VICENTE ROCAFUERTE: BIOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT AND WORKS - ARTE - 2024

Vicente Rocafuerte y Rodríguez de Bejarano (1783-1847) was a politician, writer, diplomat, former president of Ecuador and a broad thinker of the independence movement of the Hispanic American peoples.

He assumed the reins of Ecuador when the country only had five years of independence, so the decisions made since his presidency became concrete and necessary changes with legal, educational and economic reforms that established the foundations of the South American nation.

Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador

He was a broad opponent of kings, presidents and any ruler who violated the rights and development of citizens and did not hesitate to express his opinion publicly, even if this would put his life at risk.

He left for the knowledge of new generations his intellect embodied in books, essays, letters and speeches in which he exposed what in his opinion was the best way to build a new continent.

Biography

Vicente Rocafuerte was born on March 1, 1783 in Guayaquil, a district of Quito under the rule of Spain. His parents Juan Antonio Rocafuerte and Antoli and María Josefa Rodríguez de Bejarano y Lavayen, belonged to the upper class of the town and provided a prestigious education for their son.

He studied from the age of ten at the Colegio de Nobles Americanos in Granada, Spain and later at the Colegio San Germain in France.

By 1803 he was a fellow student of princes, barons, and the most influential youth in Paris. At this time he became friends with Jerónimo Bonaparte, brother Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and attended his coronation as Emperor of France.

At that time, he also met a young Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) and a series of nobles who eventually led to the emancipation of America.

Visionary of Independence

In 1807 Rocafuerte returned to Guayaquil with an international training that generated in him a broader vision of the development of the world and ideas of revolution and freedom. However, he would still have to wait more than 20 years to see his land become an independent nation.

He contributed ideologically to the First Governing Board of Quito installed in 1809, which marked the beginning of the actions in pursuit of the independence of the region. Due to this fact, Vicente Rocafuerte and his uncle Jacinto Rocafuerte were arrested for conspiracy and finally released for lack of evidence.

In 1810, when he was only 27 years old, he was elected Ordinary Mayor of Guayaquil, promoted by the opponents of the current governor, Bartolomé Cucalón, as they saw in him a young man with progressive ideas and a strong emancipatory tendency.

In 1812 he was elected deputy for the Province of Guayaquil to the courts of Spain, where he was part of the Central Board of Government against the Napoleonic invasion of Spain.

Likewise, he also faced King Fernando VII after his return to power, whom he described as dark and cruel, causing the imprisonment of young Americans opposed to the Spanish yoke.

His strong position against the Spanish monarchy prompted his persecution and subsequent flight to France. He would remain in Europe for the next five years.

Back to america

In 1816 he traveled to Cuba and from there to Guayaquil where he stayed alone for a period of two years, at that time he taught French, offering his students the reading of revolutionary authors.

In 1819 he moved to Lima where he grew tobacco and the following year he returned to Spain. Historians consider that this new trip was made by order of Bolívar to find out what was happening in that country, for the benefit of the independence struggle.

Between 1822 and 1829 he served as a diplomat in the service of Mexico in the United States and London and in 1833 he formally returned to Guayaquil where he married his cousin Josefa Baltazara Calderón Garaycoa.

Vicente Rocafuerte was already 50 years old and the panorama had changed a lot since his departure. Three years earlier, Greater Colombia had been dissolved and with it the opportunity for the region to form a country they called Ecuador, with Quito as its capital.

Rocafuerte quickly returned to public life. The same year of his return he was elected deputy for Quito to the congress from where he harshly faced the government of the first president of Ecuador, Juan José Flores (1800-1864).

Finally both established an alliance, thus promoting the presidency of Vicente Rocafuerte for the period 1835-1839.

government

The second president in the history of Ecuador had many challenges ahead of him. Rocafuerte had to lead a very young nation charged with strong opposition and revolts, which still needed the creation of many laws and reforms to form it properly.

Rocafuerte's extensive international training made him the perfect man for this position and immediately in the same inaugural year of his presidency he replaced the constitution that had governed since the formation of the republic in 1830.

And this would only be just the beginning. The following were his most notable achievements in various areas:

Economic development

-Started the payment of the foreign debt.

-Regulated the internal debt.

-Abolished the payment of indigenous taxes.

