’s darkest hour. His arrest and turning over of Miranda was a despicable act, one which many Venezuelans and historians recognize as a huge mistake. Miranda’s dedication to the cause was unquestionable, and his surrender was an attempt to live to fight another day, although Bolivar saw it as treason. Miranda would never again see freedom, dying in a Spanish prison in 1816.
Today, both Bolivar and Miranda are revered in South America and particularly in Venezuela. Miranda is named “the Precursor” in recognition of the groundwork he laid for independence, paving the way for Bolívar and others.
Sources:
Harvey, Robert. Liberators: Latin America’s Struggle for Independence Woodstock: The Overlook Press, 2000.
Lynch, John. The Spanish American Revolutions 1808-1826 New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1986.
Lynch, John. Simon Bolivar: A Life. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006.
Scheina, Robert L. Latin America’s Wars, Volume 1: The Age of the Caudillo 1791-1899 Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s Inc., 2003.
