Endowed with a masterful will and a pronounced taste for minute supervision, he had exactly the ability necessary to rule Venezuela wisely and well.
Amid considerable opposition he began, in 1870, the first of his three periods of administration--the Septennium, as it was termed.

The "sovereign" states he governed through "sovereign" officials of his own selection.

He stopped the plundering of farms and the dragging of laborers off to military service.

He established in Venezuela an excellent monetary system.

Great sums were expended in the erection of public and private buildings and in the embellishment of Caracas.
European capital and immigration were encouraged to venture into a country hitherto so torn by chronic disorder as to deprive both labor and property of all guarantees.