-Established an anti-protectionist culture on imports. It assured that competition with foreign products would improve domestic production.

-It issued the First Finance Law to improve collection

-Promoted the development of agricultural production

-Improved communication routes with the construction of new roads and highways.

-It boosted river navigation

Education

Aware of the importance of education for the development of man and his environment, Rocafuerte paid special attention to this sector with the following advances:

-He developed an educational reform in which he promoted a more universal primary education.

-Started literacy programs.

-Installed the first printing press for school textbooks in Quito.

-Improved the conditions in which classes were taught, opening schools and equipping them with educational implements such as blackboards and appropriate chairs.

-It promoted a university education aimed at training professionals for the productive development of the country such as doctors or engineers.

-He created the Chair of Medicine at the Cuenca Hospital, the Anatomy Amphitheater in Quito and the School of Obstetrics.

-Inaugurated the Agrarian College, the Guayaquil Nautical School, the Military College and the Quito School of Fine Arts.

General reforms

-He moderated the influence of the church by eliminating parochial doctrines that he considered a way of influence of the clergy.

-Started strengthening the Police and the National Guard.

-Created the Fire Department.

-He ran a painting museum in Quito.

-He carried out the reconstruction of the Oyambaro pyramids, which French scientists had built in 1736 upon their arrival in Quito and which had been destroyed by order of the Spanish crown.

Revolts against his government

During his tenure, strong revolts were generated that were unceremoniously put down. Rocafuerte was not afraid to repress harshly when necessary, because he knew with certainty the scope of anarchy if he did not stop in time. Historians describe him as an upright man, but as firm in his repression as the most ruthless dictator.

With the phrase "this country of fools must be governed by whipping" Rocafuerte executed about 80 leaders of various revolts. Among the most famous uprisings are those organized by the emigrants from Peru (1835), the rebels from Esmeralda, and the emigrants from New Granada (1836).

Rocafuerte never insisted on remaining in office longer than allowed, thus demonstrating his strong democratic conviction, at a time when his foundations were still being laid.

After his presidency

After his presidential term ended in 1839, Vicente Rocafuerte was elected Governor of Guayaquil. He continued to support Juan José Flores, who at that time was ruling his second presidential term, but did not accompany him for his third term. In 1843 he went into exile to Peru and from there pulled all possible strings to overthrow Flores.

In 1845 he was elected Minister Plenipotentiary of Ecuador in Peru and died in Lima on May 16, 1847 at the age of 64.

Literary works of Vicente Rocafuerte

Vicente Rocafuerte was a thinker who took knowledge from his diplomatic experiences to give his opinion on the best way to form the young nations of Latin America.

This educational intention can be felt in his works, in which he delves into issues of politics, religion, philosophy, ways of thinking and even prison reforms.

Among its most important titles are:

• “Very light sketch on the revolution in Mexico. From the cry of Igualá to the Imperial Proclamation of Iturbe ”(1822)
• "The Colombian system, popular elective and representative, is the one that best suits Independent America" ​​(1823)
• "Ideas necessary to all independent people who want to be free" (1823)
• "Essay on the new prison system" (1830)
• Letter. "The illegality of marriages between Catholics and Protestants" (1831)
• "Essay on religious tolerance" (1831). For this work he was arrested in Mexico, tried and declared innocent.
• "The phoenix of freedom" (1831). For this publication he is again taken to jail in Mexico for a month and a half.
• Manifesto "To the nation" (1844)

His literary works were published in 1947, printed in 16 volumes in order to maintain the legacy of Vicente Rocafuerte through time and that new generations know the thought of one of the most representative and international heroes of Ecuador.

References

1. Othon Olaya Seminar. (2015). Vicente Rocafuerte. Taken from othonolaya.blospot.com.
2. Gabriela Calderón Burgos. (2017). Forgotten Rocafuerte. Taken from elcato.org
3. Efren Aviles Pino. Rocafuerte Vicente. Taken from encyclopediadelecuador.com
4. José Antonio Aguilar Rivera. (2005). Vicente Rocafuerte and the invention of the Spanish-American republic. Taken from ignorantísimo.free.fr
5. Amilcar Tapia Tamayo. (2017). Vicente Rocafuerte, a forger of the Ecuadorian State. Taken from elcomercio.com