Jose Felix Ribas

José Félix Ribas Herrera (Caracas, September 19, 1775-Tucupido, January 31, 1815) was a Venezuelan military man and hero of the Independence of Venezuela. He stood out in numerous wars during the Venezuelan War of Independence, but his most memorable action was in the Battle of La Victoria, where he defeated the royalist forces of José Tomás Boves and Francisco Tomás Morales with an army composed of teenagers and young men. from the Royal University of Venezuela and the Santa Rosa de Lima Seminary.

Beginnings

He was the last of the twelve children of a distinguished marriage of the high aristocracy of Caracas between Marcos José de Ribas and Petronila Herrera de las Mariñas, both of Canarian descent, descended through the maternal line from a captain general. His father was a native of the island of Tenerife and served as councilor and ordinary mayor of the Caracas city council. His siblings were María de la Soledad, Marcos, Valentín, María de la Concepción, Petronila, María de la Luz, María Altagracia, Antonio, Juan Nepomuceno, María Candelaria and Francisco José.

He received a quality education since he was little and attended the seminary; However, he decided to dedicate himself to agricultural work on his lands and properties. At 21 years of age, he married María Josefa Palacios, aunt of Simón Bolívar. On May 8, 1799, at the age of 24, he witnessed the execution of José María España in the Plaza Mayor of Caracas, which is why he became a radical defender of the independence and republican cause.

By 1808, he began to attend conspiratorial meetings in the city of Caracas and became involved in the Conspiracy of 1808, but was taken prisoner after its failure. He continued conspiring and, in 1810, participated in the meetings of the Patriotic Society with the Montilla, the Salias, the Bolívar and others, the group that managed the movement that culminated in the events of April 19, 1810. That day he excited the crowd and contributed to the pressure that forced the deposition of Captain General Vicente de Emparán y Orbe. He was part of the municipality and was, along with his older brother, the priest Francisco José Ribas, part of the Supreme Board of Caracas. that was organized to govern Venezuela on April 25.

In October of that year, as leader of the Caracas browns, he organized a public protest against the murder committed in Quito, on August 2, 1810, of 28 patriots by the royalist authorities.

Military career

He began his military career with the rank of Colonel, being entrusted with the battalion of the Regulated Militias of Blancos de Barlovento in 1810. Under the orders of General Francisco de Miranda, Ribas took part in the discussions of the Patriotic Society that hastened the declaration of independence and campaigned against the royalist sailor Domingo Monteverde, of whom he was a cousin, in 1812; On that occasion he was sent with his battalion to reinforce Colonel Juan Pablo Ayala, who was defending the Guaica portachuelo. From there he went to Caracas as military commander or military governor of the capital, replacing Juan Nepomuceno Quero.

Due to the fall of the First Republic, he was dismissed by Miranda in July 1812. He went into exile in Curacao, and later in New Granada, where he continued the patriotic struggle, united with the army with which Labatut and Simón Bolívar began, in 1813, to the Admirable Campaign.

In Ocaña he joined Bolívar and marched to take Santa Marta, to San José de Cúcuta, and acted in the victorious battle fought in this town against Colonel Ramón Correa on February 28, 1813. Managed by Antonio Nariño and Camilo Torres helps the liberation campaign in Venezuela. He commanded the rearguard division in the Admirable Campaign, begun in Cúcuta on May 14, 1813.

After he completed the campaign successfully and obtained his first military victories in Niquitao and Los Horcones, he was promoted to division general and general commander of Caracas, with which he obtained a resounding victory in the Battle of Vigirima on December 23. November 1813. In December of that year, he received the Order of the Liberators, recently created by Bolívar. On February 12, 1814, prior to the events of the Battle of La Victoria, he gave a harangue that was addressed to young people. between 12 and 20 years old, inexperienced in war, forcibly recruited by Rivas's orders to confront José Tomás Boves, even when the battle was considered lost, where more than 60% of the recruited young people died:

Soldiers: What we have so much desired is to be done today: there is Boves. Five times greater is the army that brings us to battle; but it still seems to me scarce to contest the victory. You defend the wrath of the tyrants the life of your children, the honor of your wives, the land of your homeland; show them your omnipotence. In this day that will be memorable, we cannot even choose between defeat or die: it is necessary to overcome! Long live the Republic!

