Objective:

This article analyzes the spaces of informal sociability and the communication of news and rumors in the context of the wars of independence of Mexico and Venezuela between 1809 and 1818, in order to compare the importance that they had in the development of these events.

Methodology:

This is a documentary and qualitative research, based on a comparative historiographic perspective. The primary sources used come from a selection of various testimonies included in judicial files called causas de infidencia.

Originality:

We compare specific facts and discursive situations that seek to shed light on the strategies used by the inhabitants of these two territories in the development of the armed conflict.

Conclusions:

Through this comparative look, it was possible to show how rumors and the news -spread both by written media and word of mouth- became useful strategies to deliver information and seduce adepts into the insurgent cause, in the context of the wars of independence in both territories. This might be perceived as an expression of an incipient "public opinion" and a political culture that was part of -or disseminated- in absolutely social environments, such as the spaces of informal sociability of the time.