Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi

Luisa Cáceres Díaz de Arismendi (September 25, 1799 – June 28, 1866) was a heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence.

Biography
Luisa Cáceres Díaz de Arismendi was born on 25 September, 1799. Her father, Domingo Cáceres, and her brother Félix were assassinated by the Royalists in the town of Ocumare in 1814, and thus she participated in the 1814 Caracas Exodus and emigrated with the rest of her family to Isla Margarita. She married the general Juan Bautista Arismendi on December 4, 1814; they had met in Caracas, during Christmas of 1813.

In 1815, she was detained by the Spanish authorities with the purpose of pressing her husband Arismendi, who was by then battling a fierce campaign against the Royal Spanish forces. However, the island's governor, Joaquín Urreiztieta, did not obtain anything from her and her husband which means that Luisa stayed imprisoned in Santa Rosa fortress, where she delivered a baby girl who died at childbirth. She was transferred to the Pampatar fortress, afterwards to La Guaira and finally she was sent to Spain (1816), where she was also victim of tortures to make her relinquish her republican ideals.

She was then taken to Cádiz; however, on the way, the ship she was on was attacked by privateer vessel, and she and other passengers were stranded on Santa Maria Island, located in the Azores. Luisa finally arrived at Cádiz on January 17, 1817. She was presented to the general captain of Andalusia. He protested against the arbitrary decision of the Spanish authorities in the Americas, and gave Luisa the category of being confined.

Nevertheless, she never abandoned her independentist ideals. After being released, she returned to Venezuela on July 26, 1818, and continued to support the ideas of freedom and sovereignty of the people of the Americas. She lived in Caracas until her death on June 28, 1866. In recognition of her fight for Venezuelan independence, her remains were entombed in the Panteón Nacional in 1876. She now appears on the 20-bolívar fuerte note.

Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi is pictured on the 20 Bolivar Fuerte (strong bolivar) bill, which was introduced on January 1, 2008.