José Félix Estigarribia
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José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde (21 February 1888 – 7 September 1940) was a Paraguayan military officer and politician who served as the 34th
President of Paraguay The president of Paraguay (), officially known as the president of the Republic of Paraguay (), is the head of the executive branch of the government of Paraguay, serving as both head of state and head of government according to the Constitu ...
from 1939 until his death in a
plane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...
on September 7, 1940. He is most remembered for his role as commander in chief of the
Paraguayan Army The Paraguayan Army () is the ground force branch of the Armed Forces of Paraguay. It is organized into three corps and nine divisions, and several commands and direction. It has gone to war on many occasions, notably in the War of the Triple A ...
during the
Chaco War The Chaco War (, Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
, having been a prominent
military strategist A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
during the
armed conflict War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
and considered a
war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake o ...
. During his life he reached the rank of
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
, being posthumously promoted to
field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
shortly after his death. In the late 1930s, Estigarribia was courted by both the Colorado Party and
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
to run for president. He decided to join the Liberals, who were more dominant at the time. As president he suspended the constitution and replaced it with a new one which gave him dictatorial powers. His
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
rule ended after only a year, when he and his wife were killed in a plane crash. He was succeeded by his Minister of War,
Higinio Morínigo Higinio Nicolás Morínigo Martínez (11 January 1897 – 27 January 1983) was a Paraguayan military officer and politician who served as the 35th president of Paraguay from 1940 to 1948, ruling as a military dictator. Born to a mestizo famil ...
, who used Estigarribia's constitution to establish his own dictatorship.


Early life

José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde was born on 21 February 1888 in Caraguatay,
Cordillera A cordillera is a chain or network of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly used in physical geogra ...
, to Mateo Estigarribia and Casilda Insaurralde, who were both
peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...
of
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
ancestry. He went to the elementary school of his hometown and, in 1908, he went to study at Trinity College of Agriculture. However, after he had obtained his diploma, Estigarribia switched careers and in 1910 joined the army with the rank of lieutenant of infantry.


Early career

Educated as an
agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...
, he joined the National Army in 1910 and spent time in
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and in Saint Cyr's military academy in
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for additional training. He commanded the First Infantry Division during the
Chaco War The Chaco War (, brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...
,
division general Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...
, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In 1935, he made a victorious return to Asunción as "Hero of the Chaco War" and was awarded a lifetime pension of 1,000 gold pesos a month. He was dismissed from the position of armed forces chief after President
Eusebio Ayala Eusebio Ayala Bordenave (August 14, 1875 – June 4, 1942) was a Paraguayan politician who served as the 28th President of Paraguay from 7 November 1921 to 12 April 1923 and again from 15 August 1932 to 17 February 1936. A member of the Liberal ...
was overthrown in the Febrerista Revolution by
Rafael Franco Rafael de la Cruz Franco Ojeda (October 22, 1896 – September 16, 1973) was a Paraguayan military officer, politician and statesman who served as President of Paraguay after the February Revolution, from February 20, 1936, to August 13, 1937 ...
, but served as Paraguay's ambassador to the United States. He completed courses in Chile, from 1911 to 1913, the Military School of Bernardo O'Higgins. In 1917 he was promoted to captain. He played an important role in the revolution of 1922 in Paraguay and was later promoted to Major. For their skills was selected to attend the course staff, three-year at the École Supérieure de Guerre at
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he was a disciple of General Maurice Gamelin and Marshal Foch. Estigarribia graduated there with top notes. On his return in 1928 was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army. Less than a year after being named was removed from office because of disagreements with the government regarding the strategy for defending the Chaco, "The Chaco should be advocated abandoning it," he argued, that is, the point was not occupy the land but to destroy the enemy. However, as the war against Bolivia seemed inevitable, the government decided that Lieutenant Colonel Estigarribia was the man who was needed in the Chaco. He was then 44 years old.


Chaco War

The definition of the Chaco War would be a war of communications in which the handling of space and time would be essential. He was determined for the Paraguayan government to accept its general mobilization plan and the beginning of the first offensive surprise Paraguay (September-December 1932) before Bolivia could mobilize its resources. As commander-in-chief of the army and the conductor of operations, Estigarribia had a brilliant participation in the Chaco War (1932–1935). His strategy and tactics have since attracted the interest and the study of military academies around the world. He managed to stop the Bolivian advance towards the Paraguay River and destroyed powerful enemy divisions by flexibly using positional combat and guerrilla warfare techniques. Since the army was under his command, Paraguay's maximum effort clearly led a successful military campaign against the Bolivian army, superior in men and resources, making back to the Rio Parapiti. His strategic thinking about the war of movement, the importance of logistics (especially water), concentration of forces surprise, the passage from the defensive to the offensive, and the thorough knowledge of the enemy and the terrain of operations placed him in a privileged among military drivers between the two world wars. He made the most of the officers under his command and was believed to exhibit the combative and moral virtues of a Paraguayan soldier. He directed the Paraguayan Army during the first year of war with the rank of colonel. He was promoted to general after the victory of Campo Grande and Pozo Favorite. In recognition of services rendered to the defending the Chaco, he was promoted to the rank of marshal after his death in 1940.


Postwar

Estigarribia was elected president for a four-year term in 1939 and assumed office on August 15. On 14 February 1940, there was a military coup attempt against Estigarribia. In response to the coup attempt, on February 18, 1940, Estigarribia declared himself dictator and dissolved the legislature, seized emergency powers, and suspended the Constitution. Declaring that "our nation is on the edge of horrible anarchy", he announced that democracy would be restored as soon as a workable constitutional framework could be designed. Estigarribia argued only a temporary dictatorship could save the nation. It turned out to be an empty promise; within five months, he recast the constitution into a severely authoritarian document. The president was vested with sweeping powers to act for what he deemed to be the good of the state, codifying Estigarribia's emergency powers. At the same time, the legislature's powers were significantly curtailed. The constitution, approved in an August referendum, transformed Estigarribia's presidency into a legal dictatorship. Estigarribia was friendly towards the United States during World War II, even though some nationalists in the Paraguay military favored Germany. Estigarribia's domestic adversaries were funded by Argentina. On September 7, 1940, Estigarribia and his wife, First Lady Julia Miranda Cueto, were on a tour of the Paraguayan interior. On a trip from Altos to his country residence in
San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...
, his plane crashed in Agapuey and all those on board were killed."Dictator of Paraguay is Killed in Airplane Crash," ''Oakland Tribune'', September 8, 1940, p. 1 Estigarribia was succeeded by
Higinio Morínigo Higinio Nicolás Morínigo Martínez (11 January 1897 – 27 January 1983) was a Paraguayan military officer and politician who served as the 35th president of Paraguay from 1940 to 1948, ruling as a military dictator. Born to a mestizo famil ...
and was posthumously promoted to the rank of
marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...
. His authoritarian constitution would remain in effect until 1967, when it was replaced with what many deemed an equally authoritarian document that remained in effect until 1992.


References


External links


Biography
(Presidency of the Republic of Paraguay)
Jose Felix Estigarribia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Estigarribia, Jose Felix 1888 births 1940 deaths People from Caraguatay, Paraguay Paraguayan people of Basque descent Liberal Party (Paraguay) politicians Presidents of Paraguay Ambassadors of Paraguay to the United States Paraguay–United States relations Paraguayan generals École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Paraguayan military personnel of the Chaco War World War II political leaders Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1940 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Paraguay State leaders killed in aviation accidents or incidents