José María Carreño

José María Carreño Blanco (Cúa, current Miranda State, Venezuela, March 19, 1792-Caracas, Venezuela, May 18, 1849) was a Venezuelan politician, vice president of the Government Council under the presidency of José María Vargas and provisional president on two occasions.

Biography

He was born in Cúa, a town located in what is now the State of Miranda, on March 19, 1792. Third child of a total of 11 siblings from the stable union of Don Julián Carreño and Doña Margarita Blanco The Carreño Blanco family He resided in the town of Cúa, a place where they even owned large estates, which were mainly cocoa plantations.

Carreño began his military career in Caracas in September 1810 as a second lieutenant in the white militia (Milicias Reguladas de Blancos de Caracas). In 1813 he accompanied the Liberator in the Admirable Campaign, participating in all the combats alongside Bolívar until the battle of September 13 in Cerritos Blancos, in the state of Lara, which was fought by Colonel Ramón García de Sena against Colonel Juan de the Vargas Kings; where, with the rank of captain, Major General Rafael Urdaneta was seriously wounded. In this Cerritos Blanco combat where he receives multiple wounds and loses his right arm due to the actions of a cannonball that passed him pink. He only managed to save his life because the royalists left him for dead and did not finish him off in battle, and he was later rescued by his companions; From that moment on he will be known by the nickname "El Mocho Carreño".

During 1815 until 1830, General Carreño participated in the war of independence, in major battles, along with generals such as José Antonio Páez, Santiago Mariño, Simón Bolívar (The Liberator) and others. With the rank of colonel he distinguished himself along with Colonel Jacinto Lara in the siege of Santa Marta that paved the way for the army of General Mariano Montilla for the definitive capture of Cartagena de Indias in 1819. After the hostilities had ended, General Carreño They assigned him large plots of land throughout Venezuela for his heroic performance in the War of Independence. Loyal to the Republican cause of the Liberator, he was an exceptional witness of his last moments at the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino in Santa Marta (1830), he lent his shirt to Simón Bolívar, just after his death.

Presidential terms

Back in Venezuela in 1835, General Carreño was part of the cabinet of Dr. José María Vargas, until several days later due to the overthrow of Vargas. Presidency After the failure of General Santiago Mariño and his Revolution of the Reforms , on July 27, 1835, the Government Council appointed the vice president of said organization, General José María Carreño, as head of the Executive Branch, led by Páez. José María Vargas would regain power on August 20 of that same year.

After José María Vargas irrevocably resigned from the Presidency of Venezuela, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of 1830, Vargas was replaced by Andrés Narvarte who declined to become vice president of the Government Council, General José María Carreño, the exercise of his functions as vice president, in charge of the Executive Branch, being sworn in on January 20, 1837 at the age of 45. José María Carreño, in his position as vice president of the Government Council, carried out his functions with the collaboration of Felipe Fermín Paul, Minister of the Interior, José Félix Blanco in the Ministry of War and Navy, and Manuel María Echeandía in Foreign Relations.

Carreño and Congress were installed on January 26, 1837, and one of the first acts was to count the votes of the Electoral College to elect the vice president. Almost all of the votes favored José Antonio Páez's candidate, General Carlos Soublette, who at the time was in Europe as Minister Plenipotentiary, negotiating the Treaty of Independence, Peace and Friendship of Venezuela with Spain. José María Carreño was a Mason in the 3rd degree. Carreño died on May 18, 1849 in Caracas. Because of the role he played in the end of Bolívar's life, General Carreño is a secondary character in the novel The General in His Labyrinth by the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez.