(This lack of support for the republican leadership would later instigate Bolívar to begin a "Social War" during his Admirable Campaign.)

His successful advance was helped by the social support offered it by the lower classes, which viewed the mantuano (aristocratic) republican rulers as their enemies.

This movement was reinforced by the earthquake on 26 March 1812 and the loss on 30 June of Puerto Cabello under the then-Colonel Simón Bolívar to royalist prisoners who managed to take over San Felipe Fort.

Monteverde's vanguard under Francisco Marmól entered Barquisimeto on 2 April after the city defected to the royalist side on 31 March.

In 1813, Santiago Mariño decided to invade Venezuela from the east, successfully capturing the port of Güiria, which was protected by a very small loyalist force, and later the plaza of Maturín, which Monteverde attempted, but failed to retake.

Worried about Bolívar's presence near the Llanos, Monteverde established the main branch for his forces in Valencia, a location in the plains at which the paths of Barinas, the Andes, and Maracaibo merge.

Monteverde was wounded in action at Las Trincheras on 3 October 1813, and near the end of the same year, he was deposed by his own officers in Puerto Cabello.

Field Marshal Juan Manuel Cajigal, nominally chief of José Tomás Boves, assumed the Captaincy General of Venezuela.