Antonio Vicente Miguel Valero de Bernabé Pacheco (October 26, 1790 – June 7, 1863), a.k.a. 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, from Spain and was promoted to colonel during these years. A variant of his name, Manuel Antonio Valero, has been adopted by some historians, but it is not present in official documentation nor was it used by him.
Valero de Bernabé had recently graduated from the military academy when Napoleon convinced King Charles IV of Spain to permit the French leader to pass through Spain with his army to attack Portugal. When Napoleon later refused to leave Spanish soil, the government declared war. Valero de Bernabé joined the Spanish Army and fought as an official of the Murcia Division of Spain, and helped defeat Napoleon's army at the Siege of Saragossa (1808) in the Peninsular War, also known as the Spanish War of Independence.
During this conflict, he was involved in the defense of the Arrabal, holding his post despite the French advance and being taken prisoner as a result. After this action, Valero de Bernabé was awarded many decorations and promoted to the rank of colonel at the age of 19.
When Ferdinand VII assumed the throne of Spain in 1813, Valero de Bernabé became critical of the new king's policies towards the Spanish colonies in Latin America. He developed a keen hatred of the monarchy, resigned his commission in the army, and in 1821 emigrated to Mexico with his family. There he joined the Army of the Three Guarantees headed by Agustín de Iturbide, and was appointed as Chief of Staff. He successfully fought for Mexico's independence from Spain, achieved in 1821, after which the people proclaimed Iturbide the Emperor of Mexico, gaining the rank of brigadier general. Since Valero de Bernabé had developed anti-monarchist feelings following his experiences in Spain, he led an unsuccessful revolt against Iturbide. He fled the country, but was captured by a Spanish pirate and handed over to the authorities in Cuba, where he was imprisoned. Valero de Bernabé escaped from jail with the help of a group of supporters of secessionists from South America.
He joined Simón Bolívar to fight for the independence of the Central and South American colonies from Spain. He also supported the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba. Like Bolivar, he advocated forming a federation of Latin American nations. After serving as the chief of operations against the faction led by Tadeo Piñago, who was defeated and killed in action, Valero de Bernabé was promoted to brigadier general. He was named general in chief of the armies in the provinces of Aragua, Caracas and Guarico, which involved actions at Boca Chica, Jengibre and San Francisco de Tiznado. Valero de Bernabé led his division in the unsuccessful revolution organized by Falcón. From there he migrated to Colombia and reached Bogotá. President Mosquera named him commander in chief of the 1st Division and Military Chief of the State of Boyacá. Valero de Bernabé was both a founding father of Venezuela and of the Federal Party of Venezuela. Falsely accused of plotting against Bolívar, he was sent into exile with his family. When Bolívar died in 1830, Valero de Bernabé was allowed to serve as an honour guard at his funeral. He remained politically active until his own death.
In a career that spanned six decades, taking place in Europe and throughout the Americas, Valero also served in several military and administrative posts. He was the commander in chief of the 2nd Division of the Colombian Army that aided Bolívar at Peru. Bolívar named him Military Chief of the Department of the Panama isthmus. Valero was also Chief of Staff of the Colombian Army, Military Commander of Valles de Aragua, Military Governor of Puerto Cabello, Minister of War and Navy of Venezuela (under José Tadeo Monagas and José Antonio Páez), Chief of Staff of Mexico, Chief of Operations in the successful campaign against Tamanaco and Güires, Commander of Arms of the province of Caracas. In addition, Valero received several commendations including the cross of the Independence of Mexico, the Medalla del Libertador and the Medal del Callao and the Bust of the Liberator of Venezuela.
Valero de Bernabé was a direct descendant of the Aragonese aristocracy and a noble with the recognition of Infanzonería e Hidalguía as a birthright. His titles were traced to May 10, 1372, when Peter IV of Aragon granted the recognitions to Miguel de Bernabé, his siblings and descendants, for his actions during the War of the Two Peters, where he died incinerated at the castle of Báguena after refusing to surrender the fortification to the Castilian forces. Numerous of his descendants would gather other noble titles, marrying into other aristocratic lineages, becoming counts or marquis. Military tradition was also present and Aurelio Valero de Bernabé would become a Caballero de Malta. Among them was also inquisitor Pedro de Arbués y Valero, who was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1867.
However, with time the ambiguous language of the recognition led to numerous legal proceedings, peaking with several taking place before the General Courts in 1678. In response, king Phillip and the Fourth Arm of the General Courts elaborated a Ley y Fuero del Reino establishing that these noble titles were recognized to all descendants of Miguel de Bernabé and his sisters, regardless of the origin of their lineage, and that the descendants of the male members of the family would inherit them. Among the beneficiaries of this infanzería was Juan Valero de Bernabé, father of Antonio Valero de Bernabé Ibañez, the great-grandfather of Valero de Bernabé Pacheco.
Childhood and military instruction
Valero was born on October 26, 1790, at the town of Santiago de Fajardo to Cayetano Valero and Rosa Pacheco de Onormandia. His father was the Subteniente de Ganaderos and Capitain of the Regimiento Fijo of Puerto Rico, following in the military tradition of a family that included his first cousin, the marquis of Cañada and general of the national armies, Joaquín Ibáñez de Bernabé. He arrived to Puerto Rico, where he met and married Pacheco, a local noblewoman. On November 14, 1790, Valero was baptized in a ceremony held at the Fajardo parish and headed by presbyter José María Tufiño. His godparents were Miguel Cánovanas and Joaquina Pacheco, with Juan Paulino, José Aguayo and Francisco Bricnony being among the witnesses.
He was born during an age where the absolutist policies of the Spanish Crown had disregarded its colonies, Puerto Rico itself being left without proper education systems, heavily taxed with tributes and lacking formal mercantile relations that allowed them to prosper economically. The power of the local nobility rested in the municipal councils and the cabildos, which were the positions mostly dominated by Puerto Ricans and where the educated gathered. The situation forced the aristocracy to send their children to study abroad, with military education being imparted at the Military Academies of Spain. These would lead to a military tradition from which figures emerged to prominence in several wars and even the Inquisition, reaching a number of recognitions and titles including caballeros del hábito of various locations.
Fajardo itself was still a small town, whose economy mostly revolved around the cattle industry. It had been militarized to combat recurrent attacks by pirates and buccaneers, mainly due to its proximity to Vieques and other adjacent islands, and to prevent the contraband that frequently entered through the coast as a response to the mercantile restrictions imposed by Spain (which led to uncontrolled inflation). In 18th Century Puerto Rico, the local military was entirely composed by nobles, as it was a requisite to hold a position. Valero de Bernabé spent his childhood and was raised in Puerto Rico until the age of 13, when his family sent him to Spain. In his Memorias, Valero de Bernabé was critical of the state of local education under the Spanish government, citing that he had been forced by it to leave towards Europe. His upbringing left a distinct affection for Puerto Rico, towards which he felt a strong connection despite years of exile.