Miguel Abadía Méndez
Encyclopedia
Miguel Abadía Méndez was the 17th President
of Colombia
(1926-1930). A Conservative party
politician, Abadía was the last president of the period known as the Conservative Hegemony, running unopposed and forming a one party Cabinet.
.
In 1926, Abadía runs for president as the sole candidate of the Colombian Conservative Party
. The Colombian Liberal Party
did not participate in this election. Thus, Abadía was elected president for the presidential term of 1926-1930. At the end of his term, a 20-year period of rule by the conservatives came to an end.
. He was forced to apply the Law of 1922 by which the government was authorized to borrow money from foreign countries. His administration borrowed an enormous sum (70 million pesos) from the United States of America, mainly to promote publics works of infrastructure which greatly alleviated the unemployment situation. These borrowed funds were invested mainly in the construction of roadways, railways, waterways and sea ports.
The economy was in a severe depression and the unemployment was very high. This caused a widespread social and political unrest across the nation. The first signs of international communism appeared in the form of labor unions in 1928. The two major strikes, of tragic consequences, were the one in the banana growing region of the State of Magdalena
against the United Fruit Company, and the one in the State of Santander
against the Tropical Oil Company. By 1929 the civil unrest had reached Bogotá
, where the students of local Universities orchestrated street disturbances. The upraise and unrest was so violent, that Abadía had to impose Martial Law to control the situation of public order and try to restore peace and order in the country.
with José Bárcenas Meneses, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua
, in which Nicaragua recognized the sovereignty
of Colombia over the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina and by which Colombia ceded claims over the Mosquito Coast
, both territories that belonged to Colombia uti possidetis juris
following Independence from Spain
. On 19 March 1928, Congress ratified the Salomón–Lozano Treaty signed on 24 March 1924 by Fabio Lozano Torrijos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia to Peru
, and Alberto Salomón Osorio, the Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru
, the treaty demarcated once and for all the border between Colombia and Peru, and put a temporary end to military activities between the two nations along the border. The last important border treaty during the Abadía Administration was signed on 15 November 1928 between Laureano García Ortiz, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia to Brazil, and Otávio Mangabeira, Minister of External Relations of Brazil
, the Mangabeira-García Ortiz Treaty was a response to Ecuadorian and Peruvian aspirations of gaining eastern access to Brazil by way of the Apaporis river, a tributary to the Caquetá/Japurá River, this treaty settled once and for all the Brazil–Colombia border.
During his Administration, Abadía had to contend with the growing discontent of Colombian fruit workers in the Caribbean Region
and the economical and political interests of the United States
in the region. On November 1928, workers of the United Fruit Company
in the Department of Magdalena mounted a strike protesting unfair labour practices and conditions imposed by the company to the workers and the community at large, the United States responded by threatening to mount a military invasion of some sort to bring to an end the strike. The Government responded by sending in the Military
to quell the protests and arrest the labour workers accused of instigating the strike, what happened next is known as the banana massacre where an undetermined number of people were killed by the Colombian Army; this event was recounted by Gabriel García Márquez
in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude
. This event marked the declined of the United Fruit Company influence in the region and created a large discontent among the population of the Caribbean Region towards the United States, the Liberal politician
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
would mount a large campaign to investigate and bring into account the actions taken by the Abadía Administration in the handling of this event, his popularity rose in opposition to that of Abadía and the Conservative party, something that would bring about their decline soon after.
, to Miguel Abadía C. and Arcelia Méndez.He died in La Union
, Cundinamarca
, on May 9, 1947.
President of Colombia
The President of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was part of "la Gran Colombia"...
of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
(1926-1930). A Conservative party
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
politician, Abadía was the last president of the period known as the Conservative Hegemony, running unopposed and forming a one party Cabinet.
Political career
Abadía, as a young lawyer, was a professor and MP. He was appointed as Minister of Education and Minister of Government by president Pedro Nel OspinaPedro Nel Ospina
Pedro Nel Ospina Vázquez was a Colombian general and political figure. He served as president of Colombia between 1922 and 1926.- Biography:...
.
In 1926, Abadía runs for president as the sole candidate of the Colombian Conservative Party
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
. The Colombian Liberal Party
Colombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...
did not participate in this election. Thus, Abadía was elected president for the presidential term of 1926-1930. At the end of his term, a 20-year period of rule by the conservatives came to an end.
Presidency: 1926-1930
Abadía, as president, had to face the difficult economic situation and world resection caused by the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. He was forced to apply the Law of 1922 by which the government was authorized to borrow money from foreign countries. His administration borrowed an enormous sum (70 million pesos) from the United States of America, mainly to promote publics works of infrastructure which greatly alleviated the unemployment situation. These borrowed funds were invested mainly in the construction of roadways, railways, waterways and sea ports.