After having defeated Vicente Campo Elías in La Puerta, on February 3, 1814, the royalist José Tomás Boves organized three columns; one led by Francisco Rosete who marched to Caracas through the Valles del Tuy; another directed by Francisco Tomás Morales who headed towards Caracas through La Victoria; and the third remained in Villa de Cura as a reserve. From Caracas, Ribas went, with a large group of young people, to La Victoria where he defeated Francisco Tomás Morales on February 12, 1814. He returned to Caracas and from there he marched against Francisco Rosete and defeated him in Charallave on February 20. A month later, from Caracas he again led his forces towards Ocumare del Tuy, against Rosete, whom he defeated on January 20, 1814 and again in Yare, executing the prisoners. This victory earned him his promotion to general-in-chief on March 23.

At the beginning of May, Bolívar concentrated his forces in Valencia with which he was to act against Boves in the plains, but due to the presence of field marshal Juan Manuel Cajigal in the Carabobo savannah, he suspended the initial operation and, incorporated Ribas with 800 men brought from Caracas, headed against Cajigal, whom he defeated in the field of Carabobo on May 28, 1814; In that action, General Ribas commanded the reserve of Bolívar's army. From Carabobo Ribas returned to Caracas. After the defeat suffered by Boves' forces in La Puerta, on June 15, 1814, Bolívar retired to Caracas and in agreement with Ribas tried to organize the defense of the city, but seeing the impossibility of doing so, he decided to execute the Emigration to the East.

While Bolívar is defeated in the battle of Aragua in Barcelona on August 17, 1814. Ribas, with the rest of the forces, waits in Cariaco. From Barcelona Bolívar went to Cumaná, where he embarked in August of that year on José Bianchi's ship to try to save the funds and supplies entrusted to this sailor. On September 5, Bolívar landed in Carúpano. During that period, Ribas had assumed command of the Liberator's army, due to the absence of his leader. On September 8, after his authority had been unknown by Ribas and Manuel Piar, Bolívar and Santiago Mariño embarked for Cartagena de Indias, in the company of D'Elhuyar, Mariano Montilla, José Francisco Azcue and others. Ribas moved to Maturín with his troops and those left by Bolívar and, in coordination with General José Francisco Bermúdez, carried out the final operations of the Second Republic.

Death

He fought vigorously in the Battle of Urica where the forces of the Republican army were defeated, but José Tomás Boves was killed. He was then defeated again in a desperate attempt to offer a last stand to Francisco Tomás Morales at the Fifth Battle of Maturín. After this he tried to flee, but was betrayed by a slave named Concepción González, and later captured in the surroundings of Valle de la Pascua. On January 31, 1815, subjected to numerous humiliations by his captors, he was shot at the age of 39 in the Plaza Mayor of Tucupido, Guárico state. His body was dismembered and his head was sent to Caracas, where the royalist authorities fried it in oil and placed it on display inside a small cage to discourage patriots, at the site known as the Gate of Caracas.

Legacy

In 1987, the "Law of Decoration of the José Félix Ribas Order" was created, to reward "those citizens who provided an outstanding contribution to the country in the fields of culture, art, science, sports and music, among others». In 2003, Hugo Chávez named one of the Bolivarian missions “Misión Ribas” in his honor (a kind of national social program for secondary schooling). Since 19 December September 2005, a chest with the symbolic remains of José Félix Ribas rests in the National Pantheon, in tribute to this Venezuelan hero. Also, there are two Venezuelan municipalities named after him, the José Félix Ribas Municipality of the Aragua state, and the José Félix Ribas Municipality of the Guárico state.