Joaquín Crespo: The Venezuelan soldier who faced Great Britain for the Essequibo (+birth)
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Published at: 22/08/2025 08:27 AM
On August 22, 1841, in the old town of San Francisco de Cara, now disappeared, Joaquín Crespo, a Venezuelan soldier and politician, was born, who held the Presidency of the Republic twice: from 1884 to 1886 and from 1892 to 1898.
Crespo began his military career as a private soldier at a very young age. At 17 years of age, he joined the federal army where he served under generals Ezequiel Zamora, Juan Crisóstomo Falcón and Antonio Guzmán Blanco, during the Federal War.
Crespo assumed his first presidential term in 1884, arriving as a successor to his political mentor and ally Guzmán Blanco. During his term of office, he liberalized the press and fought against caciquism. At the end of that period, he traveled around America and Europe.
He emerged as the most powerful man in the country and returned to the presidency from 1892 to 1898, after leading the so-called Legalist Revolution. In the second presidential term, he faced Great Britain over Essequibo territory.
Mazo News Team