Lorenzo Latorre

Lorenzo Antonio Inocencio Latorre Jampen (born with Montevideo the July 28th 1844 and died with Buenos Aires the January 18th 1916) was a Militaire and Uruguyan politician , president of the Republic by seizing the power by the force between 1876 and 1879 and in a constitutional way of 1879 has 1880.

Childhood

Lorenzo Latorre is born with Montevideo the July 28th 1844 from a father small shopkeeper originating in the Galicia and from a creole mother .
By her social and geographical origins, like Jose Pedro Barrán foot-note in her book Latorre says it there el Estado Uruguayo , it did not belong at all to the future elite which was to control the country, it was only the simple son of a Galician immigrant, it was normally to take again the small shop of her father. For this reason, it stopped the school as of the end of the primary studies and worked as of 14 years.

the soldier

In 1863, at the 19 years age, it engaged in the army of the Colorados of the Général Venancio Flores named Cruzada Libertadora (this whereas his/her father was a partisan of the Blancos) and took part in the rebellion against Blanco Bernardo Prudencio Berro. During the war against of Paraguay, whereas it was under the command of the Spanish chief León de Palleja, it showed very military good qualities, Latorre was seriously wounded with the face whereas it led (as a chief as a second) the avant-garde of the army (more precisely the first battalion of hunters Batallón Primero de Cazadores ) to the Bataille of Estero Bellaco and after-effects of them all its life kept, this action made that it was regarded thereafter as a héros.
It defended the Colorado party under the presidency of Lorenzo Batlle and Uruguay when Blancos launched from Argentina and Brazil in 1870, the Revolución of mow Lanzas , revolution which finished in April 1872 with the rendering of Lorenzo Batlle. But it succeeds in countering the mutineers principistas (Blancos) without undergoing many losses in January 1875 and for this reason, he became Colonel and Minister for the War.

Dictatorship

Causes

Latorre remained one year Minister for the War then in March 1876, the tradesmen, the easy classes and the foreigners lying in the country met to discuss the serious problems of the country had with these multiple revolutions (one deducts some 19 per 45 years) which prevented stability in the country, with the incompetence of the democratic governments and the decline of the popularity of these same parties. With final, they decided to give the capacity to Latorre who accepted the March 10th 1876 as provisional governor ( gobernador provisorio ).
The main aims of its government were to set up a lasting internal peace (especially in the countryside) and to impose the right to the Private property, as the people who named it the voulaient.
It thus defines the political way taken, i.e. the change (temporary) of the traditional political groups ( blancos and colorados ) by a stronger government, i.e. protected by the army and the economic companies. Contrary to its predecessors who named only the people by affinity, Latorre formed a government with the civil people most famous in all the fields.

Promulgated laws

To establish the economic stability of the country, Latorre was based on the technological advancements of the time. The rifle S Mauser and Remington used by the army gave an irrefutable and undeniable capacity to this one since the revolutionists could not acquire them for a question of cost. The Télégraphe allowed him to largely improve the speed of transmission of the orders even at the most moved back places of the territory and finally the Railroad allowed the rapid transfers of troops to choke the attempts at revolution, this last saw its length being multiplying by dix.
In same time, it modernized the legal apparatus by replacing the Maire S (which solved the conflicts then) by Juge S and departmental lawyer S. At the same time, it approved the Codes of Civil procedure and Criminal Instruction ( Códigos de Procedimiento Civil E Instrucción Criminal ) in 1878, as well as the Rural Code ( Código Rural ) and created the Register of the Seizures and Prohibitions ( Registro de Embargos E Interdicciones ). In 1879, to increase the capacity of the State with respect to the Church, it approved the law creating the Register of Civil statue ( Registro de Estado Civil ) which made pass this function of the hands of the Église to those of the State. The Justice of the Peace ( juzgados of Paz ) thus started to establish four registers; that of the births, the deaths, the marriages and legitimations of the goods.

The Rural Code had consequences until in the economy since with the right to the private property, this one establishes in an obligatory way the installation of fences all around the fields as well as the marking of the cattle to avoid the frauds. Just as the great landowners had the authorization to make the police force under the orders of the police chief of the area. With these measurements, the small holders had to leave their campaigns, which caused a Rural migration important and the cities of the interior as Montevideo became populated. It should be noted that its government repressed very hard the Chômage since the unemployed were regarded as being “wandering which could potentially attack the Ranch S of the rich person owners ”. Just as to help the people who had named it, it exempted the barbed Wire of customs duty in 1875 and contrary, it establishes an important protectionism (reinforced in 1886 and 1888) on the products which could be manufactured in Uruguay. Lastly, it privatisa a great number of companies, the British investors acquired the national company of Railroad in 1876, the company of gas became it in 1872 and that of the Drinking water in 1879. Uruguay had also adopted under one mode the Or like standard to facilitate the commercial exchanges between the United Kingdom and Uruguay (more for export that for the importation).

Concerning the army, Latorre strongly decreased the allocated budget since it cut down it approximately by half and that it refused the rises in rank (including his) not to have expenses inutiles.
It as should be said as its mandate was authoritative, which implies that it restricted individual freedoms.

The reform of Education

One of the reform among most important of the government of Latorre was of order educational since Jose Pedro Varela had paradoxical ideas as indicates it the historian Enrique Méndez Vives in his book El Uruguay of Modernización since he wanted to conclude his educational reforms to prevent that similar governments reproduce in the future. Although Varela was an enthusiastic democrat, it used the fact that Latorre was dictator to make pass his reform whereas the Church did not want it. “The school is the base of the Republic; education, the essential condition of the citizenship. All the great needs for the democracy, all the requirements of the Republic, have only one possible way of realization: to inform; to inform; to always inform…” ( “the escuela be the base of República; the educación, the essential condición of the ciudadanía. Todas tired large necesidades of the democracia, todas tired exigencias of República, sólo tienen a possible medio of realización: educar; educar; siempre educar…” ).
The decree of law on Common Teaching was approved the August 24th 1877. It establishes three basic principles which are always those used currently. Education must be: free, obligatory and laic. The first two principles could be concluded without much difficulty, but the population was reticent for what related to secularity. Varela thus gave the possibility of the teaching of the Catholicisme to the children whose parents would make the demande.
of it Verale thus created an education system where the programs insisted on the scientific concepts, where the parity man/woman was respected and where administrative decentralization was important to allow the participation of the people for the improvement of the public school. All these reforms made that the Analphabétisme decreased very quickly in Uruguay.

The second mandate and withdrawal

March 1st 1879, it was named constitutionally in the place of president of Uruguay, but not having more military supports and not either of supports policy in the Room of the representatives, having just too vast and too slow political program, it had to leave its place the March 15th 1880, it says whereas the Uruguyans are ungovernable. Because of the danger of murder in its opposition, it is exiled with Buenos Aires where it lived in poverty until the January 18th 1916 when it died. Its ashes were brought back thereafter to Uruguay.

Heritage

Latorre remains especially known for its Dictature during which it did not privilege the military class but more the easy economic class and it mainly used the Autoritarisme of this dictatorship to forge a central capacity able to direct the country. It is thus knew to have to build the organization and the stability of Uruguay. But it as should be said as certain historians as Benjamín Nahum which wrote in 1903 that the period of the government of Latorre was a dictatorship where the political opponents were pursued and where the Forced labor was strongly practiced, mainly for the construction of the railways.

External bonds

long Biography
short Biography
more general Text on the military leaders of this time

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