work as a laborer on a farm. The following year, he was pardoned. Sometime later, he joined the liberal army of José Tadeo Monagas, who fought against the landlords. In 1849, he captured Páez and took him, chained, to Caracas. In 1851, he was promoted to colonel. But the defeat of the landowners was temporary, and Zamora was exiled to Curaçao. In October 1858, the Patriotic Meeting was formed in Willemstad and they began a rebellion against the general Juan Crisóstomo Falcón, Zamora's brother in law. Federal War On 23 February 1859, as part of the Federal War, he disembarked from Curaçao to La Vela de Coro. He was named Chief Operator of the West, and made Coro a federal state (25 February 1859) and organized a provisional government in Venezuela (26 February 1859). On 23 March, he triumphed in the El Palito meeting, from which he planned to move toward the western plains. He took San Felipe on 28 March and reorganized the province as a federal entity with the name Yaracuy. On 10 December 1859, the Battle of Santa Inés occurred, in which Zamora defeated the Centralist army; this action was considered central to the process of the Federal War and a testimony to Zamora's exceptional qualities as a troop driver. After Santa Inés, Zamora moved toward the center of the country with 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry, through Barinas and Portuguesa, but before approaching Caracas, he decided to attack the city of San Carlos, whose main square was defended by Major Benito Figueredo, with 700 men. During the preliminary actions for taking the square on 10 January 1860, Zamora was shot in the head, which caused his death. The cause of his death remains a mystery. Some say that the bullet came from his own side, obeying orders from Falcón and Guzmán Blanco. His unexpected passing changed the positive direction of the war for the Federalists, and resulted in a loss. For many, he was considered the most important popular leader of 19th-century Venezuela, and his remains rest in the National Pantheon in Caracas. Legacy In 2001, a new land reform program, under President Hugo Chávez, Mission Zamora, was named after Ezequiel Zamora. Ezequiel Zamora was portrayed by Alexander Solórzano in the 2009 film Zamora: tierra y hombres libres. References Biography at venezuelatuya.com (in Spanish) External links 1817 births 1860 deaths People from Cúa Venezuelan people of