An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Teresa Heredia

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: Unknown

Events:

Connections:

Biography:
Born in Villa de Ospino, Venezuela, in 1787, into an upper-class family, she was related by marriage to royalist Colonel Fermín de Heredia who was killed in the battle of Araure, 1813. She was nonetheless sympathetic to the independence cause as were her parents. Her parents died in the independence struggle (unspecified) some time before 1804; Herrera went to live with her aunt in Guaira. She married an islander, José Antonio Aguero, when she was 17. He died 2 years later (again unspecified) and she dedicated herself to the independence cause. She was imprisoned after she refused to give the whereabouts of some patriots. After six months, she was transferred to Caracas on 8 May 1818, charged with disloyalty; accused of having been overheard discussing Bolívar's arrival on Margarita Island, and of having visited Yáñez. Others said they'd seen her dressed as a man with the royalists and that one of them had had some money taken, which was given to the patriots. She denied the charges, but was nonetheless found guilty. She was sent into exile to North America. (N.A., Heroínas, 28-29.)

She took part in the independence struggles. (Knaster, 479.)

References:

Knaster, Meri (1977) Women in Spanish America: An Annotated Bibliography from Pre-Conquest to Contemporary Times
N.A. (1964) Heroínas venezolanas