Salvador Silvestre del Rosario Jovellanos Guanes (December 31, 1833 – February 11, 1881) was a

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

an politician. He served as

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

in 1871, and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

from December 18, 1871 – November 25, 1874. His main concern as president was Paraguay's slow recovery from Paraguay's defeat in

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. He died in Buenos Aires on February 11, 1881. He was born in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

on December 31, 1833. He was very young when his family left the country during the regime of

Carlos Antonio López Carlos Antonio López Ynsfrán (November 4, 1792 – September 10, 1862) served as leader of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862. Early life López was born at Manorá (Asunción) on November 4, 1792, as one of eight children. He graduated from Real C ...

to settle in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, where he formed his own family.

Exile politics

Jovellanos was one of the founding members of the exile Paraguayan Association on December 28, 1858. After the start of Paraguayan War he signed a request to Argentine government on April 24, 1865, asking it to authorize formation of the

Paraguayan Legion The Paraguayan Legion ( es, Legión Paraguaya), was a military unit led by colonel Juan Francisco Decoud and Fernando Iturburu that was formed in Argentina during the Paraguayan War and consisted mainly of Paraguayan exiles and opponents of Franc ...

that would be formed from exiles and Lopez opponents. He was one of the early supporters of this idea, together with

Otoniel Peña Otoniel is a given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members o ...

participating in the meeting of the steering committee held on January 18, 1865.

Return to Paraguay

In mid-January 1869, a couple of weeks after Asuncion was occupied by the Allied forces, Jovellanos returned to his homeland together with other exiles -

Juan Bautista Gill Juan Bautista Gill García (''Juan Bautista Gill Garcia del Barrio'') (October 28, 1840 – April 12, 1877) was President of Paraguay from November 25, 1874 to April 12, 1877 and the only Paraguayan President to be assassinated while in office. ...

, José Segundo Decoud, Juan Antonio Jara,

Carlos Loizaga Carlos Loizaga was member of the Paraguayan Triumvirate established by the occupying allied forces following the death of Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 – 1 March 1870) was President of Para ...

Benigno Ferreira Benigno Asunción Ferreira (January 13, 1846 – June 14, 1920) was President of Paraguay November 25, 1906 – July 4, 1908. He was a member of the Liberal Party. The general and doctor Benigno Ferrerira was one of the main protagonists in the p ...

Cayo Miltos Sotero Cayo Miltos Miers (1843, Concepción – 1871, Asunción) was a Paraguayan politician. He studied in universities in Argentina and Sorbonne. He returned to Paraguay in 1869 and was a political ally of Facundo Machaín and Juan Antoni ...

and others who signed a petition asking the Allies for formation of a Provisional government. On March 25, 1870, he joined the ''Gran Club del Pueblo'' (a precursor of Colorado Party) which was led by

Facundo Machaín Facundo Machaín (November 26, 1845 – October 29, 1877) was Head of state and government of Paraguay, President of Paraguay. His period of government lasted barely one day between August 31 and September 1, 1870, but was important for the politi ...

. In the July 3, 1870 elections of National Assembly he is elected from the Cathedral district with 302 votes. Jovellanos was member of the commission that drafted the Constitution of 1870 as well as commission that drafted the Electoral Law. He was

Minister of Finance of Paraguay Minister of Finance is the person in charge of the Ministry of Finance of Paraguay. Ministers *José de Elizalde, 1811-1814 *Francisco Díaz de Bedoya, 1814-1819 *José Gabriel Benítez, 1819-1827 *Juan Manuel Álvarez (politician), Juan Manuel � ...

from June 1870 to November 1870.

Presidency

After the death from

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

of Vice President

on January 7, 1871, National Assembly elected Jovellanos to the post of Vice President. During 1871 he also served as Minister of War and Navy and Interior Minister. Following the resignation of President

Cirilo Antonio Rivarola Cirilo Antonio Rivarola Acosta (1836 – 31 December 1878) was the 4th President of Paraguay and served from 1870 to 1871. Biography The Rivarola family was important in Paraguayan politics throughout the 19th century, and often found itself at ...

he assumed the post of President during the political upheaval that surrounded the fall of Rivarola. The removal of Rivarola was organized by

in cooperation with Brazilians who wanted to place Gill in Presidency. However, before he could remove the Jovellanos, Gill was arrested on the orders of general

and deported from the country. During Jovellanos Presidency General Ferreira remained the power behind the trone.The Cambridge History of Latin America
/ref> During his government the Loizaga – Cotegipe Treaty of Peace and Borders with

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...

was signed on January 9, 1872. With this treaty Paraguay gave up territories north of

Apa River The Apa River (Spanish: Río Apa, Portuguese: Rio Apa) is a river of Paraguay and Brazil. It is a tributary of the Paraguay River, which in turn is a tributary of the Paraná River. It starts in the Amambai Mountains of the Brazilian state of Ma ...

and

Amambai Amambai is a municipality located in the Brazilian state The federative units of Brazil ( pt, unidades federativas do Brasil) are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation and self-collection) and ...

territory. Peace treaty with Uruguay was signed as well, but relations with Argentine reminded tense. To rebuild the devastated country, a new loan of 2,000,000 pounds was secured from Great Britain on harsher terms than the 1871 loan. Much of this money was stolen and misused by politicians. This debt was repaid only in 1961. Jovellanos sought to reorganize the public administration. His government paved some streets of Asuncion; created the Council of Public Education, Immigration office and the Economic and Management Boards. Police and internal revenue services were reorganized. The first tram line was built in Asuncion. It started at the port, went down the street until Colòn Street and Independencia Nacional, Palma and Libertad Street, now called Eligio Ayala, and reached its endpoint at the Central railway station. Jovellanos was faced with many coup attempts and finally was forced from power after a rebellion started in 1874 under nationalist General

Bernardino Caballero Juan Bernardino Caballero de Añasco y Melgarejo (20 May 1839, Ybycuí, Paraguay – 26 February 1912, Asunción) was a Paraguayan War veteran, the President of Paraguay from 1880 until 1886 and founder of the Colorado Party. He was the lea ...

. After leaving the post of President he left for exile in Buenos Aires where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovellanos, Salvador 1833 births 1881 deaths People from Asunción Paraguayan people of Asturian descent Colorado Party (Paraguay) politicians Presidents of Paraguay Vice presidents of Paraguay Finance Ministers of Paraguay Presidents of the Senate of Paraguay People of the Paraguayan War Paraguayan emigrants to Argentina