Establishment of the independent government of Venezuela by Simón Bolívar

Background. After the fall of the Second Republic, Bolívar was in exile in Jamaica, arriving on 14 May 1815, and laid out his ideology in the September 1815 Jamaica Letter. He met Alexandre Pétion in Haiti on 2 January 1816, and the Republicans departed Les Cayes for Venezuela on 31 March 1816. Bolívar marched towards Caracas on 8 January 1817 but was defeated at the Battle of Clarines. The establishment of the Third Republic in 1817 was not a singular event in Caracas but a process of reorganizing republican authority, particularly through the Guayana campaign and the restoration of institutions in Angostura.

Establishment of the Third Republic. The Third Republic of Venezuela was declared by Bolívar in 1817. Its beginning is attributed to the period after the Guayana campaign, during which democratic institutions were restored in Angostura. This reorganization of the republic's governing structures occurred amidst military operations, including the capture of Angostura in July 1817 and the consolidation of control over the Orinoco River.

Governance and Consolidation. Following the establishment of the republic, Bolívar focused on administering the government, rebuilding armed forces, and organizing elections for a national congress. In 1818, the war reached a stalemate between patriots based in Angostura and Morillo's forces. The political alliance with Páez, who recognized Bolívar as supreme leader in January 1818, and these administrative and electoral preparations laid the groundwork for the Congress of Angostura, which met on 15 February 1819.