The Federal Republican Party of Las Villas ( es, Partido Republicano Federal de Las Villas) was a political party in

Las Villas Las Villas is a natural region and ''comarca'' in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is located in the mountainous area at the eastern end of Jaén Province. The main town is Villacarrillo. Together with the Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra de Segura ...

, Cuba. The party was founded in 1899 by the provincial governor José Miguel Gómez and Carlos Mendieta y Montefur. Pelayo García Santiago was the president of the party. Prominent party members included General José B. Alemán, Dr. Rafael Martínez Ortíz, General José de J. Monteagudo, José Manuel Berenguer, Francisco López Leyva, Lic. Benito Besada, José L. Robau, Eduardo Domínguez, Dr. Orestes Ferrara and Enrique Villuendas.

Origins

The party announced its programme towards the end of January 1900. The programme called for the formation of a decentralized state with provincial autonomy. On February 25, 1900, a meeting was held in Santiago de Cuba. The meeting had been called by the newspaper ''El Cubano Libre''. The meeting formed a group, ''Convención'', which was to contest municipal elections in the city. The Executive of the group was made up by General Francisco Sánchez Echevarría, Eduardo Yero Buduén, Antonio Bravo Correoso, Alberto Quintana, Desidero Fajardo Ortíz and Gregorio Muria. The group merged into the Federal Republican Party of Las Villas, but retained its own political identity. For example, the group in Santiago de Cuba began publishing ''La República'' as its own organ.

1900 municipal election

Ahead of the 1900 municipal election, the Federal Republican Party eliminated all potential opposition forces in Las Villas province through the use of violence and coercion. The campaign of intimidation was led by the governor Miguel Gómez and José de J. Monteagudo, who was head of the ''

Guardia Rural In Mexico, the term ''Rurales'' (Spanish language, Spanish) is used in respect of two armed government forces. The historic Guardia Rural ('Rural Guard') was a rural mounted police force, founded by President Benito Juárez in 1861 and expanded ...

''. In the end, no other political group dared to contest the elections in Las Villas.Averhoff Purón, Mario. ''Los primeros partidos políticos''. La Habana: Instituto Cubano del Libro, 1971. pp. 52-53 In the September 1900 election to the Constituent Convention, the party won all the seats from Las Villas. The delegates of the party were General José Luis Robau, General José Braulio Alemán, General José de Jesús Monteagudo, General José Miguel Gómez, Colonel Enrique Villuendas, Lieutenant Martín Morúa Delgado and Dr. Pedro González Llorente.
La resistencia villareña ante la Enmienda Platt: Sagua la Grande, un caso de rebelión popular
'' In 1900, Benito Besada had been assigned by the National Assembly to send a message to the U.S. president William McKinley. Besada didn't fulfill this mission, and his membership in the party was terminated.Averhoff Purón, Mario. ''Los primeros partidos políticos''. La Habana: Instituto Cubano del Libro, 1971. p. 58 Robau and Aléman also left the party.

References

{{reflist Defunct political parties in Cuba Villa Clara Province Political parties established in 1899 Political parties disestablished in 1900 1899 establishments in Cuba 1900 disestablishments in Cuba