By virtue of this order, the Capuchin friar Pedro de Berja, founded on June 7, 1678 the city of "San Carlos de Austria", on the banks of the Tirgua River, near the Indian village of San Francisco, "with a lot of work to be done because this region was very depopulated, since from Valencia to Barquisimeto it was calculated 60 leagues and 70 from Valencia to Guanare, and the whole territory was deserted".