extended an invitation on behalf of the government to retake military office. He took the offer, initially remaining distant from the increasingly unstable political landscape. When the liberal and conservative parties were proposed, Valero de Bernabé abandoned this political retirement to join the ranks of the first as one of its founding members. When general Judas Tadeo Piñango revolted against the government of José Tadeo Monagas, Valero de Bernabé was tasked with opposition the insurrection. He defeated the rebel leader at the Action of Taratara and inflicted wounds that would later prove lethal. For this, Valero de Bernabé was promoted to the rank of divisional general. Under the liberal Monagas, Valero de Bernabé would serve as Commander of Arms of both Caracas and Cumaná and also served as Secretary of War and Navy. He was later assigned Jefe del Ejército del Centro and of the State of Aragua, an office that he held until general Julián Castro led a coup d'erat that placed the conservatives in charge, immediately resigning. From there, he left to his hacienda at Cantón San Sebastián. The new government arrested Valero de Bernabé and transported him to Caracas, but eventually allowed him to leave. He returned to his house at La Victoria. On July 2, 1858, a federal revolution led by generals Zamora and Juan Crisóstomo Falcón took over the province and named Valero de Bernabé the revolutionary leader for the state of Aragua. He led the organization of enough forces to oppose an incursion by the government, who intended to retake control. At Boca Chica, Valero de Bernabé defeated the centralist forces. However, the federalists faced a counterattack that resulted in losses at Tiznado and Gengibre. As Valero de Bernabé led his forces to join those of Zamora, the general was killed and replaced by a less prepared Falcón. He blamed the loss of the revolution of the tactics employed by this officer, whom he accused of possessing nothing more than "a bravery that could have been imprudent" and of disregarding the preparation of the troops and of failing to keep a proper structure in the General Staff resulting in inefficiency which he tried to compensate by issuing unfair punishment to his officials. As an example of this, Valero de Bernabé cites incidents where Falcón stopped the march of the revolutionary army to "amuse himself by shooting howler monkeys" or set an impromptu fight between