
Domingo Elías Carbajo (July 19, 1805,
Ica,
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...
– July 3, 1867,
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
, Peru) served as
Interim President of Peru (Self-proclaimed President) for a brief period between June and August 1844.
Biography
He assumed the Presidency of Peru during an epoch of civil war, which divided Peru between the followers of
Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla y Marquesado (; 31 August 1797 – 30 May 1867) was a Peruvian ''caudillo'' who served as President of Peru three times as well as the Interim President of Peru (Revolution Self-proclaimed President) in 1863. His earliest p ...
's government and those of Domingo Elías Carbajo.
After completing his elementary studies, he travelled to
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
and Paris to continue his education. He returned in 1825 and made a living from agriculture in the
Ica Region
Ica (; ) is a department and region of Peru. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Lima Region on the north; the Huancavelica and Ayacucho regions on the east; and the Arequipa Region on the south. Its capital is the city of Ica.
Ge ...
, where he started a large cultivation of cotton and
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
. This epoch coincided with the arrival of
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
coolies
Coolie (also spelled koelie, kouli, khuli, khulie, kuli, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a pejorative term used for low-wage labourers, typically those of Indian or Chinese descent.
The word ''coolie'' was first used in the 16th century by Europ ...
to replace the declining work of African slaves in 1849.
After the defeat of the
Peru-Bolivian Confederation during the decade of the 1840s, anarchy in Peru became rampant. In 1843, during the government of
Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco
Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco Iturralde (15 June 1806 – 16 September 1873) was a Peruvian politician and military leader who served as the President of Peru from 1843 to 1844. He was born in Lima, Peru. He led part of the Peruvian forces in the c ...
, Elías was named prefect of Lima. When Vivanco headed to southern Peru to confront the constitutionalist movement of
Ramon Castilla, Elías was assigned the governorship of the northern Peruvian provinces. The internal Peruvian conflict was still undecided between the military factions of the country: Vivanco's and
Echenique's against Castilla's and San Román's.
During this traumatic and polarizing period of Peruvian history, writes the Peruvian historian
Jorge Basadre Grohmann, the "civil Elías" decided to convert himself into the leader of the tiredness of the country upon the "ever-lasting internal war". Elías declared himself the "Political and Military chief" of Peru on July 17, 1844.
When Echenique's forces threatened to return to the capital, Elías declared the
Lima Province in state of assembly, which meant the total suspension of labor and readiness of his able followers to take arms. The public employees, schools, and businesses formed regiments. All of Lima and even guarding members of the provinces of
Pisco
Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber-colored spirit produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternativ ...
, Ica, and
Callao
Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...
prepared to confront Echenique who, in the end and to everyone's astonishment, never arrived. This history week became known in Peru as the "Magna Week."
Soon after, Elías ended his government upon the triumph of Castilla over Vivanco.
Elías occupied various public posts such as minister and deputy of Ica (1845). He was
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
from August 1844 to April 1846. He was also
Peruvian minister in Bolivia (1847). He was a candidate for the Presidency of Peru in the controversial elections of 1851, when he was defeated by Echenique. During the latter's government, he fought rampant corruption and above all an
internal debt
In public finance, internal debt or domestic debt is the component of the total government debt in a country that is owed to lenders within the country. Internal government debt is complement is external government debt. The main sources of fu ...
through his famous letters against the government. For these actions Elías was exiled to
Guayaquil
Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...
, Ecuador.
Elías did not cease in his actions to reach the government and returned to Peru through
Tumbes to launch an unsuccessful coup d'état. He tried again from his native Ica but was again defeated in Soraja (1854). Finally, with the success of Castilla, he was named
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
in 1855, and later
ambassador to France. He returned to Peru in 1858 to launch an unsuccessful presidential campaign. Thereafter Elías retired from politics and made a living from commercial and agricultural activities.
Elías was involved in guano mining on Chincha Islands and importing of Chinese workers from Fujian.
[Charles C. Mann: 1493 - How Europe's Discovery of Americas Revolutionized Trade, ecology and Life on Earth, Granta Books, London, 2011, p. 215-2017]
He died in Lima in 1867.
See also
*
List of presidents of Peru
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elias, Domingo
1805 births
1867 deaths
Presidents of Peru
Ambassadors of Peru to France
Ministers of economy and finance of Peru