Everything about Andres De Santa Cruz totally explained
Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calaumana (
December 5,
1792,
La Paz, Bolivia –
September 25,
1865, Beauvoir, France) was
President of Peru (1827) and
Bolivia (1829-1839). He also served as
Supreme Protector of the short-lived
Peru-Bolivian Confederation (1836-1839), a political entity created mainly by his personal endeavors.
Early years
Santa Cruz was born on December 5th,1792 in the city of La Paz, which at that time had been recently transferred from the
Viceroyalty of Peru to the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. His father was a
Spaniard, José Santa Cruz y Villavicencio, and his mother an
Indian, Juana Basilia Calaumana,
cacique of the town of Huarina. In later years, Andrés de Santa Cruz would claim that through his mother he descended directly from
Inca rulers. He began his studies in his hometown at the San Francisco
Convent and continued them at the San Antonio Abad
Seminary in the city of
Cuzco, but in
1809 he
deserted and returned to
La Paz.
Military career
Upon returning home, his father enrolled him as an
alférez in the
Dragones de Apolobamba Regiment of the Spanish Army. As such, he participated in the battles of
Guaqui (
July 20,
1811),
Vilcapugio (
October 1,
1813) and
Ayohuma (
November 14,
1813) where
Argentine rebel forces attempting to invade the
Upper Peru (modern day
Bolivia) were defeated. He also took part in the campaigns to suppress the insurrection of
Mateo Pumacahua (
1814-
1815), further demonstrating his loyalty to the
Spanish Crown. His luck run out at the
Battle of La Tablada (
April 15,
1817) where he was captured and taken as
prisoner of war to
Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, he managed to escape, first to
Rio de Janeiro and then to
Lima. As a reward he was named
Commander of
Chorrillos
War of Independence
At the time of the landing of the rebel army of
José de San Martín on the Peruvian coast, Santa Cruz was
commander of
militia forces in the region of Huarochirí. In that position, he fought against the insurgents in the
Battle of Pasco (
December 6,
1820), but the
royalists were defeated and Santa Cruz captured. Taken to
San Martin's headquarters at
Huaura he decided to switch sides and joined the Patriot Army (
January 8,
1821). Santa Cruz ascended rapidly, reaching the
rank of
Colonel later that year and that of
Brigade General in
1822 for leading Peruvian troops at the
Battle of Pichincha (
24 May,
1822). He revolted against the
Peruvian Congress on
February 26,
1823 and forced it to elect
José de la Riva Agüero as
President. As
commander of a
Peruvian Army expedition he occupied the port of
Arica and defeated a
Royalist Army at the
Battle of Zepita (
August 27,
1823) but failed to exploit his victory and retreated hastily.
When
Simón Bolívar assumed the presidency of
Peru (
February 17,
1824), Santa Cruz joined his army and was named
Chief of Staff of the Peruvian
Division. In that condition, he participated of the
Battle of Junín (
August 6 1824). Afterwards, he was named
Prefect of
Ayacucho and then Chief of Staff of the Patriot Army during the campaign for the liberation of
Bolivia. As a reward for his actions he received the
titles of
Marshal and
Prefect of
Chuquisaca on April
1825. Named President of the Government Council in
Lima, he was left in charge of the Peruvian
Executive after Bolívar returned to the
Greater Colombia on
September 4,
1826 until the collapse of the Bolivarian regime in
Peru on
January 27,
1827. He then assumed the post of President up to
June 9,
1827 when
José La Mar was elected by
Congress.
President of Bolivia
Removed from power, Santa Cruz was named Peruvian
ambassador to
Chile, but he was recalled from
Bolivia where he'd been proclaimed as
President. Sworn in on
May 24,
1829, he found a country afflicted by endemic internal disorders and very near to bankruptcy. Measures undertaken to resolve this problems included purging
conspirators, reforming and strengthening the
Army, reforming the
bureaucracy, reforming
public finances, issuing new
currency, issuing a new
Constitution, issuing a new
Civil Code based on the
Napoleonic Code and establishing
Cobija as a
free port. The
authoritarian regime imposed by Santa Cruz brought stability to
Bolivia at a time when most countries in
Latin America faced widespread
unrest. Furthermore, it formed a solid base from which to pursue his main project, the
Peru-Bolivian Confederation.
Peru-Bolivian Confederation
As
President of Bolivia, Santa Cruz instigated several failed plots to achieve a political union with
Peru, taking advantage of that country's chronic political unrest. His best opportunity came in
1835 when the
Peruvian President Luis José de Orbegoso requested his assistance to fight the rebel army of
Felipe Santiago Salaverry. Santa Cruz defeated Peruvian
caudillo Agustín Gamarra at the
Battle of Yanacocha (
August 13,
1835) and Salaverry at the
Battle of Uchumayo (
February 4,
1836) after which Salaverry was
summarily executed.
At the instigation of Santa Cruz, a Congress of the Peruvian southern
departments (
Arequipa,
Ayacucho,
Cuzco and
Puno) gathered at Sicuani and declared the establishment of the Republic of
South Peru (
March 17,
1836). A similar
assembly at Huaura of the northern
departments (
Amazonas,
Junín,
La Libertad and
Lima) founded the Republic of
North Peru (
August 11,
1836). Both recognized Santa Cruz as
Supreme Protector with extensive powers that enabled him to create the
Peru-Bolivian Confederation on
October 28,
1836. He then summoned to the city of
Tacna representatives of both
legislatures together with those of the
Bolivian Congress assembled at Tapacarí to establish a
Constitution for the new
State. Under his direction, they signed a pact on
May 1,
1837 which named him
Supreme Protector for a ten-year period.
Invested with considerable powers, Santa Cruz endeavoured to establish in
Peru the same type of
authoritarian order he'd imposed in
Bolivia. He issued a
Civil Code, a
Penal Code, a
Trade Regulation, a
Customs Regulation and reorganized
tax collection procedures allowing an increase in
state revenues while restraining expenditures. However, the Confederation generated resistances among several groups in both countries, which resented the dilution of
national identities. An important number of Peruvian politicians opposed to the idea of the Confederation fled to
Chile where they received support from the powerful
Minister Diego Portales. Together they amassed a military expedition against Santa Cruz, led by
Admiral Manuel Blanco Encalada, but they were encircled by Santa Cruz and had to surrender by the
Treaty of Paucarpata, signed on
November 17,
1837. The Chilean Government organized a second expedition, which defeated the
Supreme Protector at the
Battle of Yungay (
January 20,
1839) and forced the dissolution of the Confederation.
Later years
After resigning from his post as
Supreme Protector (
February 20,
1839), Santa Cruz fled to
Ecuador from where he plotted unsuccessfully to regain power. On
October 13,
1843 he disembarked at Camarones in the Peruvian province of
Tarapacá but was captured while trying to reach
Bolivia. Delivered to the Chilean Government, he was imprisoned at
Chillán from
1844 until
1846 when he was freed. He was named
ambassador to several European countries by
Manuel Belzú (
1848-
1855) and then ran for president of Bolivia but was defeated by
General Jorge Córdova. After staying for a while in Argentina, he returned to
France where he lived the rest of his life at
Versailles. He died at Beauvoir, near
Nantes on
September 25,
1865. One hundred years later, in 1965, the remains of the old Marshal were repatriated from France by the military government of the day and reintered ceremoniously beside the Presidential Palace in Bolivia.
Sources
- Basadre, Jorge, Historia de la República del Perú. Editorial Universitaria, 1983.
- Tauro del Pino, Alberto, Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú. Peisa, 2003.
Further Information
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