The establishment of the Supreme Caracas Junta following the forced deposition of Vicente Emparan as Captain General of the Captaincy General of Venezuela on 19 April 1810 , marked the beginnings of the war . On 5 July 1811 , seven of the ten provinces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence in the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence . The First Republic of Venezuela was lost in 1812 following the 1812 Caracas earthquake and the Battle of La Victoria ( 1812 ) . Simón Bolívar led an " Admirable Campaign " to retake Venezuela , establishing the Second Republic of Venezuela in 1813 ; but this too did not last , falling to a combination of a local uprising and Spanish royalist reconquest . Only as part of Bolívar 's campaign to liberate New Granada in 1819-20 did Venezuela achieve a lasting independence from Spain ( initially as part of Gran Colombia )
1812 Caracas earthquake
1812 Caracas earthquake
Venezuelan War of Independence