#VenezuelaChallenge 

The battle of La Victoria (state of Aragua) was a warlike conflict that occurred during the War of Independence that pitted José Félix Ribas and Vicente Campo Elías, on the Republican side, against José Tomás Boves, commanded by the royalists. After hours of intense conflict, the battle turned in favor of the Republicans, obtaining Ribas one of the most famous triumphs of the Independence period for the courage with which he led the troops, which consisted mainly of inexperienced young people, the Most seminarians and students from the University of Caracas.

Background and confrontation
The city of La Victoria was considered strategic by Boves to be able from there to undertake offensive maneuvers on the city of Caracas. In this way, with approximately 2,500 soldiers at his disposal, he planned to take it, which would cause communications between Valencia and Caracas to be interrupted. Faced with this situation, Ribas, who was serving as the military Governor of Caracas at the time, decided to organize an army to face the realistic threat; However, given the shortage of troops experienced, he had to resort to young people without military training from the University of Caracas and seminarians from the Santa Rosa de Lima Seminary. Having achieved this, he set out towards La Victoria.

The battle began on February 12, 1814 at approximately 7 in the morning and lasted much of the day without a definitive result. Republican forces built a formidable resistance to the Royalist offensive, sacrificing many young soldiers in the process. It was during this contest that Ribas encouraged his troops with his famous proclamation, “on this day that will be memorable, we cannot even choose between winning or dying: it is necessary to win! Long live the Republic! In the afternoon, and when the enemy offensive intensified, Ribas's troops were reinforced by a contingent of 220 cavalry soldiers led by Vicente Campo Elías from San Mateo. This action was decisive for the combined patriotic forces to reject the realistic attempt and triumph in battle. When Bolívar had news of the event, he granted Ribas the title of "Victor of the Tyrants." In this way the life of the Second Republic was preserved.

In past years, drills have been carried out to keep such a heroic battle alive.