Magdalena, the San Luis, and the Soledad. He destroyed the Magdalena and burned the San Luis by sending a dummy ship full of gunpowder to explode near them, after which the crew of the Soledad surrendered. By faking a landward attack on the fort, thereby convincing the Spanish governor to shift his cannon, he eluded their guns and escaped. In June 1678, Michel de Grammont, the French commander of six ships and 700 men, captured Maracaibo then followed the plundering of several smaller towns as Gibraltar, penetrating as far inland as Trujillo. Venezuelan Independence In 1810, the province of Maracaibo did not join the First Republic of Venezuela and remained loyal to the Spanish crown. Maracaibo then held the seat of the Captaincy General of Venezuela. In 1821, uprisings in favor of independence began to lead to warfare and hostility. The royalists, led by Francisco Tomás Morales, fought with the patriots, led by Rafael Urdaneta, to take back control over the province in the Juana de Ávila Battle, and Morales brought back Spanish rule in 1822 until he was defeated in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo on 24 July 1823, culminating Venezuela's struggle for independence. Isolation period For about 380 years, Maracaibo remained isolated and separated from the rest of the country. Transportation to the vecinity was possible through the lake via boat and ferries. Commerce and culture flowed between Maracaibo and the Caribbean Sea, particularly the Dutch Antilles, colombian coastal cities, Cuba, Hispaniola and later on Miami, New York and Hamburg. This isolation from the rest of Venezuela was both a challenge and an advantage. The very nature of the city's location made for a population known for their independent thought and character. The history of this region is rife with stories about the creation of an independent and sovereign nation apart from Venezuela, a nation called , 'the Independent Republic of Zulia', but this has never come to be. Come the 20st century, cars, buses, and lorries, with their constant flow of manufactured goods and agricultural product to and from the city port, depended on ferry services between the city and the eastern shore which was poorly connected to the country's motorway system. Maracaibo and the Lake Maracaibo region's economy was more linked to Colombia and the Caribbean than to eastern Venezuela due to the natural route available through Lake Maracaibo then leading to the sea. In January