The History of Ecuador: Rule of the Liberals
Encyclopedia
This is a summary of the history of Ecuador from 1895-1925. Eloy Alfaro
is the outstanding standard-bearer for Ecuador's Liberals
, much as Gabriel García Moreno
is for the Conservatives. Some Marxist
groups have also looked to Alfaro; although his political program was in no way socialist, it did prove to be revolutionary in the extent to which it stripped the Roman Catholic Church
of the power and privileges previously granted to it by García Moreno. Catholic officials and their Conservative allies did not give up without a fight, however. During the first year of Alfaro's presidency, Ecuador was ravaged by a bloody civil war
in which clergymen commonly incited the faithful masses to rise in rebellion
against the "atheistic alfaristas" and were, just as commonly, themselves victims of alfarista repression. The foreign-born Bishop
s Pedro Schumacher of Portoviejo
and Arsenio Andrade of Riobamba
led the early resistance to Alfaro. A fullfledged bloodbath may well have been averted only through the magnanimous efforts of the outstanding historian
and Archbishop
Federico González Suárez
, who urged the clergy to abandon the pursuit of politics
.
The Liberals can be credited with few further accomplishments of major proportions. The system of debt peonage that lingered in the sierra came under government regulations, albeit weak ones, and imprisonment for debts was finally outlawed in 1918. These and other limited social benefits gained by the Native Ecuadorians and the mixedblood montuvio (coastal mestizo) working class were overshadowed by the ruinous economic decline world wide and the severe repression of the nascent
labor movement at the hands of the Liberals during the early 1920s. Furthermore, Liberal rule did little to foster the development of stable democracy
. On the contrary, the first half of the period saw even more illegal seizures of power and military
-led governments than in previous decades.
A major cause of the instability of the period was the lack of unity within the PLR itself. Alfaro and a second military strongman, General Leónidas Plaza
Gutiérrez, maintained a bitter rivalry over party leadership for almost two decades. Following Alfaro's first period in the presidency, Plaza was elected to a constitutional term of office that lasted from 1901 until 1905. In 1906, shortly after a close associate of Plaza had been elected to succeed him, however, Alfaro launched a coup d'état
and returned to the presidency. Alfaro, in turn, was overthrown in 1911 after refusing to hand power over to his own hand-picked successor, Emilio Estrada
. Four months later, Estrada's death from a heart attack precipitated a brief civil war that climaxed the rivalry between Alfaro and Plaza. Alfaro returned from his exile
in Panama
to lead the Guayaquil garrison
in its challenge to the Quito
-based interim government, which was under the military authority of General Plaza. The rebellion was quickly defeated, however; Alfaro was captured and transported to Quito via the same railroad that he had done so much to complete. Once in the capital, Alfaro was publicly and unceremoniously murdered, along with several of his comrades, by a government-instigated mob
.
Shortly thereafter, Plaza was inaugurated into his second presidential term in office. It was the first of four consecutive constitutional changes of government: following Plaza (1912–16) came Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno (1916–20), then José Luis Tamayo
(1920–24), and Gonzalo Córdova
(1924–25). Real power during this second half of the period of Liberal rule was held, not by the government, but by a plutocracy
of coastal agricultural and banking interests, popularly known as la argolla (the ring), whose linchpin
was the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Guayaquil led by Francisco Urbina Jado. This bank gained influence by loaning vast quantities of money to the free-spending government as well as to private individuals. According to Ecuadorian historian Oscar Efrén Reyes, the bank was influential "to the point that candidates for president
and his minister
s, senators, and deputies had to have the prior approval of the bank". Many of the private loans were to members of the Association of Agriculturists of Ecuador, an organization that also received government funds intended to promote an international cartel of cacao growers, but which instead were used to line members' pockets.
All parties involved in la argolla, from the government officials to the bankers and the growers, were professed militants of the Liberal cause. It was not only the political fortunes of the party that fell victim to their financial
activities, however, but also the national economy
, which experienced runaway inflation as a result of the printing of money by the private bank
s. The severe economic problems during the final years of Liberal rule were also partially caused by factors beyond the control of the politicians. A fungal disease that ravaged Ecuador's cacao trees and the growth of competition from British colonies in Africa
abruptly ended conditions that had favored Ecuador's exportation of cacao for over a century. What was left of the nation's cacao industry fell victim to the sharp decline in world demand during the Great Depression
.
