[1] He was born during an age where the absolutist policies of the Spanish Crown had disregarded its colonies, Puerto Rico itself being left without proper education systems, heavily taxed with tributes and lacking formal mercantile relations that allowed them to prosper economically.

[4] It had been militarized to combat recurrent attacks by pirates and buccaneers, mainly due to its proximity to Vieques and other adjacent islands, and to prevent the contraband that frequently entered through the coast as a response to the mercantile restrictions imposed by Spain (which led to uncontrolled inflation).

[25] Hostilities had begun by 8:00 a.m. and the French artillery was proving troublesome to the Spanish to the point that the general ordered his Regiment to relocate behind a nearby hill, but their commander was gravely injured and replaced by Sargent Mayor Luis María Adriani.

Also studying, he became involved with the masonry lodges that were popularized since 1814 and where a number of liberal military-men were discussing how to deal with the absolutists postures of the Crown, conspiring to bring it down and return the Constitution and to stop the assignation of troops to fight in the rebellious American colonies.

[53] Valero de Bernabé, who was expected to leave and fight against the independence movement at Argentina as adjunct ant of General Dionisio Vives' Buenos Aires battalion, had joined the logia named El Taller Sublime along Antonio Alcalá Galiano.

[60] O'Donojú was considered a traitor by elements at Spain, facing the criticism of the count of Toreno and representatives of Moscoso and Espiga, while being supported by the Mexican deputies Lucas Alaman, Puchet and Lallave.

[66] Itbúrbide schemed to quell the assassination attempt by making the masonic conspiracies public and immediately promoting Valero de Bernabé to the rank of brigadier general, planting suspicion that he had published the information himself.

[70] Afterwards, he would criticize Itúrbide, not only for his imperial ambitions, but also for what he felt were vestiges of "Neron and Caligula", citing a "political and religious Inquisition" that led to the use of deception against the republicans and calling him a hypocrite for allying with the Borbones.

On May 1, 1824, Ferdinand VII issued an amnesty decree pardoning those involved in the rebellion, which omitted O'Donojú and his followers, including Valero de Bernabé, who were still threatened with execution if they entered Spanish soil.

[64] Valero de Bernabé harbored intentions to pursue the independence of the Caribbean colonies, the last bastion of the Spanish in the New World, including his native Puerto Rico and expected to have Bolívar's support once the South American wars were over.

[71] After arriving to La Guaira's port, he offered his services to the Colombian army, which were accepted by the Vice President, general Santander, who informed him that Bolívar was currently focused on the situation at Peru, where a number of treasons have left him understaffed and suspicious, and that he could not make a compromise on his initiative to pursue the independence of the Antilles at the moment.

[84] Bolívar and Paz del Castillo exchanged letters on the situation, in which the general stated that Valero de Bernabé "has patience and has worked much", but that he and the troops had fallen ill upon arriving, affecting the composition and conditioning of the soldiers.

There, Valero de Bernabé and Arango met with Bolívar and insisted on their plan to lead an incursion to seek the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba, but received the same response on the timing, followed by an assertion that he did intend to do so in the future, having made a promise to one of his dead colonels.

He placed lines at Bellavista, adjacent to El Callao, preparing to take on the Spanish forces of general Rodil, who stayed within the structure for nearly a year, refusing to surrender despite the army having done so at Ayacucho.

[97] The power struggle at Colombia turned several of the officers rebellious, being led by Páez and Santander in separate schemes, convinced Bolívar to leave Peru and reunited with Valero de Bernabé at Panama.

On July 2, 1858, a federal revolution led by generals Zamora and Juan Crisóstomo Falcón took over the province and named Valero de Bernabé the revolutionary leader for the state of Aragua.

He blamed the loss of the revolution of the tactics employed by this officer, whom he accused of possessing nothing more than "a bravery that could have been imprudent" and of disregarding the preparation of the troops and of failing to keep a proper structure in the General Staff resulting in inefficiency which he tried to compensate by issuing unfair punishment to his officials.

From there, Valero de Bernabé left towards La Pastora, where Ventura Melgarejo offered him lunch to his disdain, having judged the individual a somewhat wealthy figure that exploited this to "enact a despotic authority".

On May 17, 1860, they crossed the Páramode San Ignacio and arrived at Mongua, where Valero de Bernabé visited the Church and was amused after recognizing the work of Rousseau, D'Alambert and Voltaire among the priest's collection.

[121] At Bogotá Valero de Bernabé rented a house, where he was visited by Fructuoso del Castillo (now a commander in the Colombian military), general Pablo Durán who had received his aid as governor after being jailed in 1829, and several of his colleagues.

Governor Bracho informed him that orders were issued for his exile and proposed a declaration of loyalty to Páez and a compromise not to become involved in the re-emergent revolution, but Valero de Bernabé refused to do it, considering such a gesture "servile".

Valero de Bernabé remained critical of Páez, whom he regarded as "the primordial cause of all revolutions [and] the biggest hindrance [towards] prosperity" and a "hypocritical [and ambitious] tyrant", and his politics, growing convinced that his moderation while exiled had been a farce.

After arriving to Bogotá, Valero de Bernabé stayed at the Tequendama Hotel, where he met Antonio Leocadio Gúzman and Nicholas Quevedo, later visiting general Mosquera who accepted reincorporating him into the Colombian military symbolized by the award of a uniform, silk belt sword and a coat.

[85] Valero de Bernabé's aristocratic lexicon, tendency to wear clean uniforms and his customs involving mannerisms and chivalry contrasted with the less formal behavior of both Bolívar and the other officers, something that worked in his favor at Lima making him popular among the women.

In the first, the author narrates an incident where Valero de Bernabé was surrounded in an alley while returning to Bellavista, concealing himself and used his skill to project revolutionary cries as if they were coming from the rifles of the royalist, who were shocked and dropped the weapons, believing that they had become possessed by a demon, before running away to his amusement.

[89] When discussing his opposition to the Utúrbide and to Bolívar's exile, Venezuelan Vicente Dávila considers that this is a recurring personality trait of Valero de Bernabé, assuming that it emanated from "his republican principles".

Valero de Bernabé was critical of the recurrent civil wars taking place at the emancipated Latin American nations, calling them "a cancer" that prevented "systems of democratic governments [from ever reaching] perfection", in the process causing a malady of sociocultural issues.

[6] During the 1920s, his son José Valero Lara collaborated in retrieving several documents from the National Archive at Caracas and publications provided by archivist Vicente Dávila, in particular the book Investigaciones históricas, allowing for a biographical work to be published by Mariano Abril.

[135] His direct arrival to Peru from Mexico led to some confusion among Peruvian historians about his actual origin, including Enrique C. Tovar, who published a panflet that was credited as popularizing his figure beyond the academic circles.

[3] Writing about the siege of El Callao, Peruvian Ricardo Palma wrote that he "was worth for his intelligence, courage, activity and preparation almost as much as an army", describing him as an "unleashed lion" in the battlefield.