LIZARDO GARCÍA SORROZA: BIOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL LIFE - HISTORY - 2025

Lizardo García Sorroza (1844 -1927) ¹ was an Ecuadorian politician and businessman. He served as president of the Republic of Ecuador for several months between 1905 and 1906. ² At the end of the 19th century, the process of the Liberal Revolution began.

García sympathized with the Liberal Party from the beginning and gave all possible support to this cause. He opposed the dictatorship of Ignacio de Veintemilla in the same way, as the government of the Progressives. ³

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On June 5, 1895, García was one of the first to sign the Act of Pronouncement. During the first government of Eloy Alfaro, one of the great leaders of the Liberal Revolution, García had his trust and was one of his Ministers. ⁴

Later, he would go on to hold different public positions, including that of Senator. ⁵ From this platform he promoted laws in relation to banks and currency. He was also President of the Municipal Council of Guayaquil. ⁶

In 1905 President Leonidas Plaza appointed him as his successor. This is how Lizardo García became president. ⁷ However, a separation movement was brewing in the Liberal Party, which was nourished when García became the first national magistracy. ⁸

After a series of revolts that Lizardo García and his supporters could not cope with, Eloy Alfaro regained political control when he was appointed Supreme Chief of Ecuador in a coup. ⁹

García had to leave Ecuador for several years. His exile was spent in Barcelona, ​​Spain until 1912, when he decided to return to Guayaquil, his hometown. ¹⁰

Biography

Early years

Lizardo García Sorroza was born on April 26, 1844 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He was the son of Manuel García Estrada and Catalina Sorroza. His father belonged to the Carpenters Guild. ^eleven

His education was in charge of the Jesuits at the Colegio San Luís Gonzaga in the city of Guayaquil. But due to the economic difficulties that existed at home, at the age of 12 he began to work, meanwhile he continued his education as a self-taught person.

He came from a humble family, his work and personal effort were the tools he used to obtain his fortune. García was linked to commerce from very early on, and at the age of 19 he became one of those attached to the new Chamber of Commerce of Guayaquil. ¹²

He also worked for several years for Casa Luzárraga, which was in charge of importing and exporting goods in the Republic of Ecuador.

At the age of 24, he married Carmen Coello Álvarez.

Commerce

In 1877 he founded a company called Norero y Cía, and later he decided to join the world of import and export, which he already knew, with his own importer L. García y Co.

He was a member of the board of directors of the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce for 16 years.

Thanks to all these antecedents, García Sorroza was a faithful believer in the cause of the Liberal Party. It was the living example of progress that germinated in the spirits of the Ecuadorian coastal people. ¹³

Politics

Lizardo García Sorroza was one of the first to sign the Act of Declaration of June 5, 1895, in which General Eloy Alfaro was ratified as Supreme Head of the nation and the liberal system as the most appropriate to the needs of Ecuador. ¹⁴

Throughout the process, García supported the Liberals with resources and with his own person, since he held different positions during the Alfaro and Plaza governments, until finally he himself was elected as Constitutional President.

After his short tenure, García retired to Barcelona, ​​Spain for six years after which he returned to his hometown. ^fifteen

Death

On his return from Spain, García's sight was greatly affected by cataracts that had rendered him practically blind. Lizardo García Sorroza died in Guayaquil on May 28, 1927 at the age of 83. ¹⁶

Political life

Liberal Revolution

The Liberal Revolution was the Ecuadorian political movement where Lizardo García Sorroza participated. It appears as the opposition to the system established in the 19th century where power was concentrated in the large landowners and the Catholic Church. ¹⁷

The people of the coast, driven by the flourishing economic power that trade guaranteed them, rebelled against the political control of the mountain people, who owned large tracts of land and ruled over the rest.

