Rafael Simón Urbina

Rafael Simón Urbina López (1897-13 November 1950) was a Venezuelan rebel who fought against the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez.

Biography

Early battles Implicated in a 1919 conspiracy to overthrow President Gómez, he spent four years participating in guerrilla warfare from the mountains of his native Falcón State. He went into exile in 1923, in Havana and Barranquilla, before returning in 1925, following an amnesty. A new attempt to overthrow Gómez in 1928 saw Urbina deported to Barranquilla, where he was imprisoned pending extradition, but escaped. The revolutionaries landed at La Vela de Coro (Falcón State), but were defeated by Gómez's forces led by General Leon Jurado and the raid ended in failure.