Manuel Rodríguez Torices (full birth name Manuel Juan Robustiano de los Dolores Rodríguez Torices y Quiroz) (May 24, 1788 – October 5, 1816) was a
Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist, and Precursor of the Independence of
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. He was part of the Triumvirate of the
United Provinces of New Granada in 1815, and served as
Vice President of the United Provinces after the triumvirate. He was executed during the Reign of Terror of
Pablo Morillo in 1816.
Early life
Rodríguez was born on May 24, 1788, in
Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...
in the Province of Barlovento part of the
Viceroyalty of the New Granada, in what is now the
Bolívar Department in
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. His parents were Don Matías Rodríguez Torices, from
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...
, Spain, and doña María Trinidad Quirós y Navarro de Acevedo, from
Santafé de Bogotá. He attended elementary school in Cartagena, and then attended the
Our Lady of the Rosary University in
Santafé de Bogotá, where he graduated in
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
.
He participated in the
tertulias of Bogotá, particularly in the
Tertulia del Buen Gusto, that was held in the house of
Manuela Sanz de Santamaría de Manrique and in which participated other important leaders as
Camilo Torres Tenorio,
Custodio García Rovira
José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira (March 2, 1780 – August 8, 1816) was a Neogranadine general, statesman and painter, who fought for the independence of Viceroyalty of New Granada, New Granada from Spain, and became President of Colombia, ...
, and
José Fernández Madrid, among others.
Thanks to the good relations he made in the Tertulia del Buen Gusto, Rodríguez developed an interest in
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
. In 1809 he co-edited the newspaper ''Seminario de la Nueva Granada'' with
Francisco José de Caldas.
Independence of Cartagena
On May 10, 1810, the
Ayuntamiento
''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain:
* ().
* ().
* (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. is mai ...
of Cartagena formed a
Junta, breaking ties with the Spanish government, but recognizing the regency of the crown. This Junta was the first step for independence in New Granada. The Junta also made an important point in its agenda to spread the revolutionary ideas to establish its power and foment a nationalist spirit among the people. The Junta gave this task to Rodríguez and
José Fernández Madrid. On September 10, 1810, Rodríguez and Madrid created the ''Argos Americano'', a political, economical, and literary newspaper with the mission of creating public opinion in favor of the new revolutionary ideas.
On November 11, 1811, the junta declared absolute independence from Spain, the crown, Rodríguez was one of the precursors of the independence, and a member of the Junta, and so was a signer of its Constitution. Rodríguez became Governor President of Cartagena de Indias on April 1, 1812, following the resignation of
José María del Real, the Convention of the State of Cartagena granted dictatorial powers to Torices to better handle the situation the State was in.
Rodríguez' main objective while in office was to take control of the royalist province of
Santa Marta
Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...
. Rodríguez, although a fervent patriot, had no military experience, so he enlisted the Frenchman
Pierre Labatut and the Spaniard
Manuel Cortés Campomanes. Santa Marta fell to the hands of Labatut in early 1814, but the victory was short-lived, and Santa Marta went back to royalist hands.
Because of the strategic position of Cartagena as a port, the early presidents of Cartagena felt the need to develop a strong force to patrol the sea and protect the city, his efforts in doing so, and the continuation by this project by his successors gave birth to what would become the
Colombian National Armada. On April 7, 1813, the town of Barlovento, what is now
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...
, was given official
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
status by the government of Rodríguez, and made capital of the Province of Tierraandentro. The decree also issued its
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
, and flag, the flag, would later be used as the flag of the United Provinces.
Another one of Rodríguez' objectives during his presidency was to foment the immigration of foreigners to Cartagena. Rodríguez issued a proclamation inviting "all foreigners except those of Spain to come and settle in Cartagena" this text was printed in Spanish, English, and
French. Rodríguez also sent representatives to
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, to recruit new citizens. By also enlisting
corsairs and
pirates, Rodríguez was able to attack Spanish ships, by giving support to the pirates and welcoming them in the city. Most of the immigrants arrived from
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, which was still under Spanish control. One of those Venezuelans was
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
; Bolívar was welcomed by Rodríguez, who gave him command of the Army of Cartagena to support his fight in Venezuela.
