As the congress of the Junta gathered, a movement for independence gained popular support. Revolutionaries such as Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan expatriate, and Simón Bolívar, a Criollo aristocrat, led the independence movement. The Junta's congress declared Venezuela's independence on 5 July 1811, with seven of ten regions of the Captaincy General of Venezuela seceding and establishing the Confederación Americana de Venezuela (American Confederation of Venezuela).[1]