Great Liberal Party of Venezuela

The Liberal Party (Partido Liberal, PL), better known as Great Liberal Party of Venezuela (Gran Partido Liberal de Venezuela, GPLV), was a political party in Venezuela, founded on August 20, 1840, by Antonio Leocadio Guzmán and Tomás Lander, through an editorial published by Guzmán at El Venezolano newspaper. It was the rival of the Conservative Party.

History
The party very successfully promoted liberal policies during the early days of the Republic. Several of the early presidents of the country were members of the Liberal Party, including José Tadeo Monagas (in office from 1 March 1847 – 5 February 1851 and 20 January 1855 – 15 March 1858) who abolished capital punishment for political crimes. President José Gregorio Monagas proclaimed that Venezuela was a nation free of slavery in an edict signed on 24 March 1854. In 1863, under the leadership of President Juan Crisóstomo Falcón (in office 15 June 1863 – 25 April 1868), a member of the Liberal Party, Venezuela became the first country to totally abolish the death penalty for all crimes.