[2] He was born on September 19—circa 1776 or 1778—in Caracas to Blas Francisco Paz del Castillo y Juana Isabel Díaz Padrón y Hernández Caraballo de Acosta,[3] who were important people in Venezuela, then part of New Granada.

[1] In January 1818 he joined the Army of the Andes, and as Jefe de Estado Mayor he fought in the Battle of Maipú and later substituted Brigadier Antonio Valcárcel as head of a division until May 1819.

[1] In July 1821, he was in Popayán, being named as Jefe de Estado Mayor by Venezuelan General Pedro León Torres [es] shortly after.

On December he was authorised by Bolívar to, alongside Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Murgueitio, carry out a prisoner exchange after a treaty was signed in Babahoyo.

[1] From January 1823 to 1824 he was put in charge of the Intendancy of Guayaquil, where he organised troops that were later of vital importance to the battles of Junín and Ayacucho, being awarded the rank of Divisional general by the Peruvian government.