Ribas, José Félix (1775–1815)

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Ribas, José Félix (1775–1815)

José Félix Ribas (b. 19 September 1775; d. 31 January 1815), officer in the Venezuelan Liberating Army. Ribas was connected to Simón Bolívar's family by his marriage to the Liberator's aunt. He was an outstanding participant in the declaration of a cabildo abierto and in the ouster of the Spanish governor, Emparán, on 19 April 1810 in Caracas. Ribas was a member of the Junta Suprema de Caracas and participated in the military campaign in defense of the republic under the orders of Francisco de Miranda. When the First Republic fell, he traveled to New Granada in 1813 and then returned with Bolívar as a troop commander in the Admirable Campaign. Bolívar appointed Ribas military chief of Caracas and commander of the province of Caracas. Ribas was successful in various military campaigns in the central area of the republic. With the fall of the Second Republic and the defeat of the republican forces, he was captured and executed by the royalist troops. His head was sent to Caracas and placed in a cage at the entrance to the city as a warning.

See alsoBolívar, Simón; Cabildo, Cabildo Abierto; Junta Suprema de Caracas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Juan Vicente González, Biografía de José Félix Ribas (1956).

Miguel Ángel Mudarra, Biografía de José Félix Ribas (1975).

César Chirinos y Ender Cepeda, José Félix Ribas: Rebelde de la juventud (1980).

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