After riots, which were called mononerous names, there was a failed attempt to create a government that included both sides, called "progressive." The problem with this coalition system was that power was still concentrated in the few and repression was abundant. ¹⁸

On July 5, 1895, the Liberals completed their conquest with the Declaration of Declaration signed, among other leaders, by García Sorroza. Thus began the first government of General Eloy Alfaro. ¹⁹

Some of the ideals they wanted to achieve required a separation between church and government: secular, public, and compulsory education; allow women to attend university; freedom of worship; civil marriage and divorce; suspend indigenous taxes and the creation of a railroad that would connect the entire country to facilitate transportation and trade.

Government of Alfaro

During the first government of Eloy Alfaro, Lizardo García Sorroza was appointed as Minister of Finance, Credit and Public Works. Then, his first duty was to gather the necessary funds to be able to carry out the war that took place in the mountains.

As a result of this war and because of the trust that General Alfaro placed in him, he had to take charge of all the ministerial portfolios as General Minister in 1895. After obtaining the victory in that campaign, García decided to retire for a time from the politics. ^twenty

In 1895, the year he retired from government, he traveled to Paris, among other things to educate his children in the French capital. Three years later he returned to Guayaquil.

He was elected as Senator and Vice President of the Senate in 1898. His great contributions from that position were in the promotion of the Banking Law and the Currency Law. Alfaro was also entrusted with the mission of studying the foreign debt and how to cancel it. ^twenty-one

The following year he served as president of the Municipal Council of Guayaquil. ²² While he was in that position, he organized the Canalization Board that ensured that the city had a water plant that would supply drinking water to the Fire Department and the inhabitants.

In the banking crisis of 1901, García was in charge of liquidating the Banco Comercial y Agrícola debt, however he was able to recover the entity in a few months. ^{2. 3}

Government of Plaza

During his presidential term, between 1901 and 1905, General Leonidas Plaza entrusted Lizardo García Sorroza with various matters. The first was to settle in England the matters related to the cost of the construction of the Railway and the payment of the foreign debt. ²⁴

He was also talking with the government of Teodoro Roosevelt about the sale of the territory of the Galapagos Islands. This last commission could not be completed during the Plaza government, nor in his brief period as president. ²⁵

Presidency

From 1904 the division between two sides within the Liberal Party began to grow, one of them supported General Eloy Alfaro. In this group were the most radical, who repudiated the government of General Leonidas Plaza, considering it very similar to the old progressivism. ²⁶

The Alfaro faction was offended by the appointment, in secret, of civilian Lizardo García Sorroza as Plaza's official successor.

García triumphed in the elections with 93% of the votes. ²⁷ But this did not guarantee his position as head of state. His mandate began on September 1, 1905, and Plaza was assigned a post as a diplomat in the United States of America.

The rumors that tried to make a dent in the reputation of García Sorroza did not take long to spread, the side that supported Alfaro spread that García intended to reestablish a Progressive government in Ecuador. One of the main arguments against García was that he had called on figures from the Conservative Party to collaborate in his mandate.

Despite the fact that fewer reforms were instituted in Alfaro's government than in Plaza's, the discontents argued that García would be in charge of continuing his legacy.

García called General Plaza, but was unable to return to Ecuador in time.

Coup d'etat and exile

On December 31, 1905, García received a message informing him that the garrison in Riobamba had rebelled and recognized General Eloy Alfaro as supreme commander. ²⁸

On January 15, 1906, the Battle of Chasqui was fought, where Alfaro's troops were victorious, joined by the soldiers of the troop who defended the García government.

The government had to surrender to the insurgents on January 20, 1906. Then both Plaza and García were sent into exile. ²⁹

During his brief government of only 4 months, Lizardo García Sorroza created the Montúfar canton and ordered the installation of poles for electric lighting in the Ecuadorian capital. ³⁰

Six years later, García returned to Guayaquil and was named in 1923 “Benemérito Son of the City”. Despite the differences, General Alfaro never allowed Lizardo García Sorroza's reputation to be damaged.

References

1. Well, M. (2007). The Little Larousse Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary 2007. 13th ed. Bogotá (Colombia): Printer Colombiana, p. 1340.
2. Graça, J. (1985). Heads of State and Government.: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, p.62.
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