Ecuador's economic crisis of the early 1920s was especially devastating to the working class and the poor. With real wages, for those lucky enough to have jobs, eaten away by inflation
, workers responded with a general strike in Guayaquil in 1922, and a peasant rebellion in the central Sierra the following year. Both actions were aimed at improving wages and working conditions; both were put down only after massacre
s of major proportions.
President Córdova
, closely tied to La Argolla (the ring), had come to office in a fraudulent election
. Popular unrest, together with the ongoing economic crisis and a sickly president, laid the background for a bloodless coup d'état in July 1925. Unlike all previous forays by the military into Ecuadorian politics, the coup of 1925 was made in the name of a collective grouping rather than a particular caudillo
. The members of the League of Young Officers who overthrew Córdoba came to power with an agenda, which included a wide variety of social reforms, the replacement of the increasingly sterile Liberal-Conservative debate, and the end of the rule of the Liberals, who had become decadent after three decades in power.
Eloy Alfaro
José Eloy Alfaro Delgado was the President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. He became one the strongest opponents of pro-Catholic conservative President Gabriel Garcia Moreno...
is the outstanding standard-bearer for Ecuador's Liberals
Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party
The Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party is a liberal party in Ecuador and the oldest existing political party in Ecuador....
, much as Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García y Moreno y Morán de Buitrón was an Ecuadorian statesman who twice served as President of Ecuador and was assassinated during his second term, after being elected to a third term...
is for the Conservatives. Some Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
groups have also looked to Alfaro; although his political program was in no way socialist, it did prove to be revolutionary in the extent to which it stripped the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
of the power and privileges previously granted to it by García Moreno. Catholic officials and their Conservative allies did not give up without a fight, however. During the first year of Alfaro's presidency, Ecuador was ravaged by a bloody civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
in which clergymen commonly incited the faithful masses to rise in rebellion
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
against the "atheistic alfaristas" and were, just as commonly, themselves victims of alfarista repression. The foreign-born Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s Pedro Schumacher of Portoviejo
Portoviejo
Portoviejo is a city in Ecuador, and the capital the Province of Manabí 30 km from the Pacific coast. . Also known as the city of the "Royal Tamarind Trees" for the beautiful trees found in the area...
and Arsenio Andrade of Riobamba
Riobamba
Riobamba is the capital of the Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, which is located at the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at 2754 m on the Avenue of the Volcanoes...
led the early resistance to Alfaro. A fullfledged bloodbath may well have been averted only through the magnanimous efforts of the outstanding historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Federico González Suárez
Federico González Suárez
Federico González Suárez was an Ecuadorian priest, historian and politician who served as the Archbishop of Quito for twelve years. Prior to becoming the Archbishop of Quito, he served as a senator in the Ecuadorian government in 1894 and then as the Bishop of Ibarra from 1895 to 1905...
, who urged the clergy to abandon the pursuit of politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
.
The Liberals can be credited with few further accomplishments of major proportions. The system of debt peonage that lingered in the sierra came under government regulations, albeit weak ones, and imprisonment for debts was finally outlawed in 1918. These and other limited social benefits gained by the Native Ecuadorians and the mixedblood montuvio (coastal mestizo) working class were overshadowed by the ruinous economic decline world wide and the severe repression of the nascent
Nascent
Nascent may refer to:* Birth* Nascent hydrogen* Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba National Park, a national park of Brazil* Nascent-polypeptide-associated complex alpha polypeptide, a human gene* Nascent market...
labor movement at the hands of the Liberals during the early 1920s. Furthermore, Liberal rule did little to foster the development of stable democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
. On the contrary, the first half of the period saw even more illegal seizures of power and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
-led governments than in previous decades.
A major cause of the instability of the period was the lack of unity within the PLR itself. Alfaro and a second military strongman, General Leónidas Plaza
Leónidas Plaza
Leónidas Plaza Gutiérrez was an Ecuadorian political figure. He served as the President of Ecuador between 1901 and 1905 and again from 1912 until 1916. He was the father of Galo Plaza Lasso.-External links:*...
Gutiérrez, maintained a bitter rivalry over party leadership for almost two decades. Following Alfaro's first period in the presidency, Plaza was elected to a constitutional term of office that lasted from 1901 until 1905. In 1906, shortly after a close associate of Plaza had been elected to succeed him, however, Alfaro launched a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and returned to the presidency. Alfaro, in turn, was overthrown in 1911 after refusing to hand power over to his own hand-picked successor, Emilio Estrada
Emilio Estrada
Emilio Estrada Carmona was President of Ecuador September 1-December 21, 1911....
