Early competition

He began his career on the track and was fourth over 5000 metres in 14:24.16 at the 1984 Pan American Junior Championships. He also took part in the 2000 m steeplechase, where he finished in sixth.^[2] Taking part in the regional competition at the 1986 South American Games, he beat the field (which included continental champion Emilio Ulloa) to win in 28:53.90.^[3] His first major senior medal came when he took the 10,000 metres bronze medal at the 1986 Ibero-American Championships.^[4] He also won the Saint Silvester Road Race that year – a competition he won four times consecutively up to 1989. Other road victories over this period included the Cherry Creek Sneak 5 Mile in 1986,^[5] the Cascade Run Off in 1987,^[6] and the Bolder Boulder race in 1989.^[7]

At the 1987 South American Championships in Athletics he won the 5000 m gold medal and a silver medal in the 10,000 m. Out on the road that year, he took victory at the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race. A second silver of the season at the 1987 Pan American Games (behind Bruce Bickford) preceded his global debut at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, where he finished in tenth and was the only South American athlete in the race. His time of 28:20.24 was also a record for a South American under-23 athlete.

At the 1988 Bolder Boulder he won the 10k with a time of 29:07. Rosa Mota won the women's 10k that year.

Olympic debut

Vera made his Olympic debut at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and reached the final of the 10,000 m, finishing in 15th place.^[8] He topped the podium in the men's 10,000 m at the 1989 South American Championships in Athletics, winning his first continental title. He doubled up at the 1989 Bolivarian Games and won the 10,000 m as well as taking silver in the 5000 m behind Peru's José Castillo.^[9] Vera ran at the Boston Marathon in April 1990 and finished in third place with a personal best time of 2:10:46.^[10] A month later he competed in the inaugural Trib 10K race in San Diego and, although still tired from his efforts in Boston, he won the race in an Ecuadorian record time of 28:08 minutes.^[11][12] In 1991, he was the winner of the Philadelphia Distance Run.^[13]

His third appearance on the global stage came at the 1992 Summer Olympics and he moved off the track and up to the marathon distance. He finished in 43rd place, although this was the second best performance by a South American after Brazil's Osmiro Silva.^[14] He also won a bronze over 10,000 m at the 1992 Ibero-American Championships, repeating his performance of four years earlier.^[4] The following year Vera retained his 10,000 m title at the 1993 Bolivarian Games.^[9] In 1994, he won the Parelloop 10 km race in the Netherlands and went on to finish tenth at the 1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Oslo later that year – setting a national record mark of 1:01:36 for the half marathon distance.^[15] On the circuit that year he also won at the Marvejols-Mende in France.^[16]

Los Angeles winner

He began 1995 with a win at the San Blas Half Marathon in Puerto Rico,^[17] and continued his winning ways at the Los Angeles Marathon where he ran a very tactical race, which was held in poor weather conditions. Vera's outright refusal to take his turn at the front of the leading pack (and thus bear his share of the wind and rain) angered the reigning marathon world champion Mark Plaatjes. After 20 miles, Vera tucked in behind the only remaining leader Bob Kempainen and defied Kempainen's attempts to shake him off – following his zig-zag movements across the road. Finally taking the lead in the final stages, Vera enjoyed a tailwind and won the race in 2:11:39 (twenty seconds ahead of the other runners). Kempainen later commented: "I kept trying to get him out front to take the lead, but I couldn't very well turn around and ask him to do it...I guess he ran it smart".^[18]

He also went on to win at the Chuncheon Marathon that year.^[19] He enjoyed success over the 20 km distance, winning at the Ogden Newspapers 20K in 1995 and the following year.^[20] Vera's final Olympic appearance was at the 1996 Atlanta Games and he was ranked 22nd in the men's Olympic marathon race.^[8] He won the Beppu-Ōita Marathon in 1997 with a time of 2:12:00.^[21]