Páez, José Antonio (1790–1873)

Venezuelan soldier and political leader, the first president of Venezuela 1830, president and dictator 1831–46 and 1861–63.

An illiterate ranch hand, Páez came to lead the llaneros (cowboys) of the Orinoco plains, converting them to the nationalist cause. While Simón Bolívar pursued the cause of Gran Colombia (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela), Páez led the call for a separate Venezuela, which was achieved 1830. He ruled the new state, sometimes through nominees, from then until 1848, and became one of the country's largest landowners.

Páez faced a series of revolts, the most serious being in 1835–36, and opposition increased during an economic crisis that began in the 1840s. In 1848 he led an uprising against the government he himself had chosen but was defeated and expelled 1850. He returned after the 1858 revolution, but continuing instability forced him to leave again the next year.