Juan Germán Roscio

A key architect of Venezuelan independence and author of its first constitution, advocating for racial equality in colonial South America.

Juan Germán Roscio (1763–1821) was a Venezuelan lawyer and diplomat whose writings shaped Latin America’s independence movements. Of mixed Indigenous and European heritage, Roscio faced racial discrimination but rose to prominence by drafting Venezuela’s 1811 Constitution—the first in Hispanic America to abolish feudalism and assert popular sovereignty. His manifesto, ‘El Triunfo de la Libertad’, argued for the separation of church and state, a radical idea at the time.

Roscio’s efforts extended beyond politics; he established schools for freed slaves and Indigenous communities, promoting literacy as a tool for liberation. Exiled twice by Spanish authorities, he continued organizing clandestine networks. His ideals influenced Simón Bolívar and later constitutions across the continent. Despite his death before seeing a fully free Venezuela, Roscio’s legal frameworks dismantled colonial caste systems, making him an unsung hero of egalitarian revolution.