Venezuelan Declaration of Independence
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The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence (
Content
Seven of the ten provinces belonging to the
The three remaining provinces (Maracaibo Province, Coro Province and Guayana Province) did not take part in the Venezuelan congress opted to stay under Spanish rule.
The declaration proclaimed a new nation named the American Confederacy of Venezuela and was mainly written by Cristóbal Mendoza and Juan Germán Roscio.
With this declaration, Venezuela became the first independent republic of Spanish America, and the fire of that declaration, fueled by external conflict, would spread the ideals of independence throughout all of the lands of Latin America.
Resolution
On July 3, 1811, delegates from the first National Constituent Congress convened at the Santa Rosa de Lima Chapel in Caracas regarding the matter of independence. Two days later, the matter was resolved when Congress voted to officially declare independence 40-4. Then, with the permission of the secretary general, Francisco Isnardi, Mendoza and Roscio presented the document to Congress for discussion. Roscio and Isnardi then spoke following the reading of the declaration.
It was ratified by Congress on July 7, 1811 with 43 votes for and one vote against, and recorded in the Congress's Book of Minutes on August 17, 1811, in Caracas.
The anniversary of this declaration is celebrated as Independence Day. The original Book of Minutes of the first Congress of Venezuela is in the Federal Legislative Palace in Caracas.
The document is kept at the museo de la Casa de las Primeras Letras Simón Rodríguez. The signature of president Hugo Chávez was added to an exhibited copy of the document on May 31, 2013, by the Maduro administration, as an homage to the former president. This resulted in outrage among various sectors opposing said administration.[1]
See also
- Venezuelan Independence
- First Republic of Venezuela
- Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America
- Argentine Declaration of Independence
References
- ^ "Agregan la firma de Chávez al acta de Independencia de 1811" [The signature of Chávez is added to the 1811 declaration of independence] (in Spanish). Clarín. May 31, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.