Venezuela proclaimed independence by taking advantage of the fact that Spain was at war with France. They received that the new country would be based on republican and federal values, definitively abolishing the Monarchy, promoting freedom of expression and banning censorship. They clearly opposed the political, cultural and social practices carried out by the Spaniards of the previous 300 years. It was the first American land to become independent of Spain. The Spaniards declared war on them and when in 1823 they won the war of independence, liberation became effective.