Andrés Avelino Cáceres
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Andrés Avelino Cáceres | |
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27th and 30th President of Peru | |
In office 10 August 1894 – 20 March 1895 | |
Vice President | César Canevaro Cesáreo Chacaltana Reyes |
Preceded by | Justiniano Borgoño (Interim President) |
Succeeded by | Manuel Candamo (President of the Provisional Government) |
In office 3 June 1886 – 10 August 1890 | |
Vice President | Remigio Morales Bermúdez Aurelio Denegri |
Preceded by | Antonio Arenas (President of the Provisional Government) |
Succeeded by | Remigio Morales |
Second Vice President of Peru | |
In office 12 March 1881 – 6 November 1881 | |
President | Francisco García Calderón |
Preceded by | Vacant (last held by José Francisco Canevaro in 1879) |
Succeeded by | Vacant (Aurelio Denegri elected in 1886) |
Senator from Callao | |
In office 28 July 1901 – 25 October 1906 | |
Senator from Ayacucho | |
In office 28 July 1894 – 10 August 1894 | |
Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
In office 28 July 1892 – 28 July 1893 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Peruvian Civil War of 1884-1885 | 10 November 1836
Andrés Avelino Cáceres Dorregaray (10 November 1836 – 10 October 1923) served as the
Early years
Andrés Avelino Cáceres was born on 10 November 1833, in the city of
Military career
In 1854, Cáceres abandoned his studies and joined the Ayacucho
Afterwards, he quickly ascended through the military, obtaining the rank of
War against Ecuador
When war broke out between Peru and Ecuador in 1859, Cáceres was still ailing from his wound, but took part in the campaign. After the conflict ended in 1860, Castilla appointed Cáceres to serve as military attaché of the Peruvian delegation to France and he traveled there. He received treatment for his eye in Paris. Cáceres returned to Peru in 1862 and joined the Pichincha Battalion in Huancayo.
War against Spain
During this period, he became known for his outspoken opposition to President
They joined the Revolución Restauradora del Honor Nacional (National Honor Restoring Revolution) led by Mariano Ignacio Prado against Pezet's government. Cáceres participated in the occupation of Lima and later, with Prado as president, in the Battle of Callao on 2 May 1866, which forced Spanish naval forces to retreat from Peruvian waters and the Chincha Islands.
Pardo's presidency
In 1868, Cáceres decided to end his military career and return to
His support for Pardo's Presidency earned him support from
War of the Pacific (1879–1883)
Southern campaigns
At the start of the War of the Pacific, (5 April 1879), Cáceres was sent with his Zepita Battalion to the province of Tarapacá. There, he fought against the Chilean Army in the battles of San Francisco and the Tarapacá. In the latter, his intervention was decisive to achieve a Peruvian victory against heavy odds.
Despite this victory, the
Cáceres played a major role in the reorganization of the Peruvian Southern Army. This Army was deployed around the city of Tacna together with a Bolivian Army led by the President of Bolivia himself, General Narciso Campero. However, the political instability created after Nicolás de Piérola successfully overthrew Mariano Ignacio Prado hampered the actions of the Allied Army against the Chileans.
On 26 May 1880, the Battle of Tacna was fought, where the Chileans defeated the combined Bolivian-Peruvian Army. Cáceres had a notable participation in this action after which he retreated to Lima.
Lima campaign
Piérola ordered what was left of the Army to protect the capital, Lima, together with poorly armed citizens which were called to the fight. Cáceres was then put at the command of the 5th division of the
La Breña campaign
As the senior
For this feats, he was nicknamed as the Brujo de los Andes (The Andes Warlock). But in spite of all his talent and resolve, he was finally defeated by the better armed and trained Chilean forces in the Battle of Huamachuco (10 July 1883). Even though he tried to regroup, a Peruvian government headed by Miguel Iglesias signed the Treaty of Ancón (10 October 1883), recognizing defeat and bringing an end to the war.
First presidency (1886–1890)
After the war, Cáceres refused to recognize Iglesias as president so a civil war ensued between these two factions. He evaded the enemy's army and attacked Lima on 28 November 1885, forcing Iglesias to resign on 12 December. The country was ruled by a Council of Ministers headed by Antonio Arenas while new elections took place. Running for the Constitutional Party, Cáceres won the elections as sole candidate and assumed as president on 3 June 1886.
The new government faced a serious economic crisis due to a huge debt and the severe damage caused by the War of the Pacific. As a solution for these problems, the Cáceres administration engaged in negotiations with its
The Grace Contract caused widespread controversy, the Cáceres administration was accused of having sold the country's main assets at a very low price among other things. In any case, the agreement allowed the government to solve its external debt problem and assured the expansion of Peruvian railways at a time when there were no public resources whatsoever for either task.
Other initiatives undertaken during this period included the end of the use of
, the official candidate in the presidential elections of 13 April 1890, Cáceres transferred power to his successor on August 10 of the same year.Second presidency (1894–1895)
Morales Bermúdez died in office on 1 April 1894, and was replaced by Vice President of Peru Justiniano Borgoño. Subsequent presidential elections were won by Cáceres amid accusations of fraud. His second term was inaugurated on 10 August 1894.
There were widespread outbreaks of rebellion throughout the country, which eventually united under the leadership of former president Nicolás de Piérola. Rebel forces attacked Lima on 17 March 1895, the ensuing fight was stopped two days later by an armistice signed under the auspices of the diplomatic corps. Recognizing his defeat and unpopularity, Cáceres resigned and was replaced by an interim Government Junta.
Later years
After his downfall, Cáceres lived in
Legacy
In Peru, Cáceres is regarded as a nationalist figure. His image symbolizes resistance against foreign forces for his opposition to the Spanish occupation of the Chincha Islands and, more importantly, for organizing resistance against Chile, Peru's traditional enemy.
In recent years, in acknowledgement of this symbolism, a group of Peruvian military veterans have organized and adopted the name
An interesting legacy is found in the person of Zoila Aurora Cáceres, one of his daughters, who left behind a rich oeuvre of writing.
See also
Notes
Sources
- (in Spanish) Basadre, Jorge, Historia de la República del Perú. Editorial Universitaria, 1983.
- (in Spanish) Tauro del Pino, Alberto, Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú. Peisa, 2003.