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| Missing image Augusto_B._Leguía.jpg Augusto B. Leguía y Salcedo | |
| Full Title: | President of Peru |
| Term in Office: | 1908 – 1912 |
| Predecessor: | José Pardo – (1908)
José Pardo – (1919) |
| Successor: | Guillermo Billinghurst – (1912) |
| Date of Birth: | February 19, 1863 |
| Date of Death: | February 7, 1932 |
| Political party: | Civil Party
Democratic Reformist Party |
| Profession: | Economist |
Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo (1863–1932) was a Peruvian politician who twice occupied the Presidency of Peru, from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930.
| Contents |
Early Years
Leguía y Salcedo was born in Lambayeque in 1863 to one of the most distinguished families of the Peruvian oligarchy. Educated in Valparaíso, Chile, he served in the Peruvian army during the War of the Pacific (1879-1881).
After the war he moved to the United States and became an insurance executive with the New York Life Insurance Company. By the 1900's, Leguía had become very wealthy and decided to return to Peru. He entered politics in 1903 at the urging of Manuel Candamo (the then leader of the Civilista Party) and also of Jose Pardo, who was Prime Minister. Leguía took the position of Minister of Finance, a post he would retain until 1904, when the former Prime Minister Jose Pardo became president. Pardo offered the position of Prime Minister to Leguía, who accepted and remained so until 1907, when he resigned to run for the presidency the following year.
First term
In 1908 he succeeded José Pardo (a succession event that would occur again in 1919) after being elected president for the first time by an alliance of the Civil and Constitutional parties. Some of Leguía's first actions were to institute social and economic reforms in an attempt to industrialize Peru and turn it into a modern capitalist society.
On May 29, 1909, a group of citizens (supporters of Piérola's Democratic Party) managed to force their entry into Palacio de Gobierno demanding the resignation of Leguía. Among the group were the brother and sons of Piérola; Carlos de Piérola, Isaías de Piérola and Amadeo de Piérola. Since Leguía did not resigned as planned, they kidnaped him and took him in front of the Bolivar Monument (located in Plaza inquisicion in Lima). Once there, Leguía did not acquiesced to their demands, and the police had to forcibly rescue the president in the midst of a fight that caused at least 100 deaths.
During this period the country was also confronting boundary disputes with five of its neighbors, of which Leguía succeeded in reaching agreements with two of them, Bolivia and Brazil.
- The Boundary with Brazil was settled with the signing of the Treaty of Velarde-Río Branco. This provided that two rivers (Yaravi and Yaverija) would compose most of the border for both countries.
- With Bolivia, The Treaty of Polo-Bustamante determined the partition of the Lake Titicaca and provided a much accurate definition of the Peruvian-Bolivian border. This treaty also delimited the borders with Tacna (which was until then in Chilean control).
When Leguía's term ended in 1912, he was succeeded by Guillermo Billinghurst, a millionaire businessman who had been the former mayor of Lima. During the following years, Leguía travelled in the United Kingdom and the United States, where he learned methods of banking and finance that he would later apply in Peru. During this time, Leguia was already in conflict with the Civilista Party and left its organization.
Second term
Time_Leguia.jpg
In 1919, he again sought the presidency of Peru by trying to succeed José Pardo. Fearing that the former president's government along with the Civilist Parliament would not recognise his victory, he launched a successfull military coup, which led Leguía to succeed Pardo as an interim president. He then proceeded to dissolve Congress and the new parliament elected him constitutional president of Peru.
Leguía changed the Peruvian constitution (which had the longest continuance since 1860), and promulgated a new one in 1920, which was more liberal than than its predecessor and provided more civil guarantees and unlimited reelections. Nevertheless, having himself promulgated the constitution, Augusto B. Leguía almost completely ignored it and the next 10 years of his tenure were marked with a dictatorial style of ruling by suppressing all opposition harshly. Various political opponents of his government were exiled, of which the most prominent was Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who while in exile in Mexico founded the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) in 1924. It became one of modern Peru's most active and best-established political parties. Another important political figure that would emerge during this era was José Carlos Mariátegui, leader of the Communist Party of Peru.
Among the positive initiatives that ocurred during Leguía's second term was a program to modernize Lima by planning and starting public works through various loans. These included improving the health-care system by founding hospitals and building drainage systems around the cities. Peru's Government Palace ("Palacio de Gobierno") was also remodeled in 1926. Banks such as the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú and Banco Hipotecario of Peru were also created during his second presidency.
Treaties of limits with Colombia and Chile were also signed:
- The boundary with Colombia was settled with the secession of all the lands between the Putumayo and Caquetá rivers. This was officialy solved with the signing of the Treaty of Salomón-Lozano in 1922. (However, the treaty was published after the overthrown of Leguía on 1930.)
- The Tacna-Arica compromise was also signed with Chile, which unfortunately led to economic depression in later years. Leguía was bitterly criticized for accepting the compromise.
Overthrown
After 11 years in power and the world depression affecting Peru by ending the flow of foreign capital investments, his government was finally overthrown by a coup in August 25, 1930, by Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro. Leguía was arrested and charged with misappropriating government funds. He remained in confinement in the Panóptico of Lima, where he past away in 1932.
| Preceded by: – | Prime Minister of Peru 1904–1907 | Succeeded by: – |
| Preceded by: José Pardo | President of Peru 1908–1912 | Succeeded by: Guillermo Billinghurst |
| Preceded by: José Pardo | President of Peru 1919–1930 | Succeeded by: Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro
See also |