Joaquín Zavala

Joaquín Zavala, 1879

Joaquín Zavala Solís (born November 30, 1835 in Managua , Nicaragua , † December 30, 1906 ibid) was General and President of Nicaragua from 1879 to 1883 and 1893.

Life

Zavala comes from the Zavala family from Granada (Nicaragua), who with the Partido Conservador de Nicaragua decisively determined political life in Nicaragua from 1857 to 1893.

First term

In the 1878 presidential election, none of the candidates received the number of votes required for the presidency. Zabala was therefore appointed by parliament in accordance with the constitution.

On March 5, 1881, he had the Ley Agraria of May 17, 1877 used and expropriated 140,000 hectares of ejido property in favor of cafetaleros , most of which were organized in the Partido Conservador . The indigenous communities responded to the expropriations with uprisings. The most sacrificed was the Cañada uprising in Matagalpa in 1881. After an uprising by the indigenous people in Matagalpa in March , Zavala had the Jesuits deported from Nicaragua and thus removed annoying witnesses of his land theft. From the Jesuit libraries he founded the Biblioteca Nacional with an initial inventory of 5000 books.

During his tenure, an iron bridge was completed over the Paso Caballo in El Realejo ( Chinandega ). He operated the expansion of the telegraph network in the most important cities in the country and had the telegraph line run to Matagalpa in the north of the country. Domestically, there was freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

In terms of foreign policy, he expanded diplomatic relations and paid off Nicaragua's external debts.

Zavala played a key role in the Zavala- Frelinghuysen Canal Treaty signed on December 1, 1884 with Chester A. Arthur . This granted the US government sovereignty over 2.5 miles on both sides of a jointly built canal. Chester A. Arthurs successor Grover Cleveland belonged to a competing sewer construction company, which is why he was reversed the contract.

In 1882, the 15-year-old Rubén Darío Zavala read a poem directed against the fatherland and religion and then asked if he could receive a grant for a stay in Europe. To which Zavala said:

"Boy listen, if you write today against the religion of your fathers and your fatherland, how will it be when you go to Europe and learn worse things."

- Joaquín Zavala Solís

Zavala led the current of the Progresistas , which opposed the current of the Iglesieros within the Partido Republicano . His policy was controversial in the Partido Conservador , in 1884 the Iglesieros revolted .

Second term

On April 28, 1893, the commander of the Garrison of Granada , Eduardo Montiel of the Partido Conservador , rebelled against President Roberto Sacaza, also of the Partido Conservador. Joaquín Zavala Solís agreed to support the uprising. The insurgents received support from General José Santos Zelaya from the Partido Liberal . The Catholic Church and his family supported Roberto Sacaza. The insurgents occupied Masaya and moved towards Managua. At La Barranca, the insurgents defeated the government troops. The US ambassador Lewis Baker offered to mediate.

Sacasa declared in the Pacto de Sabana Grande on May 31, 1893, ready to hand over power to a junta of five people, two of whom were appointed by him and three by the insurgents. The junta was to rule for four months until a constituent assembly was called.

On July 6, 1893, General Zelaya insisted that the presidency of Salvador Machado Aguero , a Progresista, be transferred to General Joaquin Zavala. The Pacto de Sabana Grande was broken and Salvador Machado was replaced by Joaquin Zavala, who appointed José Santos Zelaya as commander in chief of the troops.

On July 11, 1893, the León garrison refused to recognize the junta in Managua and placed itself under the command of the Generals of the Partido Liberal Godoy, Alonso, and Chavarria. General Zelaya went from Managua to Leon and took command of the Partido Liberal associations . The rebels in Leon formed a parallel government headed by General Zelaya. Zavala ordered the army to take on the Leon insurgents.

The Partido Liberal associations moved towards Managua and met government troops at Mateare. In these fights Emiliano Chamorro Vargas, the party leader of the Partido Conservador, was in command. The government troops repulsed the troops of the Partido Liberal and the government troops were withdrawn to La Cuesta del Plomo on Lake Managua. The place is apparently impregnable and Zelaya sent two gunboats to bomb the place.

It is reported that an artillery sergeant fired at one of the gunboats from the square in front of the National Palace, but it was stopped by his commanding officer because the gunboats were government property and very expensive. The steamships continued their attack and several hundred soldiers of the government forces lost their lives. Despite the possibility of defeating the troops of the Partido Liberal, the government troops were withdrawn to Granada. The troops of the Partido Liberal occupied Managua on July 25, 1893. On July 30, 1893 a peace treaty was signed between the government and the insurgents and another constituent assembly was called.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ manfut, Boacs Pueblo Indígena
2. ↑ mined, short biography of the Ministerio de Educación ( Memento from June 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)
3. ↑ Biografía Rubén Darío (1867-1916) , los-poetas.com, on the encounter between Zavala-Dario (Spanish)
4. ^ American Nicaraguan School, The 1893 Revolution ( Memento June 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

predecessor	Office	successor
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro y Alfaro	President of Nicaragua March 1, 1879–1. March 1883	Adán Cárdenas
Salvador Machado	President of Nicaragua July 16, 1893–15. September 1893	José Santos Zelaya