Background
Mariano Melgarejo was born in Tarata on 13 April 1820.
government official military president
Mariano Melgarejo was born in Tarata on 13 April 1820.
An illegitimate mestizo, he joined the army of Andrés de Santa Cruz in 1835, fought in the campaigns to establish the Bolivian-Peruvian Confederation and, later, in the Battle of Ingavi to repulse the second Peruvian invasion. By 1848 he had achieved the rank of colonel, and in 1862 he became Bolivia’s youngest general when he put down a rebellion against President José Maria Achá. Although related to Achá, Melgarejo led a revolt against him in December 1864 and became president. His rule lasted until January 15, 1871, when he himself was deposed by another military strongman, General Agustín Morales.
In January 1871 a massive revolt broke out against him. and Melgarejo fled to Peru, where he was killed by colonel José Aurelio Sánchez, the brother of his favorite mistress.
Melgarejo spent much of his rule defeating rebellions around the country. Rarely sober and easily flattered by honors bestowed on him from abroad, he signed several unfavorable territorial treaties with Brazil, Chile, and Peru, which decreased Bolivia’s territory and economic resources. He also granted tax exemption to Chilean mineral exports shipped from Bolivian ports, an issue which in 1879 precipitated the War of the Pacific whereby Bolivia lost the rich coastal provinces.
Melgarejo despised the masses and was equally alienated from the upper classes. His government dismantled populism and economic protectionism in favor of free-trade capitalism and the interests of the new silver mining oligarchy. Hardest hit by these policies were the urban artisans and the Indian communities that had survived after independence, which provoked bloody peasant uprisings.