Ignacio Andrade Troconis (31 July 1839 – 17 February 1925), was a military man and politician.
mdash; Official biography. He was known as a member of the Liberal yellow party, and served as the president of Venezuela from 1898 until 1899 - his election was declaredly clouded by fraud.

Early life

Ignacio Andrade was born on July 31, 1839 in Mérida. Francisco de Paula Andrade Troconis was his brother.

Career

Early positions

He was president of the state of

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from 1883 until 1885. He was also the leader of the state of Miranda from 1894 until 1897. In 1897, incumbent president Crespo supported Andrade in the presidential elections against key opponent Jose Manuel Hernandez. Andrade won the election, with Hernandez decrying the results as fraudulent and taking up arms. Hernandez was quickly defeated, with resultant political turmoil. Other attempted insurrections followed, including one by Carlos Rangel Garviras, head of the Autonomous Party of the Andes from Colombia. He invaded Venezuela with 2,000 men, to be defeated in

Capacho La Coronilla is a village in the Rocha Department of southeastern Uruguay. Location The village is located on the Atlantic coast on Route 9, about south of Chuy and the border with Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federat ...

and

San Josecito San Josecito is a district of the San Rafael canton, in the Heredia province of Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central Am ...

1898-1899: Military leadership, presidency

Andrade was the commanding

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

of the Venezuelan Army from February 1898 until October 1899, after taking leadership from General

Joaquín Crespo Joaquín Sinforiano de Jesús Crespo Torres (; 22 August 1841 – 16 April 1898) was a Venezuelan military officer and politician. A member of the Great Liberal Party of Venezuela, he served as the president of Venezuela from 1884 to 1886 and ag ...

. Venezuelan President

ruled until 1898, when he gave the presidential role to Andrade while remaining a military mainstay of the government. In suppressing a serious threat to the government, Crespo was killed in action and Andrade was left without his military backing. With Crespo's death, Venezuela entered a period of political uncertainty, as Andrade was Crespo's placeman and not a member of the

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

class.

1899: Overthrow by Cipriano Castro

In 1899 the Colombian writer

Biofilo Panclasta Vicente Rojas Lizcano (October 26, 1879, in Chinácota, Colombia – March 1, 1943, in Pamplona, Colombia), known as Biófilo Panclasta, was a political activist, writer, and Colombian individualist anarchist. In 1904 he began to use the pseudony ...

traveled to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, where he joined the army of the Venezuelan Cipriano Castro, which had as its goal the downfall of president Andrade. After leaving this group shortly after, Panclasta traveled Venezuela with other revolutionary groups throughout Trujillo, Portuguesa, Cojedes and Carabobo.PANCLASTA, Biófilo (1932): ''Siete años enterrado vivo en una de las mazmorras de Gomezuela''. Tipografía la Libertad, Bogotá. In 1899 Andrade was overthrown by Cipriano Castro, a former governor of the province of

Táchira Táchira State ( es, Estado Táchira, ) is one of the 24 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19t ...

who had previously been exiled to Colombia. Living in Colombia for seven years, Castro had recruited a private army using funds from illegal cattle trading. Returning to Venezuela and amassing support from disaffected Venezuelans, Castro's once personal army developed into a strong national army, and he used it to march on Caracas in October 1899 in an event called the Revolución Liberal Restauradora, and seize power, installing himself as the supreme military commander. He also assumed the vacant presidency and later modified the constitution. The resulting political turmoil led to civil war in Venezuela from 1901 until 1902.José Raimundo Porras Pérez (enero-junio de 2011
"Batalla de La Victoria de 1902: táctica, logística, liderazgo y otros aspectos militares de las fuerzas beligerantes venezolanas"
''Presente y Pasado. Revista de Historia''. Año 16. Nº31, páginas 95-122. ISSN 1316-1369. After the May 23, 1899 invasion of Caracas, Andrade went into exile in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. He returned to public life after being granted amnesty in 1903.

Personal life and death

Andrade died in

Macuto Macuto is a seaside city in Vargas state, Venezuela. The city has a long history of attracting Venezuelan political leaders and artists, and popular tourist site today. History Macuto was founded in August 1740 on the site of an indigenous vill ...

in 1925. He was married to María Isabel Sosa Saa, and she served as the

First Lady of Venezuela First Lady of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Primera Dama de Venezuela'') is the unofficial title traditionally held by the wife of the president of Venezuela. The current office of the first lady is disputed. List of first ladies Non-spouse first ladi ...

during his tenure in 1898 and 1899. File:Ignacio Andrade and Isabel Sosa Saa.jpg, Andrade and Isabel Sosa Saa in 1898 File:María Isabel Sosa Saa.jpg, María Isabel Sosa Saa