Bolívar and other republicans continued the resistance from other parts of the Spanish South America and the Caribbean, or organized
guerrilla movements in the interior of the country. In 1813 Bolívar joined the army of the
United Provinces of New Granada. After winning a series of battles, Bolívar received the approval of the New Granadan Congress to lead a liberating force into Venezuela in what became known as the
Admirable Campaign. At the same time,
Santiago Mariño invaded from the northeast in an independently organized campaign. Both forces quickly defeated the royalist troops in various battles, such as
Alto de los Godos. Bolívar entered
Caracas on 6 August 1813, proclaiming the restoration of the Venezuelan Republic and his supreme leadership of it, something which was not fully recognized by Mariño based in
Cumaná, although the two leaders did cooperate militarily. In the viceroyalties of
La Plata and
New Granada the Creoles displaced the Spanish authorities with relative ease, as Caracas had done at first. The autonomous movement swept through New Granada, but the country remained politically disunited.
Bogotá inherited the role of capital from Spain, but the royalists were entrenched in southern Colombia (
Popayán and
Pasto).
Cali was a bastion of the independence movement just north of royalist territory. Cartagena declared independence not only from Spain but also from Bogotá. Bolívar arrived in Cartagena and was well received, as he was later in Bogotá, where he joined the army of the
United Provinces of New Granada. He recruited a force and
invaded Venezuela from the southwest, by crossing the Andes (1813). His chief lieutenant was the headstrong
José Félix Ribas. In Trujillo, an Andean province, Bolívar emitted his infamous
Decree of War to the Death with which he hoped to get the
pardos and any
mantuano who was having second thoughts on his side. At the time that Bolívar was victorious in the west,
Santiago Mariño and
Manuel Piar, a
pardo from the Dutch island of
Curaçao, were successfully fighting royalists in eastern Venezuela. Quickly losing ground (much as Miranda had a year earlier) Monteverde took refuge in Puerto Cabello, and Bolívar occupied Caracas, re-establishing the Republic, with two "states", one in the west headed by Bolívar and one in the east headed by Mariño. But neither the successful invasions nor Bolívar's decree were provoking a massive enrollment of
pardos in the cause of Independence. Rather it was the other way around. In the
Llanos a populist Spanish immigrant caudillo,
José Tomás Boves, initiated a widespread
pardo movement against the restored Republic. Bolívar and Ribas held and defended the
mantuano-controlled center of Venezuela. In the east, the royalists started recovering territory. After suffering a setback, Mariño and Bolívar joined their forces, but they were defeated by Boves in 1814. Republicans were forced to evacuate Caracas and flee to the east, where, in the port of Carúpano, Piar was still holding out. Piar, however, did not accept Bolívar's supreme command, and once again Bolívar left Venezuela and went to New Granada (1815).
(See Bolívar in New Granada). The traditional image of the Venezuelan llanos swarming with caudillos like Boves exaggerates the situation. Boves was the only significant pro-Spain caudillo and he was acting in concert with
Francisco Tomás Morales, who was a regular officer of Spain. In the
Battle of Urica, Boves was killed and Morales took command and carried out mopping up operations against the remaining patriot resistance, which included the capture and execution of Ribas. As was still common in the early 19th century, Morales had his head boiled in oil (to preserve it) and sent to Caracas.
(See the Execution of Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico.) Boves died shortly thereafter in battle, but the country had been returned to royalist control, ending the second republic. Morillo arrived in Venezuela and began operations with Morales. ==Spanish reconquest of New Granada (1815–1816)==