His first major medal came at the 1975 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, where he beat his compatriot Domingo Colín to win the 20 kilometres walk title. The 50 kilometres race walk was dropped from the 1976 Summer Olympics programme and the International Amateur Athletics Federation held its own 1976 World Championships in Athletics in Malmö that year to make up for the omission. Vera came away with the silver medal in a time of 3:58:14 hours – the biggest accolade of his career.