July 5, 1811 | By: Francisco González Cruz

I will highlight in bold some paragraphs from the Act of Independence of Venezuela.

“In the name of Almighty God, we, the representatives of the United Provinces of Caracas, Cumaná, Barinas, Margarita, Barcelona, ​​Mérida and Trujillo, which form the American Confederation of Venezuela on the southern continent, gathered in Congress, and Considering the full and absolute possession of our rights, which we justly and legitimately recovered since April 19, 1810…”

“…We, the representatives of the United Provinces of Venezuela, calling the Supreme Being as witness…” “We, therefore, in the name and with the will and authority that we have of the virtuous people of Venezuela, solemnly declare to the world that its United Provinces are, and must be from today, in fact and by law, free, sovereign and independent States…”

Obviously what I want to highlight is the fact that they were the provinces those that declared independence. And these decided, based on their sovereignty, to form the Confederation of the United Provinces of Venezuela. These were: Caracas, Cumaná, Barinas, Margarita, Barcelona, ​​Mérida and Trujillo.

This means that the provinces (or states, which is the same thing) existed before the Confederation and that they had previously declared their autonomy, in the so-called “juntista movement” of the previous year, that is, 1810. In the exercise of their rights, they appointed their representatives to the congress that met on July 5, and authorized them to establish the Confederation in that act.

Some of these provinces, such as Barinas, Mérida and Trujillo, had already approved their own constitutions, prior to the constitution of the National State and the “Federal Constitution of the States of Venezuela“sanctioned on December 21, 1811, drafted by Cristóbal Mendoza from Trujillo and Juan Germán Roscio from Guarique.

Another fact is that before the provinces, the Cabildos or Municipalities had been established and that from within them the autonomist movement was born, as happened on April 19, 1810 in Caracas, on April 27 in Cumaná, on April 27 in Barcelona, ​​on May 4 in Margarita, on May 5 in Barinas, on May 11 in Guayana and on October 9 in Trujillo.

We Venezuelans must be clear that our country was born from its municipalities and its provinces or states and not the other way around. It was not that the Republic of Venezuela was born first and then it was divided into states and these into municipalities. It was not like that. First there were the municipalities or councils and the provinces or states. From these a “Federal Confederation of States” was born that took the name of Venezuela because it was the largest and most populated province. And because Caracas, which was the provincial capital, was chosen as the capital of the new national state.

Forty-two people signed the document, many of them university graduates, such as lawyers, judges, theologians, canonists, professors, educators and doctors from prestigious institutions in Caracas, Mérida, Santo Domingo, Santa Fe and El Rosario de Bogotá, who worked as journalists, writers, teachers, magistrates, philosophers, politicians, municipal officials, naturalists, musicians and in general were intellectuals of high prestige. There were three university rectors and also merchants, farmers and even a ship owner. There were nine priests and three military personnel.

They met to create a new “Nation-State”, independent and sovereign, and to give themselves a liberal republican government, which according to the authors of the Act – Juan Germán Roscio and Francisco Javier Yanes – means: “Being a Liberal Republic implies understanding that society, free and organized, precedes the State. It is understanding that the defense of life, liberty, property and security requires establishing limits to the Government, through the principle of legality, the supremacy of the Constitution, the separation of powers and the promotion of human rights. Being independent, in short, means promoting, cultivating and protecting republican freedom.”