. Four months later, Estrada's death from a heart attack precipitated a brief civil war that climaxed the rivalry between Alfaro and Plaza. Alfaro returned from his exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
to lead the Guayaquil garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
in its challenge to the Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
-based interim government, which was under the military authority of General Plaza. The rebellion was quickly defeated, however; Alfaro was captured and transported to Quito via the same railroad that he had done so much to complete. Once in the capital, Alfaro was publicly and unceremoniously murdered, along with several of his comrades, by a government-instigated mob
MOB
Mob may refer to:* A crowd Mob may refer to:* A crowd Mob may refer to:* A crowd (of people, from Latin mobile vulgus "fickle commoners":*An angry mob; see Ochlocracy*A criminal gang*In American English, organized crime; slang for Mafia or American Mafia*Mobbing, human bullying behaviour...
.
Shortly thereafter, Plaza was inaugurated into his second presidential term in office. It was the first of four consecutive constitutional changes of government: following Plaza (1912–16) came Alfredo Baquerizo Moreno (1916–20), then José Luis Tamayo
José Luis Tamayo
José Luis Tamayo was President of Ecuador 1920-1924He was a member of the Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party....
(1920–24), and Gonzalo Córdova
Gonzalo Córdova
Gonzalo Segundo Córdova y Rivera was President of Ecuador from 1924-1925. Like his immediate predecessors in the Liberal Party, he was considered to be a pawn of "La Argolla" , a plutocracy of coastal agricultural and banking interests whose linchpin was the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of...
(1924–25). Real power during this second half of the period of Liberal rule was held, not by the government, but by a plutocracy
Plutocracy
Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth. The combination of both plutocracy and oligarchy is called plutarchy. The word plutocracy is derived from the Ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth and kratos, meaning to rule or to govern.-Usage:The term plutocracy is generally...
of coastal agricultural and banking interests, popularly known as la argolla (the ring), whose linchpin
Linchpin
A linchpin, also spelled linch pin, lynchpin, or lynch pin, is a fastener used to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle it is riding on. The word is first attested in the 14th century and derives from Middle English elements meaning "axletree pin".Securing implements onto...
was the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Guayaquil led by Francisco Urbina Jado. This bank gained influence by loaning vast quantities of money to the free-spending government as well as to private individuals. According to Ecuadorian historian Oscar Efrén Reyes, the bank was influential "to the point that candidates for president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and his minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
s, senators, and deputies had to have the prior approval of the bank". Many of the private loans were to members of the Association of Agriculturists of Ecuador, an organization that also received government funds intended to promote an international cartel of cacao growers, but which instead were used to line members' pockets.
All parties involved in la argolla, from the government officials to the bankers and the growers, were professed militants of the Liberal cause. It was not only the political fortunes of the party that fell victim to their financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
activities, however, but also the national economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
, which experienced runaway inflation as a result of the printing of money by the private bank
Private bank
Private banks are banks that are not incorporated. A private bank is owned by either an individual or a general partner with limited partner...
s. The severe economic problems during the final years of Liberal rule were also partially caused by factors beyond the control of the politicians. A fungal disease that ravaged Ecuador's cacao trees and the growth of competition from British colonies in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
abruptly ended conditions that had favored Ecuador's exportation of cacao for over a century. What was left of the nation's cacao industry fell victim to the sharp decline in world demand during the Great Depression
Great 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...
.
Ecuador's economic crisis of the early 1920s was especially devastating to the working class and the poor. With real wages, for those lucky enough to have jobs, eaten away by inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
, workers responded with a general strike in Guayaquil in 1922, and a peasant rebellion in the central Sierra the following year. Both actions were aimed at improving wages and working conditions; both were put down only after massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
s of major proportions.
President Córdova
Gonzalo Córdova
Gonzalo Segundo Córdova y Rivera was President of Ecuador from 1924-1925. Like his immediate predecessors in the Liberal Party, he was considered to be a pawn of "La Argolla" , a plutocracy of coastal agricultural and banking interests whose linchpin was the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of...
, closely tied to La Argolla (the ring), had come to office in a fraudulent election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
. Popular unrest, together with the ongoing economic crisis and a sickly president, laid the background for a bloodless coup d'état in July 1925. Unlike all previous forays by the military into Ecuadorian politics, the coup of 1925 was made in the name of a collective grouping rather than a particular caudillo
Caudillo
Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...
. The members of the League of Young Officers who overthrew Córdoba came to power with an agenda, which included a wide variety of social reforms, the replacement of the increasingly sterile Liberal-Conservative debate, and the end of the rule of the Liberals, who had become decadent after three decades in power.