Francisco Domingo Díaz Oro was a colonel in the army of the Argentinian Confederation.
He fought at the
Battle of Angaco and was twice governor of
San Juan Province, Argentina
San Juan Province () is a province of Argentina, located in the western part of the country. Neighbouring provinces are, moving clockwise from the north, La Rioja, San Luis and Mendoza. It borders with Chile to the west.
The province has an a ...
. He was a member of the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801.
De ...
but his administration was largely influenced by the
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians (in Spanish, ''Unitarios'') were the proponents of the concept of a unitary state (centralized government) in Buenos Aires during the civil wars that shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1 ...
.
His son
Ramón Díaz
Ramón Ángel Díaz (born 29 August 1959) is a former Argentine Association football, footballer and the current manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal SFC, Al Hilal. He played for Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate as a Forw ...
was an outstanding lawman in
La Rioja Province.
Battle of Angaco
Francisco Domingo Díaz participated with the rank of colonel in the Battle of Angaco in the Federalist Cazadores Battalion, composed of troops from San Juan.
He was placed in charge of the battalion at the start of the battle after the death of Colonel
José Manuel Espinosa.
Towards the end of the combat he was ordered by General
José Félix Aldao
José Félix Esquivel y Aldao (11 October 1785 - 19 January 1845) was an Argentine Dominican friar and soldier who became a general and then the undisputed Federist ''caudillo'' of Mendoza Province. His ability as a warrior and his cruelty became ...
to advance through a deep ditch with his infantry battalion of 350 men,
accompanied by a similar number of men from the Mendoza Auxiliary Battalion, to take the artillery battery of the Unitarian
Mariano Acha
Mariano Acha (11 November 1799 - 16 September 1841) was a soldier who fought in the Argentine Civil Wars.
On 20 March 1841 the four hundred men led by Colonel Mariano Acha were surprised by troops under General Nazario Benavídez and scattered.
In ...
.
Only 157 of the men from the two battalions survived. This battle, and this action, have been called the bloodiest of the
Argentine Civil Wars
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict pr ...
.
First governorship (1855 - 1857)
On 4 January 1855 the Chamber of Representatives of San Juan accepted the resignation of governor
Nazario Benavídez
José Nazario Benavídez (27 July 1802 – 23 October 1858) was an Argentine soldier who rose to the rank of Brigadier General and played a leading role in the Argentine Civil Wars. He was Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina, for almost twe ...
.
On 21 January 1855, Díaz was appointed interim Governor. Díaz was later elected Governor in a popular vote.
During his first term the first constitutional convention of the province was called, and a provincial constitution was issued in accordance with the Constitution of 1853.
This was the first provincial constitution that defined the organization of the powers of the state, the functioning of institutions and electoral mechanisms.
Its preamble did not invoke God as the source of all reason and justice, something unheard of at the time.
The reforms undertaken during his administration covered a wide spectrum: justice, politics, education, military and culture.
The reforms caused problems with the judiciary, the Catholic Church and the military.
The army was in charge of the ''
caudillo
A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
'' Benavídez, who had been governor for twelve years before Díaz took office.
Soon after taking office, Díaz appointed a commission to undertake the impeachment trial of Nazario Benavidez, the outgoing governor. The Commission declined to proceed.
Tension with the church
Díaz accused the bishop
Timoteo Maradona of being allied to the Unitarian Party.
Nazario Benavidez was a friend of Maradona and defended the bishop, who enjoyed wide influence in much of the population.
During his previous government, Benavidez had asked Maradona for documents to justify his tenure as vicar of the Diocese of San Juan de Cuyo.
Maradona replied that he ruled as a vicar in vacancy, delegated by the Bishop
José Manuel Quiroga Sarmiento.
Díaz, as vice-patron of the church under powers delegated by the National Executive, created new parishes, expropriated the hospice of the church of Our Lady of Mercy, required reports on the finances of the bishopric and again requested documents which showed the appointment of Timothy Maradona as bishop. This led to extremely tense relations between the government and the church.
In mid July 1856 the crisis erupted and Díaz issued a decision that denied the legitimacy of Maradona as bishop and ordering sanctions against clergy who obeyed him.
Maradona did not recognize the decree and continued in his post.
In November 1856 Díaz again disputed the investiture of Maradona and ordered his capture and confinement.
The national government, reacting to the crisis in the province, ordered restitution of Maradona.
Díaz proved to
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.
Life
Justo José de Urquiza y García was b ...
that Benavídez had created the conflict.
Constitution of San Juan
During Díaz's government the first Constitutional Convention of the province was convened, and drafted a constitution for the province of San Juan in 1856.
It took as a basis the constitutions in force in
San Luis Province
San Luis () is a province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza and San Juan.
History
The ci ...
and
Mendoza Province
Mendoza, officially Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic o ...
.
The convention was chaired by Nazario Benavidez and consisted of 40 deputies.
The constitution was not innovative in its provisions compared to those already existing in other provinces,
but omitted the preamble invoking God as the source of all reason and justice and the maintenance of the cult suppressed by the state.
Work of government
The Confederation of Argentine created a National Post, provincial customs were abolished and a Revenue Management system was created for the whole country.
These changes affected the province, where provincial delegations were installed.
A census was conducted in 1857 by order of the Argentina Confederation .
There were two models of free schools for both sexes and a public school for boys.
Díaz reforested the central square of the province.
He completely reorganized the judiciary, which caused serious problems in its operation.
He re-installed the Court of Justice as the ultimate authority.
Revolution of 1857
On 17 March 1857 there was a military revolution that put Nazario Benavidez in the office of acting governor, replacing Francisco Diaz who was accused of having turned towards the liberal sector of Buenos Aires.
The revolt did not involve bloodshed and part of the civilian population participated.
The governor did oppose the revolutionaries.
The Confederation Argentina, which supported Benavidez, promptly sent a commission that assumed the government and called elections for governor.
Díaz retained his rank and functions in the army after leaving the governorship.
When Nazario Benavidez was imprisoned, he addressed Governor
Manuel José Gómez Rufino
Manuel José Gómez Rufino (c. 1820–1882) was an Argentine politician who was governor of San Juan Province, Argentina between 1857 and 1858 and again between 1873 and 1874.
The province of San Juan
Manuel José Gómez Rufino was born in t ...
, asking him not assassinate Benavidez but to release him.
During the government of
Francisco Coll
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
he was appointed police chief.
Second governorship
After what was called the Second Battle of the Rinconada del Pocito the Federalists assumed power in San Juan.
Juan Saá
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
took over the government and appointed Lieutenant Colonel
Filomeno Valenzuela of the National Guard as governor.
Eight days later, on 27 February 1861, he was overthrown in a bloodless coup by Díaz.
On 1 March 1861 Díaz assumed the governorship.
With the defeat of the Confederacy Argentina in the
Battle of Pavón
The Battle of Pavón, a key battle of the Argentine Civil Wars, was fought in Pavón, Santa Fé Province, Argentina on 17 September 1861 between the Army of the State of Buenos Aires, commanded by Bartolomé Mitre, and the Army of Republic of ...
(17 September 1861) Diaz left the government of the province and fled at the approach of the Liberal troops.
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing s ...
was appointed governor in his place.
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Francisco Domingo
Argentine colonels
People from San Juan Province, Argentina
Governors of San Juan Province, Argentina