José Antonio Paéz

Paéz, José Antonio (1790–1873), Venezuelan soldier and president. He assisted Bolívar in the Spanish defeats at Carabobo (1821) and Puerto Cabello (1823). He led the successful Venezuelan independence movement (1829) and ruled Venezuela (as president or the power behind other presidents) from 1831 to 1846, and, after a period of exile, from 1861 to 1863, before being exiled again.