In a solemn session of the National Assembly, the bicentennial of the forcing of the Barra de Maracaibo was commemorated, a confrontation between the patriots to defeat the royalist fleet in combat, an event that occurred on May 8, 1823, prior to the Naval Battle of Lake , on July 24 of that same year.
The activity was carried out in the San Carlos Peninsula, Insular Padilla municipality, with the assistance of Admiral José Brito Hernández, Cmdte. General of the Bolivarian Navy; Alberto Sobalvarro, mayor of the Insular Padilla municipality; MG Federico Guzmán Bornia, president of Corpozulia; GD Henry Rodríguez, Cmdte. of the ZODI 11; VA Ramón García, 2nd Cmdr and chief of the General Staff; VA José Agüero, Cmdte. Coast Guard and CA Ovasky Moreno, Cmdte. Maracaibo Main Coast Guard Station “TN Pedro Lucas Urribarrí Prieto.
The deputies of the National Assembly were also present: Juan Romero, president of the Special Commission in Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the Naval Battle of the Lake; Lisandro Cabello, Gloria Castillo and Maritza Matos, accompanied by the indigenous vice minister María Vanesa Prieto, leaders of the PSUV, Bolivarian mayors and popular power.
Alberto Sobalvarro, mayor of the Insular Padilla municipality, highlighted the impetus and courage of the Creole patriots, led by Colombian Admiral José Padilla, who managed to “force the bar”, that is, to venture through a narrow channel to position themselves in Lake Maracaibo; once there they would face the squads of the Spanish commander Ángel Laborde y Navarro, who after an intense combat had to capitulate and retreat.
Honors and awards to commemorate the Naval Battle of the Lake
As part of the protocol, several distinctions were awarded: Bicentennial Naval Medal of the Naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo, decorations such as Illustrious Visitor, Illustrious Son and Cacique Nigale, to those who have contributed to exalt patriotic values due to their merits.
The chests were delivered, with part of the sacred soil that honors the martyrs of independence Ana María Campos, Domitila Flores and TN Pedro Lucas Urribarrí Prieto, whose exaltation to the National Pantheon will take place on May 18.
A presentation of various artistic groups was included, as well as painting samples, who with their participation enhance national talent in the cultural field.
Decisive battles to achieve independence
Admiral José Brito Hernández, Cmdte. General of the Bolivarian Navy, exalted the pride of the FANB when commemorating this transcendental historical event, framed in the struggles waged by daring sailors to consolidate the emancipation of the homeland.
He explained that “the forcing of Barra de Maracaibo was a risky strategy, where brave men decided to cross this narrow channel (bar) to consolidate their position on Lake Maracaibo and face the royalist squadron in a decisive battle that allowed us to definitively seal our independence”.
It emphasizes that “this feat and historical feat that today brings together all the original communities and all the heirs of the emancipation that they bequeathed to us.”
In relation to this event, the historian Dr. Ligia Berbesí, refers in an article that “on January 15, 1823, the course to follow was defined when General Mariano Montilla, head of the department of Magdalena, ordered the blockade of the coasts of the Gulf of Venezuela. On April 5, General Padilla from Coro advanced towards Maracaibo and on May 7 he anchored several boats around the bar, and on May 8 he decided to force it and together with the Zulians Felipe Baptista, Tomas Vega, Nicolás Balbuena and Pedro Lucas Urribarrí managed to enter the Lake, where they fight against the royalist fleet”.
Maracaibo starred in one of the few naval combats
Berbesí expands relevant details, specifying that “during the military actions of our emancipation, few were of a naval nature and deserve to be remembered: the Expedición Libertadora de Oriente (1813), the maritime expeditions from Haiti (1816) -commanded by the Liberator- the battle of the Gulf of Santa Fe, the Guiana Campaign and the Naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo, the most glorious and greatest naval action of our epic, where excellent combatants were immortalized: Renato Beluche, Nicolás Joly, Gualterio D’Chitty, Cenobio and Pedro Lucas Urribarrí, Felipe Baptista, Anselmo Belloso, among others”.
Lastly, it is categorical when pointing out that “without a doubt the Naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo, which confirmed the great victory of Carabobo, not only reaffirms the definitive independence of Venezuela; also, ensures that of the rest of Our America; the great homeland The triumphs of Junín and Ayacucho demonstrate it. This victory was the affirmation of the United America. De Nuestra América, as José Martí pointed out”.