Triumvirate
On October 15, 1814, the Congress of the United Provinces of the New Granada, replaced the presidency of the nation, with a
Triumvirate
A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...
. This triumvirate was to be composed of
José Manuel Restrepo,
Custodio García Rovira
José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira (March 2, 1780 – August 8, 1816) was a Neogranadine general, statesman and painter, who fought for the independence of Viceroyalty of New Granada, New Granada from Spain, and became President of Colombia, ...
, and Rodríguez. Rodríguez, however, was in Cartagena at the time, so he, and his other colleagues were replaced by José Fernández Madrid,
José María del Castillo y Rada, and
Joaquín Camacho. Rodríguez, resigned the presidency of Cartagena, and sailed in August to
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
in a diplomatic mission.
Upon his return, Rodríguez was sworn in as president of the triumvirate on July 28, 1815, in which he presided together with
José Miguel Pey de Andrade
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''J ...
, and
Antonio Villavicencio
Antonio Villavicencio y Verástegui (January 9, 1775 – June 6, 1816) was a statesman and soldier of New Kingdom of Granada, New Granada, born in Quito, and educated in Spain. He served in the Battle of Trafalgar as an officer in the Spanish N ...
.
On October 14, authorities caught Cornelio Rodríguez, a royalist, who confessed the plans about a failed royalist coup, Cornelio Rodríguez also accused members of Congress to support the coup, and among those accused was Rodríguez. Rodríguez stepped down from his presidential post, to let Congress judge those accusations in order to clean his reputation, Congress dismissed the accusations against him and others the next day, finding it difficult that the precursor of the independence of Cartagena and known patriot would think of supporting the royalists.
On November 15, Congress changed the executive power once again, entrusting the executive power to a president and a vice president. Congress then named Camilo Torres Tenorio to become president, and entrusted the vice presidency to Rodríguez.
Capture and execution
By 1816, the Spaniards had invaded the New Granada by all sides. The Congress dissolved, and on March 14, 1816, Camilo Torres resigned the presidency, many prominent political and social figures of Bogotá were forced to leave trying to escape the imminent invasion. Camilo Torres Tenorio, Rodríguez,
Francisco José de Caldas, and
José Fernández Madrid, among others, headed to
Buenaventura to sail from there, to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. Unfortunately for the party, the ship they were going to board never arrived, and were forced to turn back to
Popayán to wait till the next day. The next day, they were captured by the Spaniards and taken to Bogotá.
On October 4, the prisoners were tried by the War Council established by
Pablo Morillo. Rodríguez was sentenced to death in the
Plaza Mayor, on October 5, 1816, and his property was confiscated. Together with María Dávila, Count Pedro Felipe de Casa Valencia, and Camilo Torres Tenorio, they were hanged on that day. After they died, their bodies were taken down, and the bodies of Torres and Rodríguez were shot in the head and in the chest respectively, then they were
decapitated and
dismembered
Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...
. Rodríguez' head was put inside a metal cage and hung from a 30 feet spear and displayed on the outskirts of the city, where the
De La Sabana station now stands, to send a message to the insurgents. Their heads, also victims of an attack by savage birds, were allowed to be taken down and given burial on October 14, in honor of the King's Birthday.
[''Homenaje a los próceres; discursos pronunciados en la celebración del sequicentenario de la independencia nacional, 1810-1960'' by Academia Colombiana de Historia]
See also
*
Camilo Torres Tenorio
*
Joaquín Camacho
*
José Fernández Madrid
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Torices, Manuel
1788 births
1816 deaths
Presidents of Colombia
Vice presidents of Colombia
Colombian governors
19th-century Colombian lawyers
People from Cartagena, Colombia
Colombian journalists
Male journalists
Executed presidents
Colombian independence activists
Executed Colombian people
People executed by Colombia by hanging