Black First: Immortal spear that rises in the hands of a rebellious and patriotic people (+seeding)

Negro Primero, who was distinguished by his skill in handling the spear, was one of the 150 lancers who participated in the Battle of the Cheese Fields of the Middle, in April 1819, a feat for which he received the Order of the Liberators of Venezuela.

He was born in San Juan de Payara, Apure state, in 1790. The nickname that distinguished him had been inspired by his bravery and skill in handling the spear.

He was a slave of Vicente Alfonso, a wealthy owner in the Apure, for his courage and mastery in handling horses, as well as for his vigilance, discretion and malice.

At the beginning of the War of Independence, he was part of the royalist army. In 1816, he established a place in the republican ranks in the forces commanded by General José Antonio Yáñez in Apure.

In the same year, Lieutenant Camejo and priest Trinidad Travieso interceded with General Páez on behalf of Lieutenant José María Córdoba (later division general), who had been sentenced to death by a War Council, for the crime of desertion.

He was a person who, despite not having studies due to the characteristics of the time, had an agile and awake mind.

In 1818, when General in Chief Simón Bolívar arrived in San Juan de Payara, during the Center's campaign, he saw Camejo for the first time.

The warrior's corpulence and the references given by General Páez aroused his interest in Bolívar and in the short talk they gave him he asked him some questions, which were answered with naivety and simplicity. Explaining the reason that led him to join the republican army, he initially said that it was greed; but that later he understood that the fight had other, higher purposes.

In the Battle of Carabobo (June 24, 1821) he was a member of one of the cavalry regiments of the first division of Páez; there he gave his life.

Seriously wounded with a rifle, Camejo appeared before General Páez and with a fainting voice he said to him: “My general, I have come to say goodbye because I am dead.”

On June 24, 2015, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela transferred to the National Pantheon the certified blade and the chest containing the symbolic remains of Cavalry Lieutenant Pedro Camejo, “Negro Primero”, reported the MIPPCI.

Mazo News Team