The economy was in a severe depression and the unemployment was very high. This caused a widespread social and political unrest across the nation. The first signs of international communism appeared in the form of labor unions in 1928. The two major strikes, of tragic consequences, were the one in the banana growing region of the State of Magdalena
Magdalena
Magdalena is the original version of the name Magdalene , and is used in Czech, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovak, Georgian, Slovene among other languages.Magdalena may also refer to:...
against the United Fruit Company, and the one in the State of Santander
Santander Department
Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
against the Tropical Oil Company. By 1929 the civil unrest had reached Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, where the students of local Universities orchestrated street disturbances. The upraise and unrest was so violent, that Abadía had to impose Martial Law to control the situation of public order and try to restore peace and order in the country.
Foreign policy
During his administration, the Government was concerned with resolving longstanding territorial disputes with its Latin American neighbors. On 24 March 1928, the Abadía Administration under Manuel Esguerra, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia to Managua, negotiated and signed the Esguerra-Bárcenas TreatyEsguerra-Bárcenas Treaty
The Esguerra-Bárcenas Treaty was signed between Colombia and Nicaragua on 24 March 1928. Under the terms of the treaty, Nicaragua recognized Colombia's sovereignty over the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina....
with José Bárcenas Meneses, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, in which Nicaragua recognized the sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
of Colombia over the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina and by which Colombia ceded claims over the Mosquito Coast
Mosquito Coast
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests...
, both territories that belonged to Colombia uti possidetis juris
Uti Possidetis Juris
Uti possidetis juris is a principle of international law that states that newly formed sovereign states should have the same borders that their preceding dependent area had before their independence.-History:...
following Independence from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. On 19 March 1928, Congress ratified the Salomón–Lozano Treaty signed on 24 March 1924 by Fabio Lozano Torrijos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and Alberto Salomón Osorio, the Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru
Ministry of Foreign Relations (Peru)
The Ministry of Foreign Relations of Peru is the statal entity of the Executive in charge of prepare and execute the foreign politics of the Peruvian State. It works in coordination with Peruvian ambassadors and consuls with accrediting in different countries and with international organizations...
, the treaty demarcated once and for all the border between Colombia and Peru, and put a temporary end to military activities between the two nations along the border. The last important border treaty during the Abadía Administration was signed on 15 November 1928 between Laureano García Ortiz, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Colombia to Brazil, and Otávio Mangabeira, Minister of External Relations of Brazil
Ministry of External Relations (Brazil)
The Ministry of External Relations conducts Brazil's foreign relations with other countries. It is commonly referred to in Brazilian media and diplomatic jargon as the Itamaraty, after the palace which hosts the ministry...
, the Mangabeira-García Ortiz Treaty was a response to Ecuadorian and Peruvian aspirations of gaining eastern access to Brazil by way of the Apaporis river, a tributary to the Caquetá/Japurá River, this treaty settled once and for all the Brazil–Colombia border.
During his Administration, Abadía had to contend with the growing discontent of Colombian fruit workers in the Caribbean Region
Caribbean Region
The Caribbean Region or Caribbean Coast Region is a natural region of Colombia mainly composed of eight Departments located contiguous to the Caribbean. The area covers a total land area of including the San Andres Island Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in the Caribbean...
and the economical and political interests of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the region. On November 1928, workers of the United Fruit Company
United Fruit Company
It had a deep and long-lasting impact on the economic and political development of several Latin American countries. Critics often accused it of exploitative neocolonialism and described it as the archetypal example of the influence of a multinational corporation on the internal politics of the...
in the Department of Magdalena mounted a strike protesting unfair labour practices and conditions imposed by the company to the workers and the community at large, the United States responded by threatening to mount a military invasion of some sort to bring to an end the strike. The Government responded by sending in the Military
Military of Colombia
The Military Forces of Colombia are the armed forces of the Republic of Colombia.-Services:The Military of Colombia consists of:* National Army of Colombia * Colombian National Armada - Marines, Navy and Coast Guard attached* Colombian Air Force...
to quell the protests and arrest the labour workers accused of instigating the strike, what happened next is known as the banana massacre where an undetermined number of people were killed by the Colombian Army; this event was recounted by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude , by Gabriel García Márquez, is a novel which tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo, the metaphoric Colombia...
. This event marked the declined of the United Fruit Company influence in the region and created a large discontent among the population of the Caribbean Region towards the United States, the Liberal politician
Colombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister and Labor Minister , mayor of Bogotá and one of the most charismatic leaders of the Liberal Party.He was assassinated during his second presidential campaign in 1948, setting off...
would mount a large campaign to investigate and bring into account the actions taken by the Abadía Administration in the handling of this event, his popularity rose in opposition to that of Abadía and the Conservative party, something that would bring about their decline soon after.
Personal life
Born 5 July 1867 in Las Vegas de Los Padres, his family's estate in Coello, Tolima, in the United States of ColombiaUnited States of Colombia
The United States of Colombia was the name adopted in 1861 through the Rionegro Constitution for the nation which had been known as the Republic of New Granada since the dissolution of the federation of Gran Colombia in 1830-1831....
, to Miguel Abadía C. and Arcelia Méndez.He died in La Union
La Unión
La Union or La Unión may refer to:-Colombia:*La Unión, Antioquia*La Unión, Nariño*La Unión, Sucre*La Unión, Valle del Cauca-Peru:*La Unión Province, Peru...
, Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca Department
- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....
, on May 9, 1947.