Eduardo Abaroa Hidalgo (13 October 1838 – 23 March 1879) was

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

's foremost hero of the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

(1879–1883), which pitted

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

against

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. He was one of the leaders of the civilian resistance to the Chilean invasion at the

Battle of Topáter The Battle of Topáter, or Battle of Calama, was fought on March 23, 1879, between Chile and Bolivia. It was the first battle of the War of the Pacific. The Chileans were taking possession of the Antofagasta (Litoral) Province, then a part of ...

. Abaroa was an engineer by trade, working in a silver mine located in the coastal region of Litoral, which Chile took from Bolivia during the

. During the

(23 March 1879), the first armed clash of the war, Colonel Abaroa was part of a badly outnumbered Bolivian force defending a bridge that crossed the Topáter River and gave access to the city of Calama, an important desert oasis on the road to Bolivia. Refusing to surrender, after the outnumbered Bolivian military forces withdrew, he fought to his last breath, a feat that later transformed him into a revered national hero. When, injured and surrounded, he was asked to surrender by the Chilean forces, he provided an answer that has gone into Bolivian folklore: "¿Rendirme yo? ¡Que se rinda su abuela, carajo!" ("Surrender? Your grandmother s whoshould surrender, you bastard!", or "Surrender, me? Let your grandmother surrender, dammit!", or, more literally, "Surrender, me? That your grandmother surrender herself, fuck!"), equivalent to saying "Surrender? Surrender my ass!". According to Chilean folklore, he answered: "¿Quién, yo?" ("Who, me?")

Legacy and critical discussion

In 1952, on the 73rd anniversary of his death, the Bolivian Government repatriated Abaroa's body, burying it with full honors and in the midst of an impressive crowd (numbering in the tens of thousands) in the popular

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

square that bears the hero's name. Plaza Abaroa (''Abaroa Square'') also contains a large bronze statue of the Bolivian martyr, presented in full pose and defiance, as he would have looked the moment before his death. His country honored him with a series of stamps (Scott#365-370 and C157-162). The stamps quoted his last words, eliding ''"carajo"'' with an

ellipsis The ellipsis (, plural ellipses; from , , ), rendered , alternatively described as suspension points/dots, points/periods of ellipsis, or ellipsis points, or colloquially, dot-dot-dot,. According to Toner it is difficult to establish when t ...

Eduardo Abaroa Province Eduardo Abaroa, also Eduardo Avaroa, or Challapata is a province in the southeastern parts of the Bolivian department of Oruro. Its seat is Challapata. The province was named after Colonel Eduardo Abaroa, Bolivia's hero of the War of the Pacific ...

is named in his honor, as is

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve The Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve (''Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa''; Spanish acronym: REA) is located in Sur Lípez Province. Situated in the far southwestern region of Bolivia, it is the country's most visited ...

. The anniversary of Abaroa's heroic death (March 23) is the national holiday in Bolivia ''Día del Mar'', or the Day of the Sea. His granddaughter, Elena Abaroa Córdova, married Croatian immigrant in Chile Policarpo Lukšić, with whom she had businessman

Andrónico Luksic Abaroa Antonio Andrónico Luksic Abaroa (5 November 1926 – 18 August 2005) was a Chilean businessman. He founded the Luksic Group, becoming the richest person in Chile, the fourth in Latin America, and the 132nd in the world, with a net worth in ...

, father of Andrónico Luksic Craig and founder of the Luksic family, one of the richest families in the world.

References

*Jack Child, "The Politics and Semiotics of the Smallest Icons of Popular Culture: Latin American Postage Stamps", ''Latin American Research Review'', Vol. 40, no. 1, February 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abaroa, Eduardo 1838 births 1879 deaths People from El Loa Province Bolivian people of Basque descent Bolivian military personnel of the War of the Pacific Bolivian engineers Military personnel killed in the War of the Pacific