Background
Eloy Alfaro was born on 25 June in 1842 in Montecristi, Ecuador. He was the son of a Spanish merchant and an Ecuadorian woman.
Eloy Alfaro was born on 25 June in 1842 in Montecristi, Ecuador. He was the son of a Spanish merchant and an Ecuadorian woman.
For some years he engaged in business activities in Panama.
Alfaro spent most of his life in political activities, even when he was also engaged in business. His first “political” action was taken when he was only 22 and kidnapped the governor of Manabi Province. For a quarter of a century thereafter, he engaged in almost uninterrupted revolutionary action, ostensibly on behalf of the Liberals, against successive regimes. He spent much of his modest fortune on these activities.
In 1895 Alfaro was in exile. However, when a split in Conservative ranks led to a revolt and gave the Liberals of Guayaquil a chance to mobilize militarily, they called him back to lead their forces. He marched on Quito, defeated government troops in a war that lasted almost a year, and then eliminated his Conservative allies and seized complete control of the regime. From then until 1944 the Liberals controlled the Ecuadorean government.
Eloy Alfaro presided over the regime from 1895 to 1901. He then turned the presidency over to Leónidas Plaza, although at the last moment he tried to prevent Plaza’s taking office. In 1905 he organized a successful revolt against Plaza’s successor, and he stayed in office until 1911. Then, having allowed the election of another successor, Emilio Estrada, he again sought to prevent a president from taking office. He was forcibly removed and sent into exile. When President Estrada died within four months, Alfaro again sought to return to power, but he had little support. He was arrested in Guayaquil and sent a prisoner to Quito where he and a number of close associates were lynched by a mob.
He married Ana Paredes Arosemena, a member of a wealthy Panamanian family