Aníbal Pinto Garmendia

Aníbal Pinto Garmendia

Aníbal Pinto Garmendia (born March 15, 1825 in Santiago de Chile , † June 9, 1884 ibid) was President of Chile from 1876 to 1881 .

Life

Aníbal Pinto was born to Francisco Antonio Pinto Díaz , who was Chilean President between 1827 and 1829. His mother came from Argentina and so Pinto also attended the Collegio Argentino in Santiago. He then studied at the Instituto Nacional until 1844 , but only up to the bachelor's degree .

As a member of a delegation from President Manuel Bulnes Prieto , he traveled to Europe, to the Vatican , in January 1845 ; his subsequent educational trip through Europe lasted a total of four years, he made stops in several countries, the longest he stayed in Paris .

After his return in 1851 he devoted himself to the administration of the extensive family estates; politically, Pinto was part of the opposition to President Manuel Montt Torres , whom he sharply attacked in newspaper articles. Aníbal Pinto was also scientifically active when he was accepted into the philosophy faculty of the Universidad de Chile in 1852 with a thesis on the philosophy of René Descartes . In the same year he applied for a parliamentary mandate for the first time and represented various constituencies in the House of Representatives until 1873. In 1855 he married Delfina Cruz y Zañartu . The aristocratic circles in the small south of Chile, from which Pinto came from and who surrounded him, drove the revolution of 1859 against President Manuel Montt.

The new president, José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano , appointed Pinto Mayor of Concepción in 1862 , an office he held until 1871. In September 1871, President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu appointed him Minister of War and the Navy. The aristocrat, humanist and pacifist Pinto had to pay the hard way in this office; critics accused him of lacking understanding of the views of his generals and accused him of turning a blind eye to the crisis that escalated between Chile and its neighbors - particularly Peru and Bolivia . In early 1875, Aníbal Pinto resigned as Minister of War and focused on the presidential candidacy.

As a candidate for the National and some Liberals, Pinto won the vote at the Allianza Liberal Congress, and in Congress on August 30, 1876, he got 293 votes out of 307. On September 18, he took over the office of outgoing President Errázuriz.

The beginning of Aníbal Pinto's term of office was marked by economic problems. In the wake of the global economic crisis, which in Europe coincided with the collapse of the Wilhelminian style boom in Germany , Chile also stumbled - with a corresponding delay. In addition, the copper price was in the basement, and Chilean export earnings suffered accordingly. In addition, there were severe floods that hit Chile in 1877 and destroyed a good part of the already poorly developed transport routes, as well as an earthquake that struck the ports in the north.

The state reacted with serious interventions in economic life: for example, currency restrictions were introduced and the exchange of Chilean banknotes was banned for a year. The Chilean economy only gained momentum again with the saltpeter war and the resulting bubbling export income from the annexed areas in the north.

In the south, tensions with Argentina over controversial territorial claims in Patagonia increased . In Santiago de Chile, a large number of students registered as volunteers, while the Argentine fleet had already set out for the Strait of Magellan . In the end the dispute could still be settled through diplomatic channels; in the Fierro-Sarratea Treaty of 1878, Chile renounced territorial claims east of the Andes watershed , leaving most of the Patagonian plain to the Argentines. On July 23, 1881, the border treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina was signed, which documented and guaranteed the Chilean claim to the Strait of Magellan and the western and southern part of Tierra del Fuego .

In the north, on the other hand, war broke out when the new Bolivian government under General Hilarión Daza wanted to increase the tax on saltpetre proceeds in 1878, which should remain on Bolivian territory, but - according to a treaty of 1874 - with a fixed tax liability towards Bolivia . When the saltpetre companies (in Chilean and English hands) refused to pay the increased taxes, the Bolivian government ordered the confiscation of the mines. On February 14, 1879, a Chilean expeditionary force landed in Antofagasta under Colonel Emilio Sotomayor Baeza and occupied the city. The Bolivian government responded with a declaration of war on Chile.

The Chilean government in Santiago relied on Peru to remain neutral in this conflict, but the government in Lima was committed to a secret treaty with Bolivia that had pledged Peru's assistance since 1873. When this became known, Chile declared war on both Bolivia and Peru on April 5, 1879.

The first major combat operations of this war took place in the Peruvian port city of Iquique , where the Chilean fleet lost its corvette Esmeralda along with most of the crew. This loss, stylized as a heroic sacrifice, triggered a wave of enthusiasm for the war, thousands of young men volunteered and in early 1881 the Chilean army finally occupied Lima , the capital of Peru.

Domestically, the war had not brought an agreement, on the contrary: the war ministry and the army command argued over strategy, procedure and dominance in warfare. In January 1881, the Mapuche Indians in the south of the country also used the withdrawal of the Chilean troops stationed there for war in the north, in order for their part to rebel against the conquest of the white people.

In September 1881, Aníbal Pinto handed over the presidency to his elected successor Domingo Santa María González , who had previously been Minister of the Interior in his cabinet. Pinto retired to his house in Valparaíso ; as a comparatively young elder statesman , he received a number of offers for representation. But his poor health prevented him from further engagement, he only took over the chairmanship of the fire department in Santiago. He died of a heart condition in June 1884 at the age of 59.