1872: Matias Salazar

Venezuelan caudillo Matias Salazar was shot on this date in 1872.

A commander who had adhered himself to Antonio Guzman Blanco‘s 1870 “April Revolution”, Salazar gradually became alienated from his chief and in 1871 orchestrated an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Guzman.

The resulting exile Salazar used as an opportunity to mount an invasion — but he was intercepted trying to march into Venezuela through Colombia’s bordering Arauca region and given over to a war council for his fate.

There’s a Spanish-language public domain biography of Salazar here.

On this day..