José Antonio Páez

José Antonio Páez Herrera (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse anˈtonjo ˈpaes eˈreɾa]; 13 June 1790 – 6 May 1873) was a Venezuelan politician and military officer who served as the president of Venezuela three times. The first as the 5th president from 1830 to 1835, the second as the 8th president from 1839 to 1843, and the third as the 15th president from 1861 to 1863. He fought against the Spanish Crown for Simón Bolívar during the Venezuelan War of Independence. Páez later led Venezuela's separation from Gran Colombia.

Páez dominated the country's politics for most of the next three decades once the country had achieved independence from Gran Colombia, serving either as president or as the power behind puppet presidents. He is considered a prime example of a 19th-century South American caudillo, saddling the country with a legacy of Liberal Party rule that lasted with only a few breaks until 1899. He lived in Buenos Aires and New York City during his years in exile and died in the latter in 1873.

Páez was born in Curpa (now part of Acarigua), Portuguesa State in the Captaincy General of Venezuela – part of the Spanish Empire. His paternal grandmother, Luisa Antonia de Mendoza y Mota, was daughter of Luís Rodríguez de Mendoza, a native of Icod de los Vinos, Tenerife (Canary Island). He was of humble origins, his father being a low level employee of the colonial government. His mother Maria Violante Herrera is said to have been born in Quíbor, Lara as one of the descendants of Welser German settlers. She had a nickname "La Catira de los ojos azules" (The blue-eyed blonde [The term "catira" is a feminine form of "catire", a Venezuelan slang word for "blond."]) As a boy he was forced to work like a slave. By the age of 20, Páez was married and earning a living by trading cattle.

Late in 1810, he joined a cavalry squadron, led by a former employer, set up with the purpose of fighting the colonial government. In 1813, he asked for leave from his squadron with the intent of setting and leading his own, which he did, joining the Western Republican Army with the rank of sergeant. Páez had an ingratiating personality which made him very much liked amongst those who knew him. He was also looked up to for his skills as a horseman and for his physical capabilities.

Páez, a soldier at heart, started moving up the ranks by winning year after year several engagements against the royalists with his band of marauding llaneros (plainsmen). He came to be known by the nicknames of "El Centauro de los Llanos" (The Centaur of the Plains), and "El León de Payara" (The Lion of Payara) or (The Lion of Apure).

Páez had been leading the fighting in the plains while Simón Bolívar was busy with the eastern part of the country. Early in 1818, both men met to discuss better coordination of their efforts. They briefly combined their forces to fight Pablo Morillo. This campaign included an incident wherein Páez and fifty of his men swam on horseback across the alligator-ridden Apure River, seizing fourteen enemy boats in a rare instance of a cavalry attack defeating naval forces.

Páez was soon ordered to go back to the western plains, where he took from the Spanish the city of San Fernando in Apure.

Páez won all of six major battles that he led by himself, the most celebrated one being the Battle of Las Queseras del Medio.