Venezuelan Declaration of Independence

The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence (Spanish: Acta de la Declaración de Independencia de Venezuela) is a document drafted and adopted by Venezuelan on July 5, 1811, through which Venezuelans made the decision to separate from the Spanish Crown in order to establish a new nation based on the premises of equality of individuals, abolition of censorship and dedication to freedom of expression.

Seven of the ten provinces belonging to the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence and explained their reasons for this action, among them, that it was baneful that a small European nation ruled the great expanses of the New World, that Spanish America recovered its right to self-government after the abdications of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII at Bayonne, and that the political instability in Spain dictated that Venezuelans rule themselves, despite the brotherhood they shared with Spaniards.

The declaration proclaimed a new nation named the American Confederacy of Venezuela and was mainly written by Cristóbal Mendoza and Juan Germán Roscio.

On July 3, 1811, delegates from the first National Constituent Congress convened at the Santa Rosa de Lima Chapel in Caracas regarding the matter of independence.

Then, with the permission of the secretary general, Francisco Isnardi, Mendoza and Roscio presented the document to Congress for discussion.