Word of Spain's troubles in 1808 in the Napoleonic Wars soon reached Caracas, but only on 19 April 1810 did its "cabildo" (city council) decide to follow the example set by the Spanish provinces two years earlier. Other provincial capitals — Barcelona, Cumaná, Mérida, and Trujillo among them – followed suit. Although the new Junta of Caracas had self-appointed élite members who claimed to represent the "pardos" (free blacks and even slaves), the new government eventually faced the challenge of maintaining the alliance with the "pardos". Given recent history these groups still had grievances against the "mantuanos". A segment of the "mantuanos" (among them 27-year-old Simón Bolívar, the future Liberator) saw the setting up of the Junta as a step towards outright independence. On 5 July 1811, seven of the ten provinces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence in the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence.