Status and Loyalty of Regular Army Officers in Late Colonial Venezuela

SPANISH regular army officers in Venezuela were among the leading participants in the autonomist, separatist, and loyalist movements which emerged in the aftermath of Napoleon's invasion of Spain. Beginning with the creation of the Junta Conservadora de los Derechos de Fernando VII in April i8io, and later throughout the area that became modern Venezuela, regular army officers-almost to a man-followed the lead of local civilian leadership in determining whether to remain loyal to Spain. This outcome, at first glance surprising, is more readily understandable in light of an immediately preceding period of declining reputational status and increasing economic marginality among the officers, which led to widespread dissatisfaction. From the time of the outbreak of wars in Europe in the 1790S, the crown was unable to redress officer grievances. This caused officers to look to local elites in whose midst they were stationed for rewards. Since the loyalties of these regional elites after i8io differed from place to place, the main variable concerning officer loyalty was their duty station. During the past decade, a number of studies have been published concerning the military in late colonial Spanish America.' Nearly all of

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