José Leonardo Chirino (April 25, 1754 – December 10, 1796) was a free

zambo Zambo ( or ) or Sambu is a racial term historically used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Indigenous and African ancestry. Occasionally in the 21st century, the term is used in the Americas to refer to persons who are of mixe ...

who helped lead a 1795 uprising in

Santa Ana de Coro Coro, historically known as Neu-Augsburg, is the capital of Falcón State and the second oldest city of Venezuela (after Cumaná). It was founded on July 26, 1527, by Juan de Ampíes as Santa Ana de Coro. It is established at the south of the Par ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. José Leonardo Chirino Airport is named after him.

1795 rebellion

1795 was perhaps the most revolutionary year in Caribbean history, with rebellions in Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Curaçao, Dominica, Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, and the unfolding

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 22 ...

. The Coro rebellion grew out of and contributed to this revolutionary conjuncture, especially under the leadership of Chirino, who had recently traveled to Saint-Domingue and heard news of the rebellion there as well as the more-distant

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, and also the leadership of José Caridad González, a

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

man who had studied the philosophy, strategy, and tactics of the unfolding French Revolution. The Coro rebellion had four primary objectives: * First, the application of the new legal system of the French Revolution, i.e. the abolition of monarchy and colonialism and the constitution of an independent, democratic republic. * Second, the freedom of all enslaved Africans and the abolition of slavery. * Third, the abolition of tribute payments that had been imposed upon the colony's indigenous population under Spanish rule. * Fourth, the abolition of white supremacy, or privilege and prejudice on the basis of skin color.

Betrayal and execution

After the rebellion was suppressed, Chirino was betrayed by an associate, captured and condemned to death. His children were sold into slavery.Jesús Borges,
José Leonardo Chirino, Macanillas, Aristóbulo, Noel Sirit e ilustres visitantes
' He was executed on December 10, 1796.

References

1754 births 1796 deaths Burials at the National Pantheon of Venezuela People executed by hanging, drawing and quartering Independence of Venezuela People from Falcón Executed Venezuelan people 1790s in Venezuela {{poli-bio-stub