The Spanish population reacted, leading to the creation of the Supreme Central Junta, which declared itself the substitute for Ferdinand VII until his return.

On April 17, 1810, news officially reached the city that Seville had been conquered by the French and that the Supreme Central Junta had dissolved itself[6] and been replaced by a Council of Regency.

On the evening of the next day, the cabildo (composed mostly of mantuanos, that is, members of the local Criollo elite) called an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation in the metropolis with the captain general of Venezuela, Vicente Emparan.

There was a moment of indecision, which was broken when Canon Jose Cortes de Madariaga, who was behind Emparan, made a vigorous negative sign to the crowd, which was followed by the regidors Nicolas Anzola and Dionisio Palacios, also behind the captain general, provoking a resounding "no" from the people.

[9] The minutes were signed by all those attending the meeting, including the deposed, who were soon thereafter driven to La Guaira and imprisoned in the fortresses or confined aboard anchored ships until they were expelled.

[8][10][11] Although the official objective of the Supreme Junta of Caracas was to defend the territory from a possible French invasion,[9] the most prominent members had the intention of making Venezuela completely independent.

[7] In addition, the junta took other revolutionary measures, such as representation to African descendants, abolition of the slave trade (but not slavery), and freedom of the press and commerce.

"[14] In contrast, historians such as David Bushnell and Germán Carrera Damas consider it only as the culmination in Venezuela of a larger crisis that involved the entire Spanish Empire.