She is one of four similar barques built as sail training vessels for Latin American navies; her half-sisters are the Mexican Cuauhtémoc, the Venezuelan Simón Bolívar and the Ecuadoran Guayas.

[3] She was named after Gloria Zawadsky De Rebeiz, the wife of General Gabriel Rebéiz Pizarro who was the Minister of Defense that authorized her construction but died before her completion.

Finally after intense lobbying, the Minister of Defense, General Gabriel Rebéiz Pizarro, convinced of the need for the ship and in front of several officials at a social meeting celebrating Navy Day (July 24), expressed his approval of the project and to confirm his decision he grabbed a napkin where he wrote “Valid for a Sailboat” signing it with his name.

On the 2nd of December of the same year in question, the hull launching ceremony took place with the Minister of Defense's wife; Gloria Zawadsky De Rebeiz, in attendance she would also be the ship's namesake.

Her maiden voyage began October 9 when she left the port of Ferrol bound for Cartagena de Indias where she would arrive on November 11, 1968.