Background

Juan José Flores was born in Puerto Cabello on 19 July 1801, the son of a Spanish merchant and a local woman, whose family name he took.

Education

Because up to age 14 Juan José Flores received scant formal education, his impoverished mother placed him to learn and work in a Spanish military school and hospital.

Career

At 14, Juan joined the forces of Spain in the independence war, but two years later joined the rebels after becoming their captive. He was a cavalry officer under Simón Bolívar in the Battle of Carabobo in June 1821, which was decisive in obtaining Venezuelan independence.

By 1824 Flores was governor of Pasto Province in southern Colombia, in Simón Bolivar’s Republic of Gran Colombia. Shortly thereafter, he was named the governor of Quito (in present-day Ecuador), and by 1830 he was deputed to control all of Ecuador. He had been named a general in 1829.

When the Republic of Gran Colombia broke up in 1830, General Flores, who had both civil and military authority in Ecuador, called together a constituent assembly of the Ecuadorian provinces, which declared independence in May 1830. It chose Flores as provisional president, and he was elected constitutional president a few months later.

Flores organized a viable state in Ecuador, with the backing of the rural and commercial ruling class, and the Venezuelan soldiers who were still the main contingents of the Ecuadorian armed forces. In 1834 he suppressed a revolt of Liberals, based in the port city of Guayaquil, led by Vicente Rocafuerte. As the result of an agreement between the two men, Rocafuerte became president of Ecuador in January 1835.

After Rocafuerte had been president for four years, Flores returned to power in 1839. Four years later, he had himself reelected. However, this provoked a revolt, and in 1845 Flores agreed to go into exile for two years in return for certain concessions.

Subsequently, Flores tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to invade Ecuador and return to power. It was not until 1859 that, once Gabriel Garcia Moreno had seized control of the Quito region, Flores was able to capture the Guayaquil coastal area in support of Garcia Moreno. Two years later, he presided over a constitutional congress that legalized the Garcia Moreno regime. Later, he led troops on several occasions in defense of the Garcia Moreno government; he died during one of these expeditions.

Achievements

• Juan José Flores was a general and the first president of Ecuador, who dominated Ecuadorian political life for 2 decades.

Personality

Flores' contemporaries described his physical appearance as the proud man in military uniform, slender and short but well proportioned, with a handsome countenance that radiates quick intelligence and a commanding presence.

Interests

• Writers

  Despite his scant rudimentary education Flores became an eloquent orator and an avid reader of contemporary authors such as Rousseau, Montesquieu, Holbach, and Vattel. He was so fascinated with reading that in 1826 he asked for and received a shipment of books from General Santander, then vice-president of the Gran Colombia.

Connections

Juan married to Mercedes Jijón.

Father:

Juan José Aramburu

He was a rich and distinguished Spanish merchant from Spain.

Mother:

Rita Flores Bohorques

References

• Juan José Flores: El fundador de Ecuador (Biblioteca iberoamericana) (Spanish Edition) Rare book
• King of the Night: Juan José Flores and Ecuador, 1824-1864 General Juan José Flores rose from humble social origins in Venezuela to attain eminence in the wars of independence and the first presidency of Ecuador. His conviction that Ecuador was ungovernable under republican forms led to a secret attempt to establish monarchy, not only in Ecuador but also in Peru and Bolivia. Failure and exile followed, but he returned to participate in the dictatorship of Gabriel García Moreno. In this finely researched political biography of Flores, Mark Van Aken shows that monarchism was a much more important force in early Ecuador than is commonly thought. This important study of Flores's political career contains much hitherto unknown information about Ecuador's early independent history and the leading individuals involved in its politics. It will be of great interest to Latin Americanists, not only because it is a major new interpretation of that period of Ecuadorian history but also because of its relevance to other Latin American monarchist efforts. General Juan José Flores rose from humble social origins in Venezuela to attain eminence in the wars of independence and the first presidency of Ecuador. His conviction that Ecuador was ungovernable under republican forms led to a secret attempt to establish monarchy, not only in Ecuador but also in Peru and Bolivia. Failure and exile followed, but he returned to participate in the dictatorship of Gabriel García Moreno. In this finely researched political biography of Flores, Mark Van Aken shows that monarchism was a much more important force in early Ecuador than is commonly thought. This important study of Flores's political career contains much hitherto unknown information about Ecuador's early independent history and the leading individuals involved in its politics. It will be of great interest to Latin Americanists, not only because it is a major new interpretation of that period of Ecuadorian history but also because of its relevance to other Latin American monarchist efforts.