Bolívar 's push towards Caracas was aided by the fact that the general population , which had welcomed Monteverde a year earlier , had become disillusioned by his failure to implement the terms of the San Mateo Capitulation or the Spanish Constitution of 1812 , which the capitulation promised . Monteverde also faced attacks on two fronts , since Santiago Mariño had already opened a front on the east in January 1813 . Bolívar 's forces easily defeated the overtaxed and underpaid royalist army in a series of battles , entered Caracas on August 6 , 1813 , and laid siege to Monteverde , who had retreated to Puerto Cabello . In Caracas Bolívar announced the restoration of the Venezuelan Republic , but placed himself at the head of a military government , since the situation did not allow for the restoration of the old authorities or new elections . Bolívar would base his subsequent and enduring claim to be the sole head of the Venezuelan republic and commander-in-chief of its forces on this accomplishment , although even at this time he was not universally acknowledged as head of the state or the republican forces . Mariño , based in Cumaná , did not recognize Bolívar 's claim , but did collaborate with him militarily . Reprisals were carried out against Peninsular royalists that were captured . It was in during this period that the republican city fathers of Caracas , following the example of Mérida , granted Bolívar the title of Liberator and office of captain general in the Church of San Francisco ( the more appropriate site , the Cathedral of Caracas , was still damaged from the 1812 earthquake )
1812 earthquake
1812 Caracas earthquake
Military career of Simón Bolívar