La Victoria, Aragua

La Victoria is a city in the state of Aragua in northern Venezuela, officially named Nuestra Senora de La Victoria and founded in 1620. It is best known as the site of the Battle of La Victoria in February 1814, when Jose Felix Ribas led a young and inexperienced patriot army that halted the royalist forces of Jose Tomas Boves. Venezuela commemorates that victory every 12 February as Youth Day, with a ceremony in the city that the President of the Republic usually leads. In 1902 the city was besieged during the Liberating Revolution led by General Manuel Antonio Matos against the government of President Cipriano Castro, who personally helped defend it. That fighting began on 11 October and ended on 2 November and is described as the costliest war in Venezuelan history by lives lost, counting the wars of independence. Notable people from the city include the comedian and opera singer Cayito Aponte and the politician Edmundo Gonzalez.