FROM THE POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF J. A. PAEZ: THE VENEZUELAN REVOLUTION AND THE PARTICIPATION OF J. A. PAEZ IN THE ACTIONS OF THE ARMY OF SAN BOLÍVAR

The article examines the events of the joint struggle of the poor Llanos detachments under the leadership of the future first president of independent Venezuela, Jose Antonio Paez, and the army of the leader of the anti-Spanish armed struggle in Latin America, Simon Bolivar. It shows both the successful «guerrilla» actions of poorly coordinated detachments of armed shepherds, and the development of success, the creation of a more or less regular army of the rebels. The unification of the forces of S. Bolivar and H. A. Paes allowed, starting in 1818, the «patriots» to launch a large-scale offensive against the royalist forces in New Granada and Venezuela. As a result, in June 1821, the first independent democratic state in the north-east of South America was created – the Republic of Colombia, whose president was Simon Bolivar. However, the disagreements of the leaders of large military detachments already carried the germ of the future collapse of the newly formed state. Moreover, military leaders, including Paez, began to reserve significant land plots taken from the Spanish owners, in fact, starting a practice called «caudilism».