Antonio Valero de Bernabé

Who was Antonio Valero de Bernabé?

Antonio Valero de Bernabé, aka The Liberator from Puerto Rico, was a Puerto Rican military leader. Trained in Spain, he fought with the Spanish Army to expel the French leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, from Spain and was promoted to colonel during these years.

He returned to the New World and joined the Mexican movement for independence next, and was appointed as a Brigadier General. Later he joined Simón Bolívar to fight for the independence from Spain of nations in South America, fighting for Colombia, Peru, Panama. He also supported the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba. Like Bolivar, he advocated forming a federation of Latin American nations.