Ecuador marks 100th year of death of former President

Sunday, January 29, 2012

ECUADOR yesterday erupted in celebrations, as the South American nation marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Jose' Eloy Alfaro Delgado, who served as president of that country twice.

Current president, economist Rafael Correa, presided over the traditional Barbarian Bonfire, "Hoguera Barbara", to mark his death after being imprisoned, dragged through the streets and then publicly burned on January 28, 1912.

Correa celebrated the anniversary in the Ecuadorian city of Montecristi with foreign ministers of various countries, including Argentina, Panama, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Peru, Uruguay, El Salvador, Chile, Nicaragua, and Colombia, as well as other international organisations.

Born on June 25, 1842 in Montecristi, Jose Eloy Alfaro Delgado was known for the central role that he played in the Liberal Revolution of 1895. Alfaro Delgado fought conservatism for almost 30 years and earned the title Viejo Luchador, which means 'Old Fighter' or 'Old Wrestler' in English.

Alfaro Delgado's legacies include the modernisation of Ecuadorian society, through the introduction of new ideas in mainly education, public transportation and communication. His work toward building national unity and preserving the integrity of Ecuador's borders also earned him high praise.

The former president was behind the engineering feat of the popular Transandino Railway which links Costa and Sierra (Guayaquil and Quito). Several Jamaican workers were recruited to help with the building of this project.

For his great work, Ecuador's military college bears his name, as does the flagship of the Ecuadorian navy and his effigy is depicted on the Ecuadorian 50-cent coin since 2000.

Alfaro Delgado is regarded as one of the most notable rulers of Ecuador, in terms of ideological achievements and for his work in the physical transformation of the land of 15 million inhabitants which is bordered by Colombia toward the north, Peru along the east and south coasts, and the Pacific Ocean along the west coast.

He brought legislation that improved the social conditions of the country's poor, cleared lands for the Indians in the Sierra region, abolished the practice of imprisoning people for outstanding debts and cleared the way for women to serve in key administrative positions in the society.

His struggles include championing Cuban independence from Spain.

His militarism, arrogance and sometimes dictatorial disposition saw him being accused of violating the rights of opponents in the name of the radical ideology of his party, and earned the angry protest of Ecuador's intellectuals and hatred from inside and outside of the country.

In 1911 he was removed from office by his former supporters. He was captured in Guayaquil the same year and sent to Quito on the railroad that he had constructed.

Alfaro Delgado was a revolutionary from a young age and was severely critical of the government. His followers soon began to organise a series of military insurrections.

He was exiled in Panama during the interim government of President Carlos Freile Zaldumbide but returned to Ecuador on January 4, 1912 , attempted a coup, but was defeated and jailed.

On January 28, 1912, a group of pro-Catholic soldiers whose motto was "Viva la religion y mueran los masone"(Long live religion and death to Freemasons"), supported by a mob, broke into the prison where Alfaro Delgado and his colleagues were detained, and dragged them along the streets of the city centre, killing them and burning their corpses in what is today a public park where a monument marks the site.

Alfaro Delgado's remains were buried in Quito in secret and later transported to Guayaquil where they were deposited in a mausoleum sometime in 1940.

An initiative led by President Rafael Correa saw some of the ashes being exhumed and reinterred with honours in the city of Montecristi, seat of the Constitutional Convention.

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Ecuador marks 100th year of death of former President