Venezuela is located in South America, this territory is larger than France and Germany combined. Christopher Columbus arrived in Venezuela in 1498. Europeans named this territory Venezuela, literally “Little Venice,” because the locals built their homes on water. It was in 1546 that Spain officially claimed the territory. Spanish farmers settled there to grow corn, tobacco, sugar, and cocoa and enriched themselves through trade. The society was governed by representatives of the Spanish monarchy and members of the clergy. The Creoles (descendants of Europeans born in America) possessed wealth and land but little power. All non-white people (mestizos, black slaves, indigenous) were dominated and had no social status. The various injustices imposed by the Spanish administration (taxes, levies…) displeased the Creoles. Disloyalty to the monarchy was punished, as seen in the book “Premios de la obediencia: castigos de la inobediencia” published in 1782 by Azero. Driven by the independence movements in other countries, such as France and the United States, and by a weakening of royal power in Spain, groups of Creoles fought for emancipation. Among these groups were generals (such as Francisco de Miranda), great leaders (such as Simón Bolívar), but also women, feminist and heroic figures who took part in the struggle.

Josefa Camejo was born on May 18, 1791, on a farm in Paraguaná and grew up there. She then attended a convent school, before moving to Barinas with her mother and uncle, who was the secretary of the independence movement of the “Junta Patriótica de Mérida”. She led a group of women opposed to the royalists and participated in clandestine activities. She signed the petition titled “Representación que hace el Bello Sexo al Gobierno de Barinas“. It read:

“El sexo femenino, señor, no teme los horrores de la guerra: el estallido del cañón no hará más que alentarle, su fuego encenderá el deseo de su libertad, que sostendrá a toda costa en obsequio del suelo patrio”

(“The female sex, sir, does not fear the horrors of war: the cannon’s roar will only encourage it, its fire will ignite the desire for freedom, which will be upheld at all costs in service to the homeland”).

The women committed to defending the city of Barinas, which feared a royalist invasion. In 1813, she married Colonel Juan Nepomuceno Briceño Méndez. The city of Barinas was besieged, and Josefa had to flee with the troops, disguised as a man, with her mother and a friend. During the journey, she cared for wounded soldiers. In 1821, leading 300 slaves working in her Paraguaná herd, she rebelled against the royalist forces of the province but was unsuccessful and had to escape by throwing herself into the sea. On May 3, 1821, accompanied by 15 men, she confronted and defeated the royalist leader Chepito González in Baraived, in the province of Coro! After the declaration of Independence, she retired to live with her family on her estate and died on July 5, 1862.

Juana Ramírez was born on January 12, 1790, as a slave in Chaguaramal. Until 1813, she worked as a laundress in the city of Maturín. Her mother was a black slave from Guadeloupe, and her father was believed to be a Spanish general. When the city was attacked by Domingo de Monteverde (a military and colonial administrator), she led the “Batería de las Mujeres”, a group of a hundred women who fought alongside men to defend independence. On May 25, 1813, during the “Alto de los Godos” battle, Juana was the first to bravely advance towards the enemy, earning her the nickname “La Avanzadora.” When the troops ran out of ammunition, the women attacked Monteverde, who had to flee from such an assault. During the fight, under a hail of bullets, Juana reportedly took the sword of a dead Spanish general. She brandished the sword in victory (a pose that can be seen on her statue in Maturín). After the battle, she and other women cared for the wounded and buried the dead, both patriots and royalists. Despite the heroism of the population, the city was captured by Spanish troops. Juana fled to the countryside, where she led guerrilla warfare. She returned to Maturín in 1816 and participated in the reconstruction of the city, which had been razed by the royalists. In 2015, her remains were moved to the Pantheon, making her the first black woman buried in the national mausoleum of heroes.